No. 2 Houston Upset by Unranked Iowa State for 1st Loss of 2023-24 MCBB Season

Doric SamJanuary 10, 2024

Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

The last unbeaten team in the nation fell on Tuesday night in a surprising upset.

No. 2 Houston suffered a 57-53 loss to unranked Iowa State in a road matchup. The loss dropped the Cougars’ record to 14-1 this season.

Iowa State was coming off a 71-63 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday, which snapped a six-game win streak. That loss apparently fueled the Cyclones, as they blitzed the Cougars right from the opening tip.

Iowa State opened Tuesday’s game with 14 unanswered points and never looked back. The Cyclones led by 12 and took a 31-21 lead into halftime. Houston managed to tie the game at 41 and again at 53, but Iowa State remained poised enough to secure the win. Milan Momcilovic hit the go-ahead jumper with 31 seconds left and then sealed the game with a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining.

Tamin Lipsey led the Cyclones with 14 points while Momcilovic added 11 points. They overcame a 20-point performance by Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, with Houston shooting 38.0 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from three-point range while Iowa State shot 38.3 percent overall and 20.0 percent from beyond the arc. However, the Cyclones earned 22 attempts from the free-throw line and made 18 of them, while the Cougars got to the line just 12 times.

Houston will look to bounce back on Saturday in a road matchup against TCU. Iowa State will return to action that same day at home against Oklahoma State.