Peterson: Iowa State basketball has nothing to be ashamed of after loss at No. 2 Houston

HOUSTON – Sure it goes down as a loss, a hard-fought loss. There was sting in the locker room, with good reason, because the Iowa State basketball players T.J. Otzelberger and his staff coach so well feel they can beat anyone, anywhere and at any time.

So yes, the 73-65 outcome that followed the sixth-ranked Cyclones’ ESPN Big Monday visit to No. 2 Houston had some immediate hurt.

But long term?

Their march toward a nice NCAA Tournament seed and high regular-season finish in the nation’s best conference continues.

That late-season push is alive and well despite Monday’s outcome in a game that was as defensive and physical as they come. Because let’s face it – Iowa State was playing with resume house money, which is defined like this:

• Road wins at TCU, Texas and Cincinnati.

• Home wins against Houston and Kansas.

• Analytics that not many teams can match.

Those are reasons that what happened at the 7,100-seat Fertitta Center wasn’t alarming. No one wins on coach Kelvin Sampson’s home court, where his Cougars (23-3, 10-3 Big 12) have won 20 in a row. Not even Iowa State on a night when the Cyclones succumbed to a team with the nation’s No. 1 defensive efficiency.

“They’re a really good defensive club, so it’s hard to score against them,” Otzelberger said after the game. “They don’t give you anything easy. They don’t give you much of anything in transition.

“It’s hard to convert on the offensive boards, so you have to work so hard for everything.”

This was one of those no-harm, no-foul games for Otzelberger’s team, playing with just one day’s rest after Saturday’s 82-74 victory at Hilton Coliseum against Texas Tech.

All team goals remain over the five remaining games, the first of which is at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum against West Virginia. That’s at home, where the Cyclones have won 15 games in a row.

"We’ve got a lot in front of us, and we still don’t think we’ve played our best basketball," Otzelberger said.

So for Iowa State, with records of 20-6 and 9-4, it’s about doing what it’s done the first 13 conference games. It’s about lockdown defense. It’s about being the toughest team on the floor. It’s about having multiple scorers and outscoring opponents in the paint.

Keshon Gilbert led Iowa State with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Tre King and Curtis Jones added 13 each. It was a rough night for Cyclones star sophomore Tamin Lipsey, who shot 1-for-8 and committed six turnovers. Iowa State coughed it up 16 times as a team, compared with nine for the Cougars.

"They're a really good team," Sampson said after the game. "We knew that coming in, and we got it. What a defensive game. T.J. is a heck of a coach. They're very well coached."

It’s tough to win when you can’t make a shot, which in a nutshell was Iowa State’s early problem. The Cyclones trailed 19-8 with 7 minutes left in the first half after missing 13 of their first 17 shots, including 0-for-6 from three-point range.

Iowa State had more turnovers (eight) than points. Translated: The Cyclones got an early-game taste of their own defensive medicine.

Floaters in the lane that usually go through the net didn’t. Perimeter shots hit nothing but rim.

While Iowa State was the most physical team in Cyclones vs. Cougars, Part 1 earlier this season, that went the other way most times during the sequel.

“We were cold when we first started, as far as missing shots that we usually make,” King said. “We turned the ball a little more than normal. That set us back, but credit to our guys not letting adversity get to us. We came back and got back in the game.”

Milan Momcilovic gave the Cyclones some first-half offensive juice with a pair of baskets, including a nifty traditional three-point play. Two more free throws by the freshman made it a six-point game. Curtis Jones’ three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the half, pulling Iowa State within 28-23 at the half.

We had a ballgame once Iowa State started counter-punching in what was another very physical game that included some questionable calls from the refs.

That’s to be expected on the road, and let’s not forget that Iowa State shot and made 10 more free throws than Houston in the January game in Ames. I wonder, though, how Sampson got away with charging toward a ref during the second half – even if he was just correctly pointing out a bad out-of-bounds ruling.

"They hit timely shot after timely shot," Otzelberger said. "Any time we had any type of surge or push, it seems like they hit a shot."

Iowa State hung within striking distance, closing within 46-41 with 11:43 left during a 6-0 run of points. The spread stayed close the rest of this scrappy game between two of the nation’s finest defensive teams that could meet again in the Big 12 Tournament.

That would be at what’s classified as a neutral site in Kansas City. But we all know nothing is neutral when it comes to Cyclones fans converging on Hilton South.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: No. 2 Houston wins defensive battle vs. No. 6 Iowa State basketball