Iowa State makes history with dominant road win at No. 1 Purdue Jeff Eisenberg December 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM 0 It's time to take Iowa State seriously as a title contender. The Cyclones deserve that much after the most impressive road win any men's college basketball team has posted so far this season. Iowa State didn't just go on the road and topple No. 1 Purdue on Saturday afternoon. The 10thranked Cyclones overwhelmed the previously undefeated Boilermakers in a way nobody does at Mackey Arena.
- - Iowa State makes history with dominant road win at No. 1 Purdue
Jeff Eisenberg December 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM
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It's time to take Iowa State seriously as a title contender.
The Cyclones deserve that much after the most impressive road win any men's college basketball team has posted so far this season.
Iowa State didn't just go on the road and topple No. 1 Purdue on Saturday afternoon. The 10th-ranked Cyclones overwhelmed the previously undefeated Boilermakers in a way nobody does at Mackey Arena.
With Tyrese Haliburton cheering courtside in a backward Iowa State cap and jacket, Iowa State stormed to an 81-58 victory. Milan Momcilovic tallied a game-high 20 points as the Cyclones quickly turned a four-point halftime lead into a runaway.
[Get more Cyclones men's hoops news: Iowa State team feed]
It was 45-33 after a Momcilovic 3-pointer just over two minutes into the second half. It was 61-43 a little over minutes later when a Dominick Nelson layup forced another timeout by Purdue coach Matt Painter. By the time the Iowa State lead ballooned to 26 at the under-8 timeout, Purdue fans were getting out of their seats and streaming for the exits.
The 23-point margin of victory matches the largest-ever home defeat in college basketball history by a top-ranked program, according to CBS Sports research. Not since Villanova defeated UConn 96-73 on Feb. 18, 1995, has the AP poll's No. 1 team taken such a one-sided loss.
The last time Purdue lost at home by such a wide margin, many of the current Boilermakers were still in elementary school. On Jan. 30, 2013, a highly ranked Indiana team swaggered into Mackey Arena and demolished Purdue, 97-60.
This outcome was more stunning than that one because of the caliber of Purdue team that Iowa State dismantled. The Boilermakers returned the core of a 24-win Sweet 16 team and patched some holes in the frontcourt with the return of 7-footer Daniel Jacobsen and the addition of transfer Oscar Cluff.
In the first half, Purdue generated clean looks against Iowa State's vaunted defense but didn't make enough of them. Trey Kaufman-Renn struggled to finish inside and Fletcher Loyer repeatedly misfired from the perimeter.
Not only did Iowa State's smothering perimeter defenders impose their will in the second half, the Cyclones also found little resistance at the other end of the floor. Tamin Lipsey returned from injury to tally eight assists to help fuel an Iowa State attack that shot 57.9% from the field and 11-for-23 from behind the arc.
Coast to Coast! It's all @CycloneMBB so far pic.twitter.com/BrXX3c03K1
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) December 6, 2025
With the upset victory, Iowa State improved to 9-0 this season, including victories over the likes of St. John's, Creighton and Syracuse. The Cyclones ascended to No. 2 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings and should vault into the top five when the new AP Top 25 is released Monday morning.
Iowa State also surely provided some welcome solace to Cyclones fans distraught over the loss of the school's successful football coach.
If Matt Campbell leaving for Penn State was the worst kind of surprise for Iowa State, then TJ Otzelberger's program going on the road and destroying No. 1 Purdue was exactly the opposite.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: December 06, 2025 at 06:27PM on Source: OPERA MAG
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