No. 8 Iowa State traveled to Houston to take on the No. 5 Cougars without its two best scorers, senior guards Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, on Saturday.

While the Cyclones tried to climb back from an ugly first half, it wasn’t enough to top Houston, as it slipped away late with a 68-59 win.

With the loss, Iowa State’s four-game winning streak comes to an end and the team drops to a 21-6 overall record and an 11-5 record in the Big 12.

Cryer, Uzan light the Cyclones up from deep

The best 3-point shooting team in the Big 12 was at it again, and the main reason for the Cougars’ success came from the deep shooting from senior guard L.J. Cryer and junior guard Milos Uzan.

In the first half alone, both Cryer and Uzan combined for 30 of Houston’s 34 points, with Cryer leading the way with 16 on 6-of-8 field goal shooting and was a perfect 4-for-4 from deep.

Uzan still did contribute well, following behind Cryer with 14 points on 5-of-6 field goal shooting, 2-of-3 from deep and converted on two free throw attempts.

While Uzan did cool off in the second half, Cryer stole the show for the Cougars. He added another 12 points on 5-of-9 field goal shooting to finish with a team-high 28 points.

A couple of Cryer’s shots were deep two-pointers, so his numbers could have been even bigger, but still was the biggest piece to Houston’s nine-point win.

Junior guard Emanuel Sharp also stepped up in the second half for the Cougars, as all 11 of his points came in the second half on 3-of-4 from the field, 2-of-3 from deep, with three free throws.

Jefferson, Momcilovic highlight first-half struggle from the field

When Jones and Gilbert were ruled out ahead of Saturday’s match, the other high scorers for the Cyclones were expected to step up in their absence.

The players included in that conversation were junior forward Joshua Jefferson and sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic, but neither could get anything going on the offensive end in the first half.

It wasn’t until there were less than three minutes left in the first half when Jefferson converted on two free throw attempts for his first points of the game. His first and only basket from the field came with 40 seconds left in the first half as he struggled to find good looks from the field.

While Jefferson struggled to find his shooting stride, he did remain a force as a facilitator and on the defensive side with eight assists, seven steals and two blocks.

But no player suffered more from the field in the first half than Momcilovic. In the first half, Momcilovic failed to put anything up on the scoreboard, as he shot 0-for-7 from the field, with five of those attempts coming from deep. 

Momcilovic was the only starter not to record a single point in the first half.

His first basket came from a deep 3-pointer with 16 minutes to go in the second half, eventually leading Momcilovic to catch fire and help lead Iowa State’s second-half comeback attempt.

Momcilovic, Heise lead Iowa State’s second-half comeback attempt

While Momcilovic struggled in the first half, he led the Cyclones’ second-half comeback attempt with 16 points on 4-of-7 field goal shooting, 2-of-4 from 3-point range and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.

Even after seeing so many shots missed in the first half, it did not deter Momcilovic in his shooting abilities, as he rebounded from a tough start to eventually lead Iowa State in scoring.

Another player who helped the Cyclones in their quest to dig out of the hole they built from the first half was senior guard Nate Heise, a starter with Gilbert being out due to a muscle strain.

While Heise would only put up one basket on one shot attempt in the first half with a 3-pointer, he found his shooting touch in the second half with nine points on 3-of-4 field goal shooting, 1-of-2 from deep and two free throws.

His total of 12 points beat his previous season high of 11, which he had off the bench in Iowa State’s win over Colorado on Tuesday. Those 12 points were also scored on a season-high 31 minutes.

Lipsey becomes the Cyclones’ all-time leader in steals

While the loss will highlight the day for Iowa State, there is one positive thing to take away from this game, and that is junior guard Tamin Lipsey becoming the Cyclones’ all-time leader in steals.

Going into Saturday’s game against Houston, Lipsey sat just two steals away from setting himself apart as the new all-time steals leader for Iowa State, as he looked to surpass former Cyclone guard Monte Morris (225) in that category.

Lipsey accomplished just that, as his second and final steal of the day set him as the new all-time leader in steals (226) for the Cyclones while contributing a coast-to-coast layup to finish the play.

Along with the two steals, Lipsey also contributed 11 points on 4-of-7 field goal shooting, 3-of-6 from deep.

In just three seasons with Iowa State, the Ames native has gone on to break an all-time record for the team he grew up cheering for his whole life.