Iowa State Cyclones Overcome Slow Start to Defeat Iowa Hawkeyes in Thriller

The Iowa State might not have been at their best, but they found a way to bear their rival.

Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball head coach T.J. Otzelberger calls a play from the bench against Alcorn State Braves during the first half on Dec. 3, 2025, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes in their annual Cy-Hawk matchup, and it proved to be a much tougher test than expected. 

Coming into the game, the Cyclones were riding high with a 9-0 record and coming off a win against the top-ranked team in the country. However, with it being a rivalry game, anything was capable of happening, and the Hawkeyes came into the game looking to spoil their undefeated season. 

Iowa State got off to a terrible start in the first half, being held to just 25 points, while shooting 33 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point range. On the flip side, Iowa shot 64 percent from the field and 71 percent from deep. With the lopsided shooting numbers, the argument could have been made that the Cyclones were lucky only to be down eight points. 

In the first half, it was shocking to see the red-shot Milan Momcilovic score just two points, and freshman guard Killyan Toure didn’t score a point on three shot attempts. 

Cyclones Come Alive in Second Half

This game has completely turned around! @CycloneMBB went from a 13-point deficit to now leading by 10!

📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/BdzIXkKprp

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 12, 2025

While the first half might have been the worst 20 minutes of the campaign for Iowa State, they had an answer coming out of halftime. The message in the locker room was clearly a good one, and the Cyclones blitzed the Hawkeyes to start the half. Iowa State came out on a 14-0 run, spurred by their fantastic defense. Furthermore, the offense got going a bit as well after the poor shooting half. 

The 14-0 run to start the half was impressive, but at the second television timeout, just under the 12-minute mark, it was a 22-4 extended run. After the slow first half, both Momcilovic and Toure were better in the second half, but it was Joshua Jefferson who was the top offensive player for the team in this one. 

It has been a luxury of the program to have multiple players who can lead the way for the team, and it was the senior forward who carried the load in this game. 

Even though there might have been a bit of a scare down the stretch with the final score being 66-62, the Cyclones have moved to 10-0 on the season and will be heading into an easy stretch of their schedule before the calendar year flips to 2026. Overall, there is a ton to like about how the program has performed this year, and the sky is the limit for the program.