Maybe it was the massive winter storm working its way through the midwest, or a resurgence of “Hilton Magic,” but No. 2 Houston was not prepared for its first trip to Ames since joining the Big 12 conference.

Iowa State flew past the Cougars 57-53 on Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum, handing Houston its first loss of the season. The Cougars were the last remaining undefeated team in Division-I men’s basketball. Iowa State now has seven wins over top-10 opponents over the last two seasons, which is the most in the country.

The Cyclones opened the game on a dominant 14-0 run. Houston didn’t even hit double figures until a Ja’Vier Francis dunk at the 7:25 mark of the first half. The Cougars’ start was plagued by turnovers, too, which is very uncharacteristic of Kelvin Sampson's group. They had eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, despite averaging just 9.1 per contest so far this season.

Iowa State took a 10-point lead into halftime, and held the Cougars to just 21 points in the first period. It marked the first time they’ve trailed at the break so far this season, and by far the fewest amount of points they’ve scored in the first half of any game before Tuesday night. Star L.J. Cryer was held scoreless in the first half, too.

Houston finally came alive in the second half. The Cougars tied the game up after outscoring Iowa State 20-10 to start the second period, and finally tied it back up after Jamal Shead came up with his second consecutive block and dropped it in on the other end.

Shead then finally gave the Cougars their first lead of the night with a jumper from the free throw line with just more than three minutes left. Yet that was as far ahead as they got. The Cyclones quickly retook the lead, and then, after Shed tied it back up briefly, Milan Momcilovic hit a wild fadaway bucket from the short corner to give Iowa State a two-point lead.

Houston then missed a 3-pointer on the other end, which sent Iowa State to the free throw line to seal the four-point win.

Tamin Lipsey led the Cyclones with 14 points in the win. Momcilovic had 11 points, all but four of which came in the first half. They were the only two Cyclones to score in double figures. Iowa State shot just 3-of-15 from the 3-point line.

Emanuel Sharp led Houston with 20 points, and went 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Shead finished with 14 points.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.