NCAA Basketball: UConn, North Carolina, Wisconsin rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
24. Iowa State (13-3)
While it didn’t come against the strongest nonconference schedule, Iowa State has looked pretty strong this season, with their losses coming to Virginia Tech and Texas A&M at the ESPN Events Invitational and at Oklahoma just over a week ago. They’ve been winning the games they’re supposed to win, doing it sometimes in dominant fashion. This past week was finally a start to building their resume.
On Tuesday, the Cyclones procured some of their home magic, getting a 57-53 win against Houston and handing the Cougars their first loss of the year. Tamin Lipsey had 14 points, Milan Momcilovic added 11, and the defense really delivered in a major victory. The Cyclones held serve at home again over the weekend, winning 66-42 against Oklahoma State. Lipsey led the team again with 17 points as Iowa State outshot and outrebounded the Cowboys for a second-straight win.
Signature wins can be numerous in this strong Big 12 and Iowa State certainly took advantage when Houston came to town. They have some fantastic pieces on this team led by Lipsey and could seriously make noise in this strong conference, especially with how their defense played these last few days. As will be the case, a much tougher week beckons, as the Cyclones will play at BYU and TCU in the coming days.