Iowa State Cyclones Star Duo Headlining Team's Success on Hardwood

Two Iowa State Cyclones players stand out, leading the team to incredible success on the hardwood.

Iowa State Men's Basketball players Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Joshua Jefferson stand for a photo during media day at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Oct. 8, 2025. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team has been one of the most impressive standout performers thus far in the 2025-26 season.

They have a 9-0 record, steamrolling almost all of their opponents along the way. The only team that they haven’t defeated by at least 16 points is the St. John’s Red Storm. Through their first nine games of the season, they have an average margin of victory of 30 points.

Iowa State isn’t just lining up teams multiple tiers below them and beating up on lesser competition. They already have five victories over power conference foes, including a record-setting 23-point win over the then No. 1-ranked Purdue Boilermakers on their homecourt of Mackey Arena.

That makes it three victories in a row for the Cyclones when facing No. 1-ranked teams, all of which have come away from the friendly confines of Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State has best three-player combo in college basketball

Iowa State Men's Basketball players Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Joshua Jefferson stand for a photo during media day at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Oct. 8, 2025. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What has led to such a dominant stretch out of the gate? The team is playing its accustomed hard-nosed defense, but it is the offensive explosion led by Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson that has helped elevate the team to another level.

As shared by CBB Analytics on X, that Iowa State duo is involved in all three of the team’s most successful three-player lineup combos by net rating. 

The top '3-PLAYER LINEUP COMBOS' by Net Rating among high-major teams: pic.twitter.com/LWL8vsgZjG

— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) December 7, 2025

Momcilovic, Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey, who have shared the court for 94 minutes, currently have the best rating among three-player combos out of all the Power Conference teams with a +63.6. The next closest are Tayton Conerway, Tucker DeVries and Sam Alexis of the Indiana Hoosiers with +62.0.

No. 3 on that list is Momcilovic and Jefferson with emerging star freshman, Killyan Toure. That trio has been on the court for 137 minutes with a net rating of +61.7. Their offensive rating of 139.9 is in the 98th percentile, matched with a defensive rating of 78.2, which is in the 99th percentile, with a +/- ratio of +149, which is in the 100th percentile.

Iowa State getting job done on both ends

Nov 17, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones Blake Buchanan Forward (23) scores against the Stonehill Skyhawks during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Coming in at No. 13 is the Cyclones' starting frontcourt trio of Momcilovic, Jefferson and Blake Buchanan. During their 119 minutes on the court together, they have a net rating of +54.5. A 136.4 offensive rating in the 96th percentile was recorded along with an 82.0 defensive rating in the 98th percentile.

Momcilovic has been scorching hot out of the gate, knocking down 53.6% of his 3-point attempts and averaging 18.3 points per game. He has already scored 20+ points five times this season.

Jefferson, who is starting to garner attention in NBA draft circles, is stuffing the stat sheet. He is scoring 17.6 points per game to go along with 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks.

His 3-point shooting improvements are what will keep pushing him up draft boards and improve his NBA outlook.