Iowa State and Houston are very similar teams. They are both fundamentally sound, tough-minded, and defensively focused. Both teams have excellent guard play, solid athletic bigs, and outstanding talent coming off the bench.

I will say this in every road scouting report: winning on the road is extremely hard! The Coogs are now playing in front of passionate fan bases, and the Hilton Coliseum crowd will be electric.

I studied Iowa State’s last three games for this scout: Eastern Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma.

Iowa State Scouting Report

Head of the snake and probable starting back-court

Iowa State was tougher to scout than most other teams I’ve studied this year. Most teams have someone who sticks out to me as a “Head of the Snake,” but Iowa State did not precisely provide that. That is actually a complement to them! They have several really good players, all capable of having a monster game. They have six guys that average 10-15 points per game.

For the purpose of having a “Head of the Snake,” I will go with Kelvin Sampson and choose point guard Tamin Lipsey. He is similar to Wade Taylor IV from Texas A&M and can score from all three levels. He is an excellent rebounding guard, averaging five rebounds per game. He is also a VERY pesky defender, as he is ranked #2 in the nation in steals per game.

Lipsey has outstanding floor vision and gets the ball where it needs to go (ranked #21 nationally in assists per game). He had a triple-double earlier this year against DePaul (15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). He is their engine on offense and defense.

Keshon Gilbert (UNLV transfer) fills out the dynamic starting back-court as a three-level scorer. He is a capable three-point shooter but is better at attacking gaps and getting to the basket to score or draw a foul. Like Lipsey, Gilbert has a triple-double this season, coming against New Hampshire (10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists).

Iowa State probable starting front-court

Iowa State has a formidable starting front-court as well. Milan Momcilovic is one of the best shooting forwards UH has seen this year. He is a better version of Quinn Slazinski (who struggled to hit shots for WVU on Saturday). He is a dangerous three-point and mid-range shooter with a nice fade-away jumper in the mid-post. He is a freshman but “plays older” and is 6’8” and 220 lbs. He had 12 points in his Big 12 debut at Oklahoma and is an 184% shooter (49% FG, 44% 3pt, 91% FT). He’s also their best free-throw shooter (90.6%).

Tre King is a big/strong/athletic forward, capable of scoring away from the basket, but is much better around the rim (79% at the rim).

Robert Jones is a high-energy post player and is solid in the paint. He has a soft touch and has a nice leaner from inside the free-throw line. He is an excellent rebounder on both ends and a very good rim protector.

Iowa State Bench

The Cyclones may try to play more than eight players, but they’re really only eight deep. Curtis Jones brings an offensive spark off the bench and is an excellent three-point shooter (2nd on the team in most threes made). He’s also capable of getting to the basket.

Jackson Paveletzke is a capable scoring guard off the bench. He’s best at shooting the three but will sometimes try to make things happen off the dribble. He was the “SoCon Freshman of the Year” at Wofford last year.

Hason Ward missed several games with an ankle injury but has returned for the past two. He is an EXTREMELY athletic forward. He reminds me a lot of Ja’Vier Francis. They love to look for him on the lob, and he is outstanding around the basket. He is an outstanding shot-blocker and rebounder on both ends.

Iowa State Offense

Iowa State is a very fundamental team. They don’t make many mistakes, as they are ranked #10 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. Similar to the Coogs, their best offense is their defense. They love to turn teams over and allow that to lead to transition offense. They take great shots and don’t force many bad shots. They are ranked 15th nationally in FG% and 22nd in scoring offense (84.6 ppg) These are all great numbers, but they have not seen a tenacious defense like Houston. Defense travels, and the Coogs must bring it at a high level.

Jamal Shead locked in on defense // Photo © 2024 by Mario Puente

Iowa State Defense

The Cyclones are by far the best defensive team the Coogs have played. The Cyclones are ranked #6 nationally in scoring defense (Houston is first). They are incredibly fundamental defensively and do a great job in help-side defense.

Lagniappe: UH is #1 in scoring defense at 49.8 ppg. The Cyclones are sixth nationally but allow over 10 points more per game than the Coogs. The gap between UH and Iowa State (10.1 ppg) is the same as the gap between ISU and the #146 team in scoring defense, Arizona State (70.0 ppg)

Iowa State primarily plays half-court M2M defense. However, they showed a few new wrinkles against Oklahoma. They sometimes played a match-up 2-3 Zone and a 1-3-1 Zone on the defensive end. They don’t run a ton of full-court pressure, but it is usually a full-court M2M press when they do. Occasionally, they will turn the FC M2M press into a “Run and Jump” trap (when the point guard crosses half-court, the closest guard defender leaves his man to trap).

As a team, they are #3 nationally in steals (11.6 spg), and the Cougars are one spot lower at 11.1. They force tough shots, as they are #15 in FG% defense (UH is first nationally).

It could be a close game, but I give the advantage to the Coogs. The Houston defense is too good. The UH players will have to be locked in and focused on their assignments, but there’s no doubt they can return home 2-0 in the league before heading to TCU.