Numbers That Stood Out From Iowa State Men's Basketball's Loss To Memphis

The No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones dropped their first home opener since 2017 on Monday night against Memphis, 80-76, inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Here are some numbers that stood out from the loss. 

Unless you've been living under a rock since the end of the 2025-26 season, there are a couple of glaring differences in this season's Iowa State men's basketball team. The biggest of them all are the absences of Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic. 

Last season, Iowa State was a force to be reckoned with beyond the arc. In Monday's opener against the Tigers, it was the opposite. The Cyclones shot just 20% from distance, knocking down just 4-of-20 attempts. 

The lone bright spot on the perimeter came in the form of Robert Morris transfer Ryan Prather Jr., who finished the game with 19 points, including three triples and 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. 

Defense on the perimeter didn't look much better, either. As a team, Iowa State gave up 20 looks, seeing Memphis connect on nine of them. The biggest standouts: Tamin Lipsey's 1-of-7 shooting from the perimeter, and Jamarion Bateman missing four straight triples, ending the night scoreless after seeing the floor for 26 minutes.

There's a certain saying in basketball that games are won at the free-throw line. It's a perfect tie into execution, and a focal point that just wasn't executed against the Tigers. 

As a team, the Cyclones shot just 69% from the line, leaving a double figure point total on the board off of missed free throws alone. 

Not a single member of the Cyclone attack escaped the night without a missed free-throw, the lone exception being Northern Iowa transfer Leon Bond III, who only saw the floor for 12 minutes without a trip to the line. 

Bradley transfer Jaquan Johnson was the lone outlier, hitting 9-of-10 shots from the line. He was one of only two Cyclone starters to end the night 75% or better in that category. 

Memphis might have narrowly escaped with a win, but Iowa State did a number on the Tigers in limiting second-chance opportunities. The Cyclones held Memphis to just eight second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds, actually out-rebounding the Tigers 14-12 on the offensive glass. 

Fast-break points told a different story. Memphis finished the game with 14 fast break points compared to the Cyclones' four. 

Still, there were positives for Iowa State. The Tigers being a team that thrives on pushing the pace, it's fair to say that the Cyclones held their ground, especially against a team that ran the floor faster than any of its counterparts in the American during the 2025-26 season.

For Iowa State, it's a challenge moving forward: how do you find a way to slow down transition offenses without sacrificing defensive positioning? If there's an answer, it needs to come ahead of conference play in January.