AMES – For the first time in 29 home games, Iowa State lost at Hilton Coliseum. The defeat for the No. 3 Cyclones came at the hands of Kansas State in an 80-61 contest.
“It certainly wasn’t an effort that we’re proud of at all,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Definitely different than our standard, what we expect and what we’ve demonstrated through the first 20 games.”
Home win streak ends
In the 2023-24 season, Iowa State did not lose a home game. That home win streak made it all the way up to 29, the second longest in school history.
“I don’t think anyone expects that to happen here, not us, not the fans,” Iowa State junior guard Tamin Lipsey said. “We’re gonna figure out why it happened and try to make that not happen ever again.”
Not only that, the Cyclones had won 13 Big 12 games in a row at Hilton. Kansas State on the other hand hadn’t won a true road game in 15 games.
Losing at home is something that every team hates to do, especially after a big winning streak ends because of it. Not only does the loss end that, but it’s the second straight loss for Iowa State.
Many of the possessions were ill-handled, resulting in 18 turnovers for both teams.
“It’s on us as players just to know not to get in an area where we might get stuck,” Lipsey said.
Some of the ones for the Cyclones seemed to be in crucial moments, especially when they went on runs that shortened the gap.
After Iowa State trailed by 19 points, a 13-0 run woke the team up. Right after, Kansas State answered with a couple of baskets off of turnovers that brought the lead back up to double-digits.
“That kind of hurt,” Iowa State senior guard Curtis Jones said.
Otzelberger added that pushing the ball down the court in one-on-three or one-on-four situations fed the turnover situation. It’s something the Cyclones will address and try to limit in the future.
Lipsey, Jones try to rally the Cyclones

Jones may end up finding himself in a permanent starting role even after sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic returns. The senior guard played 35 minutes and did not take a break the entire first half.
He started the game strong after sinking his first two 3-pointers he attempted, but failed to make another shot from deep the rest of the way. Jones ended with 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting, with 12 points coming in the first half.
Ever since the Arizona State game, where Jones scored a career-high 33 points, he hasn’t been able to get in a rhythm like that. Jones has made two of his 14 attempted 3-pointers across the past two games and was 2-for-6 against Kansas State.
“I got a lot more good looks,” Jones said. “I just missed them in the second half.”
Lipsey on the other hand was the leader on offense for the Cyclones. The junior guard tied his season-high of 20 points after a team-high 37 minutes of court time.
From 3, Lipsey shot 3-for-5. One of those was the first basket of the game.
11 of Lipsey’s points came in the second half. He was the one that ended a 12-0 Kansas State run that sparked the 13-0 Cyclone run.
That run and energy came soon after Otzelberger was given a technical foul.
“There’s a point in the game where you’re definitely trying to get your team’s attention to try and play better,” Otzelberger said. “We put ourselves in position when it was 58-52 to give ourselves a chance. And then we let them score two baskets right away and separate again.”
Shot quantity vs. shot quality
In the first half, Iowa State put up far fewer shots than Kansas State but had a better overall shooting percentage. The Wildcats were 12-for-29 while the Cyclones shot 10-for-19 in the opening 20 minutes.
A lot of Kansas State’s shots happened after offensive rebounds. With eight offensive rebounds in the first half, the Wildcats ended up with 13 second-chance points.
“[Kansas State] had the energy the whole game,” Lipsey said.
That poor rebounding and inability to stop the Wildcat offense wasn’t pleasing to Otzelberger.
“We’ve got to have greater intent to finish possessions,” Otzelberger said. “There’s a difference between ‘I’m contesting to make you miss with every fiber of my being’, and then there’s ‘I threw a hand up and he just made a tough shot’. The latter was how we defended.”
Kansas State finished with 21 second-chance points to Iowa State’s six.
After Kansas State pulled ahead in the second half, its largest lead being 19 points, Iowa State had to start shooting. The Cyclones couldn’t hit a lot of the late shots they attempted, the final shot total being 19-for-52 (37%) for Iowa State and 26-for-58 (45%) for the Wildcats.
“As players, we’re the ones on the court playing the game, so we’ve got to step up and come together as a group,” Lipsey said.