Men's College Basketball Game of the Week: No. 5 Houston vs. No. 8 Iowa State

A top-10 matchup in men’s basketball between two of the three best teams in the Big 12 meet at the Fertitta Center, as the No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones battle No. 5 Houston Cougars on Saturday. ESPN’s College GameDay will also be on site.

Houston defeated Arizona State in Tempe, 80-65, on Tuesday, their 12th straight road win, which broke a Big 12 record by Kansas that stood for 22 years. They only have one blemish since Nov. 30, 2024, an 82-81 overtime loss against now-ninth-ranked Texas Tech.

The Cougars led Arizona State by as much as 23 with six minutes left before taking their foot off the gas. Houston’s leading scorer, graduate guard L.J. Cryer, who has 14.5 points per game, scored a team-high 18 with four threes against the Sun Devils.

Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts surpassed Rickie Winslow on Houston’s all-time rebounds list, climbing to fourth with six on Tuesday.

Cryer, Roberts, redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp and graduate guard Mylik Wilson, who came off the bench, scored double digits on Tuesday.

Junior guard Milos Uzan is a very effective ball distributor for the Cougars. He is fifth in the Big 12 with 4.9 assists per game and has 27 assists to just two turnovers in his last five games.

Where Houston thrives is on defense. Head coach Kelvin Sampson leads a scheme that produced the most efficient defense in the NCAA last season and the current most efficient defense in the country. They’ve only allowed two opponents since the San Diego State loss to score more than 70 points.

What the Houston defense does especially well is contest shots. Its 38.3 opponent field goal percentage is sixth-best in the country, and from inside the arc, it becomes 43.4%, the fourth-best mark, which can do wonders for them against an Iowa State team that has improved offensively from 2023-24.

On the other hand, Iowa State has won four straight games after losing three straight, although none of those victories have been against teams ranked higher than eighth in the Big 12. On Tuesday, they defeated Colorado, which has the worst record in the conference, 79-65.

Iowa State had a similar game to Houston in which they slowed down with a big lead, as the Cyclones were up by 21 inside five minutes.

The Cyclones spread the wealth in their game against Colorado, with four of the five starters in double digits as well as senior guard Nate Heise off the bench and no one had more than 13 points.

Senior guard Curtis Jones, Iowa State’s leading scorer with 17.5 per game, only had seven against the Buffaloes, but scored more than 20 in two of the three prior games.

Junior guard Tamin Lipsey has scored double digits in six of his last seven games, and Heise and senior forward Brandon Chatfield were solid off the bench on Tuesday.

Where Iowa State has shown improvement to last season is shot selection. The Cyclones are 24th in the country with a 48.3 shooting percentage and have improved their two-point shooting by 4.4 percentage points from 2023-24.

Much like Houston, Iowa State is at its best defensively, ranking 12th in the country in defensive efficiency. They’ve also held their last four opponents to an average of 63 points per game, which would tie for eighth in the country over a full season.

In a game that features two stellar defenses, look for shooting beyond the arc to play a critical part in deciding the winner. Houston’s 39.4 three-point percentage is seventh in the country, while Iowa State’s 34.8 such mark is seventh in the Big 12.

This game will be broadcast on ESPN at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday and streamed on the ESPN App.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.