Iowa State handed Houston its first loss of the season on Tuesday night in Ames. (AP/Charlie Neibergall)
Maybe it was the massive winter storm making its way through the Midwest or a resurgence of “Hilton Magic,” but No. 2 Houston wasn't prepared for its first trip to Ames since joining the Big 12 Conference.
Unranked Iowa State overtook the Cougars early and hung on late to secure the upset 57-53 victory that marked Houston's first loss of the season on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum. The Cougars were the last remaining undefeated team in Division I men's basketball. Iowa State also has seven wins against top-10 opponents in the last two seasons, which is the most in the country.
The victory was sealed thanks to a wild shot from freshman Milan Momcilovic. After failing to score in the second half, Momcilovic caught a pass in the corner with the game tied and scored a ridiculous contested basket with just 31 seconds left to put the Cyclones back in the lead, 55-53.
He then made two free throws after Houston missed a three-point attempt at the other end, sealing the four-point win.
Momcilovic finished the game with 11 points and three rebounds and shot 4 of 8 from the field in the Cyclones' win. Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 14 points. They were the only two to score in double figures for the Cyclones, who as a group shot just 3 of 15 from behind the arc.
Iowa State got the jump early. It opened the night with a 14-0 run and held Houston within single digits until the first 12:30 of the game. The Cougars also struggled with turnovers early on, which is very untypical for Kelvin Sampson's group. They had eight of their 16 turnovers on the night in the first 10 minutes of the contest, despite averaging just 9.1 turnovers per game entering the evening this season. They had 12 in the first half.
Iowa State took a 31-21 halftime lead, which was the first time this season the Cougars had trailed at halftime and by far the fewest points they had scored in the first half. Star LJ Cryer also went scoreless in the first half.
Houston finally came alive in the second half. The Cougars tied the game after outscoring Iowa State 20-10 early in the second period, a run capped by Jamal Shead after he made a second straight block and dropped it on the other side.
Shead finally gave the Cougars a 51-50 lead with a jumper from the free throw line with just under three minutes left. But they weren't that far off yet. The Cyclones quickly regained the lead, and after Shead briefly equalized, Momcilovic scored the game-winning shot.
“It was important that we came out and set the tone of the game,” Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger said. via CycloneFanatic. “We talked about it, we had to throw the first punch, we had to be aggressive, we had to set the tone. I think we set the tone straight away. Certainly there were moments in the game where it felt like we were hanging on, but I think our guys were able to pull through.”
Emanuel Sharp led Houston with 20 points and five rebounds on the night, shooting 5 of 10 from the 3-point line. Shead finished with 14 points. Cryer, who started the game averaging more than 17 points per contest, finished the game with just five points and shot 2 of 9 from the field.
After a relatively easy start, the Cougars' schedule became noticeably more difficult once conference play began. The Big 12 had six teams in the AP Top 25 this week, which is the most in the country. Houston will face TCU next Saturday, which fell to the wire last week with No. 3 Kansas.
The Cyclones are now 12-3 this season. The win followed an eight-point loss to No. 9 Oklahoma on Saturday and marked the first win over a ranked opponent this season. They will host Oklahoma State on Saturday before traveling to No. 18 BYU next week.