Tre Singleton Emerges as Star in Iowa State Cyclones Win Against Southern Miss

Coming off a loss to the Memphis Tigers, the Iowa State Cyclones were hungry to get their first win of the season. With a matchup on Friday night against Southern Miss, that is exactly what they were able to do in a lopsided 83-57 victory.

It was a frustrating night for Iowa State against Memphis, as shockingly it was the defense that let them down. Allowing 80 points in a game is not something that the Cyclones frequently do.

On Friday, it was certainly a mission to come out and perform better on that end of the court. That is something that they were able to accomplish, but Southern Miss did have some success early. Some early turnovers resulted in easy baskets for Southern Miss. However, as the Cyclones cleaned things up, they took over.

With it being one of the first games of the season and the Cyclones being a big favorite, they did shake up the starting lineup a bit. Following a career-high in points in the loss, Dominykas Pleta got the start at center over Blake Buchanan.

In the first half for Iowa State, the real story was the play of Tre Singleton. The forward was able to score 19 points in the first half and was a major reason for the team holding a 46-29 lead at the half. In addition to Singleton performing well in the first half, Jaquan Johnson also played well coming off the bench and helped provide a spark.

Cyclones Don't Let Up

Iowa State Cyclones forward Tre Singleton dunking — Nov 6, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Tre Singleton (0) dunks against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following an impressive first half that resulted in them having a 17-point lead at the half, Iowa State kept uo the pressure. Defensively, this was the type of performance that T.J. Otzelberger expects from his team.

While the offense did slow down a bit for the Cyclones, it was still a strong overall performance by the team. Without a doubt the star of this game for Iowa State was Singleton. The sophmore forward was good in his debut with the team against Memphis, but he was really aggressive in this one and it paid off.

Singleton finished with 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. It certainly looked like it was a Joshua Jefferson Jr. on the court tonight for the Cyclones and that is an encouraging thing to see.

Next up for the Cyclones will be another game at home against Southern on Tuesday. This will be another favorable matchup for Iowa State, and they will be seeking their second win of the campaign.

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