What went wrong for Iowa State at Kansas?

The Cyclones are in a funk, but maybe help is on the way
Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger reacts of a call during the second half game against Kansas State in the Big-12 men’s basketball showdown at Hilton Coliseum on Feb 1, 2025 in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger reacts of a call during the second half game against Kansas State in the Big-12 men’s basketball showdown at Hilton Coliseum on Feb 1, 2025 in Ames, Iowa. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State men find themselves in a mid-season funk.

Once on the cusp of running away with the Big 12 Conference title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones are looking up at Houston, Arizona and Texas Tech just in the league standings. 

They are likely to drop out of the Top 10 barring a wild and crazy week after being roughed up at Kansas on Monday night, who is now tied with them for fourth in the conference. 

Sure, there is still plenty of time for Iowa State (17-5, 7-4) to not only work its way back into the Big 12 talks but the top line of the NCAA tourney, but it needs to start sooner rather than later.

While the return of Milan Momcilovic remains up in the air, there is another form of energy on the way with ESPN’s College GameDay set to visit Ames and Hilton Coliseum this weekend. Iowa State hosts TCU (11-10, 4-6), the perfect “get-right” opponent.

The Horned Frogs have lost six of their last nine overall, including lopsided defeats at the hands of Houston, Kansas, UCF and Texas Tech. They secured a win over lowly Colorado recently, and host West Virginia on Wednesday night.

Regardless of the opponent, ISU head coach TJ Otzelberger needs to fix the shooting woes of his team. In the loss to Kansas, the Cyclones were just 3 of 21 from the 3-point line and 11-for-20 at the free throw stripe. 

When they lost to Kansas State over the weekend, Iowa State shot 8-for-18 from deep and just 19 of 52 overall. An overtime-loss at Arizona saw the Cyclones put up 24 three-pointers and hit just seven while going 12-for-18 at the charity stripe.

Those numbers are a far cry from earlier in the year when Iowa State was averaging in the 80s and blowing teams out. 


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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in north-central Iowa.