Iowa State is on a tear — and made its biggest statement yet by crushing No. 1 Purdue

The headline is that the No. 1 team in the country lost at home, top-ranked Purdue getting run out of its own gym by No. 10 Iowa State, 81-58.

But focusing on Purdue would overshadow the bigger story: Iowa State is one of the most dangerous teams in college basketball right now. The Cyclones backed up their status as one of the nation’s best-shooting teams, hitting 11 3-pointers, and as one of the nation’s best defensive teams, holding Purdue to a season-low scoring output by a wide margin.

To say the Cyclones (9-0) are on a tear is an understatement. Consider the following:

• Iowa State went 3-0 at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week, the only undefeated team that left Sin City without extra money because of a scheduling quirk with the new Feast Week showcase tournament. Is Iowa State angry it didn’t get to play in the Players Era final, and is it taking that anger out on every team it’s encountered since? Sure seems like it.

• The Cyclones are shooting ridiculously well from 3. Iowa State shot 47.8 percent from 3 at Purdue on Saturday, including making its first five 3s of the second half. (The Cyclones were actually good from everywhere against the Boilermakers, shooting 54.1 percent for the game and making 11 of 13 shots to open the second half.) Against Alcorn State on Wednesday, ISU went 22-of-30 (73 percent) from long distance, setting a program record for made 3s. You do not want to try to defend this team right now.

• Specifically, you do not want to try to defend Milan Momcilovic, who is making his All-American case. Against Purdue, Momcilovic scored 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3. That seems a little meh when you consider he went 8-0f-9 from 3 against Alcorn State and is at 53.6 percent for the season. But regardless of if he’s shooting 2s or 3s, no one has had an answer for how to defend him. I mean, how do you stop this?

Milan Momcilovic making it look too easy @CycloneMBB pic.twitter.com/wTrA5MUQ8U

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) December 6, 2025

With the win, Iowa State — one of The Athletic’s surprise teams of the 2025-26 early season — handed Purdue (8-1) its first home nonconference loss since 2019. Up next is an in-state showdown with unranked Iowa.

Also of note: Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey returned to the court Saturday after missing three games with a groin injury he suffered in Vegas. He tallied 9 points and eight ***ists (with no turnovers) in 32 minutes against Purdue.

As for Purdue, the most startling stat Saturday was this: national player of the year candidate Braden Smith finished the game with 11 points, eight ***ists and an uncharacteristic six turnovers. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored just 4 points on 1-of-8 shooting, his worst output since the 2024 national championship game. And another startling stat: The Boilermakers had scored 80-plus points in every game this season, until the Cyclones held them to just 58 in their own arena. Yikes.

Another insane note from @CBSSports research. Only 1 program in history has multiple wins over #1 teams by 20+ points. It’s Iowa State. And it happened in a span of 21 months.

March of 2024: Beat #1 Houston by 28
Dec of 2025: Beat #1 Purdue by 23

— Chris H***el (@H***el_Chris) December 6, 2025