Rocco Zikarsky shows off range in Wolves first start

• Zikarsky started and had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks as Iowa lost 117-98
• Toohey had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Santa Cruz won 127-108
• It was Toohey's first G League game since a knee injury ended his rookie season

Australians Rocco Zikarsky and Alex Toohey are both back in the G League, but only Toohey has started with a win.

Australian centre Rocco Zikarsky, 20, has returned to the Iowa Wolves with nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks in his first G League game of the 2026-27 season, a 117-98 loss to the Noblesville Boom on Wednesday, November 11, 2026 (AEDT).

Three days earlier, fellow Australian Alex Toohey, 22, had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Santa Cruz Warriors' 127-108 win at the Stockton Kings on Sunday, November 8 (AEDT), so the two Australians to play in the G League this season are 1-1 between them.

The 221cm Zikarsky started and played 25 minutes in Noblesville, Indiana, going 4-from-9 from the field and 1-from-1 from three, and he added an assist and a turnover while missing his only free throw. His two blocks led the Wolves, and his seven rebounds (two offensive) were level with KJ Martin and one behind Isaiah Evans, who top-scored for Iowa with 23 points.

Iowa led 35-23 after the first quarter and still held a 59-55 lead at half-time, but Noblesville won the second half 62-39 and Zikarsky finished minus-19 as the Wolves fell to 0-3 in the Tip-Off Tournament. Jalen Slawson led the Boom with 21 points and three blocks, while Kobe Brown and Cameron Hildreth had 18 points each.

Toohey's night in Stockton, California, ran the other way. The 203cm forward started and played 32 minutes, going 7-from-11 from the field, 1-from-2 from three and 2-from-3 at the line, and he added two steals and a block for a plus-29 that was the best of anyone on the floor.

Santa Cruz trailed 36-24 after the first quarter and 63-60 at half-time before winning the second half 67-45, and only Graham Ike (24 points and 11 rebounds) and Chance McMillian (23 points) outscored the Australian.

It was Toohey's first G League game in 351 days. The former Sydney Kings forward, the 52nd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, played twice for Santa Cruz on a Golden State Warriors two-way contract as a rookie, scoring 13 points against Stockton and one against the Coachella Valley Lakers in November 2025. The Warriors waived him that December when a knee injury ended his season.

Golden State brought him back on an Exhibit 10 deal in September, and he averaged 2.5 points in 8.1 minutes across four pre-season games before he was waived again on October 18 (AEDT). He has started 2026-27 on Santa Cruz's roster as an affiliate player rather than on the two-way deal he held last season.

Zikarsky, by contrast, missed Iowa's opening-weekend double-header against the Wisconsin Herd while he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He sat out their 115-109 win in New Orleans on Saturday, November 7 (AEDT), then played two minutes for a rebound and a turnover in their 115-100 win against the Utah Jazz on Monday, November 9 (AEDT).

He is one of two Timberwolves two-way players on Iowa's 12-man opening night roster, alongside Zyon Pullin, a deal that lets Minnesota move him between the two clubs. It is a second season in Iowa for the former Brisbane Bullets Next Star, who was the 45th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and was named in the 2026 NBA G League Next Up Game as a rookie.

Iowa and Noblesville meet again in Noblesville on Thursday, November 12 at 11am (AEDT), and Santa Cruz open their home schedule against the San Diego Clippers on Saturday, November 14 at 2pm (AEDT).