AMES, Iowa — Iowa State sent a message in the process by knocking off the nation’s last undefeated team on Tuesday night.
Tamin Lipsey scored 14 points and freshman Milan Momcilovic made a layup with 30.2 seconds left and Iowa State beat Houston 57-53.
The Cyclones (12-3, 1-1 Big 12) entered the game with the 284th-worst seed on the schedule, and they were eager for quiet critics who said their record was flawed.
“We’re a young team, learning every game,” Lipsey said. But no matter who we play, no matter where we play, we go out and fight every game. Just don’t doubt us.
Iowa State recorded its seventh win over a top-10 opponent in the past two seasons — most in Division I. Houston (14-1, 1-1) posted its program’s first nation-best 12-game road winning streak. Big 12 road tournament.
No. 1 Purdue lost to Nebraska 88-72 on Tuesday, marking the first time since Feb. 26, 2022, that a No. 1 and No. 2 team lost on the same day in the regular season. It was Gonzaga and Arizona that year.
ISU forward Hassan Ward made two free throws with 1:20 left, but was fouled in the lane on the second free throw to keep the lead at 53-51.
Jamal Sheed split a double team and made a jumper with 53.9 seconds left.
After an Iowa State timeout, Momsilovic spun off a double team and hit a jumper from the tight angle for a 55-53 lead. LJ Cryer’s 3-pointer hit from behind and Momcilovic fouled out at 10.7 before making two free throws for a four-point lead.
Momsilovic finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting for Iowa State. The layup was her first basket of the second half.
“We work on that every day and practice the last second shot,” Momcilovic said. “Obviously, I do a lot of fade time, so it’s convenient. They come up with a double and I shoot it over the little defender. It’s a shot I make every day.”
Ward scored 9 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field.
Emmanuel Sharp scored 20 points for the fourth time in Houston. Shedd added 14 points to become the 51st player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Crier, who averaged 17.1 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with five points.
Houston had five missed shots and four turnovers to score the game’s opening 14 points against Iowa State. Houston’s first points of the game came when Sharp sank a 3-pointer from the wing with 14:02 left. Sharp made another 3-pointer for Houston’s second field goal at 10:51.
Houston trailed 31-21 at halftime for the first time since scoring few points in either half. At Iowa State, he scored 15 points off 12 turnovers against a Houston team averaging just 9.1 points per game. The Cougars were just 6 of 20 shooting (30%) in the first half, including 4 of 13 from long range. Sharpe scored 11 points in the first half for Houston.
Iowa State missed nine straight shots in six minutes in the second half. Shade took their first lead of the game at 51-50 with 3:17 left when Houston made a jumper from the free throw line.
The Cougars led for just 32 seconds.
“I don’t know if it was as much as Iowa State. We were. “We were just, I don’t know what it was,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. I wish I did.”
TJ Otzelberger became the first Iowa State head coach to beat a team ranked No. 1 (North Carolina) and No. 2 (Houston) in the AP poll.