Iowa State Stuns No. 1 Purdue Basketball With Historic Beatdown: ‘They Stole Our Spirit’

The Cyclones handed the Boilermakers their worst nonconference home loss ever, proving they are capable of a deep March Madness run.

Iowa State guard Killyan Toure dribbles the ball around Purdue guard C.J. Cox. The Cyclones stunned the No. 1 Boilermakers in a blowout. / Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A new addition to Mackey Arena this year: a “noise meter” that flashes on the two new video boards behind each basket. It’s yet another reminder of just how overwhelming the building can be for visitors. Before Saturday, road teams had won at Mackey just five times since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted; Purdue has made not just beating but embarrassing its opponents at home a regular occurrence.

That’s what made Iowa State’s second-half demolition of the Boilermakers so jarring to watch. The Cyclones went into halftime up four points against the nation’s No. 1 team, but it was easy to chalk that up to the Boilermakers’ cold shooting from deep. In the second half, Iowa State did to Purdue what hadn’t been done in more than a decade. The lead ballooned from four to 15 and 15 to 25, sending that new noise meter plummeting down and Purdue fans to the exits, some as early as the under-eight media timeout of the second half. 

Purdue hadn’t trailed by 20 at home since February 2020 against Penn State. Its last 25-point home deficit came against Victor Oladipo’s Indiana team on Jan. 30, 2013. The final 81–58 line was the largest margin of defeat ever in a nonconference home game for Purdue. No. 10 Iowa State (9–0) buried the Boilermakers and never let them come up for air once in the second half. Teams just don’t do what the Cyclones just did to Purdue (8–1).

“They stole our spirit,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “You’ve got to give Iowa State credit … the reason for having a high frustration level was them. They were damn good. They took us to the woodshed.”

Since Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger took over five years ago, the Cyclones have almost constantly been underrated nationally. This writer can own as much of that as anyone. But if it wasn’t before today (and it probably should have been), Saturday proved loudly as ever that the program Otzelberger and his staff have built in Ames, Iowa, is as good as anyone’s in college basketball. And this season’s team, one that got only slivers of the fanfare that many of its Big 12 rivals got all offseason because of its lack of high-profile portal activity, is good enough to cut down the nets in Indianapolis this April. 

“The way we played today … I think it just shows we’re one of the best teams in the country,” Iowa State wing Milan Momcilovic said. “You gotta be scared to play us.” 

Momcilovic is a big reason why the Cyclones are such a terrifying opponent right now. He continued his torrid start to his junior season with 20 more points, three made threes and a handful of high-difficulty fadeaway jumpers that further broke Purdue’s back as it tried helplessly to fight back. He’s shooting a ridiculous 54% from three and on pace for well over 100 makes from distance, and that three-point shooting (which the Cyclones as a team are now third nationally in three-point percentage) has taken a team whose offense consistently held them back early in Otzelberger’s tenure into one of the elite units in the sport. Iowa State made 22 threes last time out against Alcorn State and has five players shooting north of 40% on at least one make per game. Those numbers might not quite hold, but the offensive improvement is real.

Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic dribbles the ball around Purdue guard C.J. Cox. / Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

“[Iowa State] has good role definition, toughness, and [they] can guard,” Painter said. “They used to be a team that would do that and then their offense was, you know, just O.K. Now they’ve gotten their offense [to] an elite level. They could do it, man. Like, this is not an easy place to play and they came in here and just took it to us.” 

Their scorching shooting also hasn’t impacted all the other parts of the program that have made them great in recent years. Freshman Killyan Toure (a major surprise ranked outside the top 100 coming out of high school) was hounding ballhandlers even in the game’s final possession. Otzelberger spent his postgame news conference talking about his team’s practice habits and players’ dedication to nutrition. Iowa State is one of the sport’s great process-oriented programs, and even in its flashiest wins remains remarkably true to self in the big moments. 

The Cyclones also play with a remarkable connectedness, one that shined through to Purdue’s three senior starters in Fletcher Loyer, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith, who’ve played over 100 games together. Kaufman-Renn said Iowa State was “more connected” than Purdue was Saturday, and the ways Iowa State’s role players stepped up illustrated that as much as anything. Toure hounded the ball. Big man Blake Buchanan was excellent around the rim and on the glass. Nate Heise helped out with backdoor cuts and savvy off-ball play. All that supports Momcilovic, Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson, the latter of whom had a quiet day with foul trouble but has been arguably the best non–Cameron Boozer player in the country to date. 

“The way this team is put together, everyone knows their role,” Momcilovic said. “Whether it’s the best player or a role player, I think everyone comes in and knows what they need to do. It’s not a surprise to anyone [on our team] what we’re doing.” 

And all that feeds into how Iowa State has built a team that should be on everyone’s short list to win the national championship. That much, after dispatching Purdue on its home court the way few ever have, has been made all too clear.

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