Haliburton buys tickets for students to attend Pacers game at Iowa State

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  Jamal CollierOct 6, 2026, 08:37 PM ET

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  Jamal Collier is an NBA reporter at ESPN. Collier covers the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and the Midwest region of the NBA, including stories such as Minnesota's iconic jersey swap between Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson. He has been at ESPN since Sept. 2021 and previously covered the Bulls for the Chicago Tribune. You can reach out to Jamal on Twitter @JamalCollier or via email Jamal.Collier@espn.com.

The Indiana Pacers first preseason game of the year will take place at Iowa State on Wednesday, and Tyrese Haliburton wanted to make sure Cyclones students could come to the game.

Haliburton purchased tickets for the student section, and the university held a lottery for people to attend.

"I'm hosting all the students and we'll still have student sections, so I think that'll be fun," Haliburton told reporters in Indianapolis after practice Tuesday. "I don't know if it'll be all Pacers fans in there."

Wednesday will mark the first game Haliburton has played in more than 16 months after recovering from a torn Achilles during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. He said he wasn't sure how much time he would play in the game, but hoped he could play at least the first half.

Haliburton spent two years at Iowa State from 2018-20 before being selected in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft. His college years have remained significant to him. He met his now wife, Jade, during his time at Iowa State and proposed to her on Iowa State's court when the two got engaged.

Haliburton said he made the suggestion years ago about hosting a potential game there, which he said was an easy sell considering Pacers general manger Chad Buchanan was born in Des Moines. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the game was initially scheduled to take place in 2025, but when Haliburton got injured, they pushed it back to this year.

"I think it'll be fun for everybody," Haliburton said Tuesday. "I know there's nobody as passionate about Iowa State as the current students."