Iowa State basketball: Cyclones’ comeback falls short in 2OT loss to BYU on senior night
AMES — Iowa State basketball stormed back from a 21-point deficit in the second-half against BYU on Tuesday, but after two overtime periods, the ending was anticlimactic and disappointing for the cardinal and gold.
Down by two, the Cyclones got a stop against BYU and had one final possession in the closing seconds of double overtime. After calling a time out, the Cyclones froze up offensively with the shot clock winding down and heaved up an off-balance 3 that missed everything.As a result, No. 23 BYU held on for the 88-85 upset to spoil the Cyclones’ senior night.
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Iowa State fell behind by four points to start the second overtime period after back-to-back turnovers resulted in Cougar baskets the other way. Iowa State stayed within reach but never evened up the score in the second overtime.
In the first overtime period, BYU also took a four-point lead to start. The Cyclones had back-to-back baskets, a 3-pointer by Milan Momcilovic and a layup by Tamin Lipsey, to take the lead, 73-72, with 2:30 remaining. They traded baskets and points for the remainder of the period. Iowa State had the final possession with the game tied at 79-79, but turned it over and BYU’s half-court heave at the buzzer was no good.
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Joshua Jefferson had a team-high 19 points. Momcilovic had 18 points and shot 4-of-10 from deep. Curtis Jones chipped in 16 points off the bench. Lipsey finished with 15 points, eight assists, three steals and no turnovers. Keshon Gilbert had 13 points, eight steals and two blocks.
Momcilovic ignored the Cougars’ close-out and drilled the game-tying 3-pointer with 21.8 seconds in regulation.
BYU’s Richie Saunders drew a foul and sank both free throws on the ensuing possession to regain the lead for the Cougars. Jefferson answered back when he nearly had an and-1, but sank two free throws to tie it up with nine seconds left to force overtime.
Iowa State shot 25-of-64 (39.1%) overall and 8-of-28 (28.6%) from deep. It got outrebounded by BYU, 52-24, but it won the turnover margin. The Cyclones forced 29 Cougar turnovers and only committed 11.
It was a defensive battle to start. Neither team scored for the first 4:42 of the game, until Jones finally got a shot to drop to put the Cyclones on the board.
They played with great intensity defensively for the first 10 minutes of the game, building a 14-5 lead while a hot-shooting BYU team struggled to find its footing. The Cougars also committed nine of their 29 turnovers during this stretch.
But then BYU started to find a groove, going on a 28-8 run that spanned over nine minutes.
Iowa State struggled to keep up with BYU’s shooting touch. The Cyclones grew stagnant on the scoring end while the Cougars built their lead. Mawot Mag sank a couple of free throws to give BYU a 21-20 lead with 4:00 left in the first half. He also closed the run with back-to-back baskets to make it 33-22 with 1:03 left in the first half. Jones had a pair of free throws to trim the BYU lead down to 33-24 at the break.
BYU sank back-to-back 3s to start the second half, before going on to push its lead up to as high as 21 after Dallin Hall’s alley-oop slam made it 54-33 with 13:16 remaining.
After a time out, the Cyclones rumbled and rattled off a 17-2 run that helped them cut the deficit down to single digits. Momcilovic topped off the run by scoring six straight points to make it 56-50 with 7:19 left.
The Cougars broke the Cyclones’ run and extended their lead back into double figures for a brief moment, but Iowa State persisted.
Saunders led BYU with 23 points and six rebounds. Hall added 22 points off the bench. Egor Demin had 12 points. Mag had 10 points. Keba Keita had seven points and 15 rebounds.
Iowa State dropped to 22-8 and 12-7 Big 12 Conference play with the loss. The Cyclones will close out the regular season on the road at Kansas State on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT.
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BYU has one of the more efficient offenses in the country, but they aren’t the same team on the road. Yes, they had a surprisingly win at Arizona, but the Wildcats defense is not in the same conversation as Iowa State’s defense. The Cyclones have one of the best home court advantages in the country with a +21.8 point differential. They’re holding their opponents to less than 62 points per game and in eight of their nine conference home games, they’ve won by 11 points, or more.
BYU is overachieved in its first season under head coach Kevin Young, and this is a spot where I have a hard time seeing the Cougars getting blown out. The Cougs are one of the best shooting teams in the Big 12, and if they get hot from beyond the arc this game will come down to the final minutes.
BYU comes in tonight at 21-8 with 17 covers and 5-5 on the road. They have a good chance to win tonight straight up. They’ve won and covered their last six straight and shoot 48.8% from the field. What I like most about this team is they shoot with accuracy from long distance, hitting 37.4% of their threes and making 10.7 per game. It’s part of their DNA. They also pass the ball well with 17.3 assists per game which is 10th best in the nation. They average 81 points per game. BYU’s got it going good right now, I’d like to see if they can make it seven straight and carry some serious momentum into the tournament.
Iowa State is now 19-1 when it has the full eight-man rotation is available and 3-6 when even one player from that group is out. Saturday’s 13-point win against Arizona was the first time in a while that the Cyclones were full strength and their caliber showed against a Wildcats team that’s currently tied for second in the Big 12 standings. BYU’s home-road splits away from Provo are already worth a downgrade, and with Iowa State getting back into a groove at the right time I think the spot sets up well for a strong showing for the home team in Hilton Coliseum.
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| OPPONENT | W/L | ATS | ML | O/U |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WVU03/02/2025 | 56-77WIN | -9.5WIN | -562WIN | 140.5UNDER |
| @ARIZST02/27/2025 | 91-81WIN | -6.5WIN | -327WIN | 148.5OVER |
| @ARIZ02/23/2025 | 96-95WIN | +7.5WIN | +246WIN | 153.5OVER |
| KANSAS02/19/2025 | 57-91WIN | UNDER | ||
| KSTATE02/16/2025 | 65-80WIN | -7.5WIN | -338WIN | 146.5UNDER |
KenPom Predicts No. 23 BYU Basketball at No. 10 Iowa State, Updates BYU’s Projected Win Total
On Saturday night, BYU basketball used a dominant second half to take down West Virginia. The Cougars take on Iowa State in Ames on Tuesday night. The winner of this game will have the inside track to a top four seed in the Big 12 tournament.
KenPom, the industry leader in predictive college basketball analytics, predicted BYU vs Iowa State and updated BYU’s projected regular season win total. KenPom gives BYU a 27% chance to win with an expected final score of 80-73.
BYU basketball has just two games remaining in the regular season. The upcoming game against Iowa State is the most difficult game remaining according to KenPom. Below are the win probabilities for each of BYU’s remaining games.
KenPom’s projected record for BYU is 22.1-0.9. Now that BYU is safely in the projected NCAA Tournament field, the goal will be to improve their seed line. Getting to 22 wins in the regular season would be enough to position BYU to improve seeds, especially if that is paired with one win in the Big 12 conference tournament.
A win over Iowa State could take BYU to a 6-seed. A win at Iowa State would be the biggest statement of the season. The Cyclones have been dominant when healthy, and they will be healthy on Tuesday night.
Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.
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