Iowa State Cyclones' Head Coach Highlights Why Losing Streak Will End

Are the Iowa State Cyclones going to be able to snap their losing streak against the UCF Knights

Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger reacts to an official in the first half of the NCAA Big 12 basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Iowa State Cyclones at Fifth Third Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones have started to face their first adversity of the season, losing two straight games on the road. Now, a great start to the year is beginning to have some concerns. 

Coming into last week, the Cyclones were undoubtedly feeling well about things. They were off to the best start in program history at 16-0 and were the number two-ranked team in the country. Unfortunately, this past week will be one to forget for Iowa State. 

To start things off, they were blown out by the Kansas Jayhawks in their first loss of the campaign. The Jayhawks were not playing great basketball coming into that game, but they needed a win and gave the Cyclones their best shot. 

While a loss in Allen Fieldhouse is something Iowa State is used to, they figured to be in a good position to bounce back against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Unfortunately, another slow start resulted in them losing to them as well. Now, the team is on a losing streak after winning 16 straight, and there are understandably some concerns. 

T.J. Otzelberger recently spoke about some of the struggles for the program and spoke with William Seals of On3 about getting back at home to snap this skid.

“We know we’ll have a great crowd behind us. School’s back in session, students will be there, and Hilton will be at its best. We’ll be at our best on Tuesday.”

Cyclones Need a Bounce Back 

Final: UC 79 - ISU 70

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) January 17, 2026

The struggles on the road are certainly going to be something to keep an eye on going forward for the program, but the immediate need for them will now be to snap the losing streak. Coming back home should help quite a bit, and the UCF Knights are a team that they are better than as well. 

While the struggles on the road have been an issue, they also have to fix their slow starts to games. In conference play, the competition is simply too good in the Big 12 to let a team jump out to a lead, and this has been an issue. 

Even though the Cyclones will be favored significantly in this game, the Knights are 14-3 and 3-2 in the conference so far. Their strength of schedule might not have been the best so far, but they have been capable of winning games. 

Overall, with Iowa State heading back home, they will need to get back in the win column in this one. A third straight loss and another one in the conference would be far from ideal, and they need to keep pace.