No. 6 Iowa State uses late surge to rally past No. 2 Houston Cougars

No. 2 Houston watched a double-digit second-half lead vanish and saw its nine-game winning streak snapped Monday night in a 70-67 loss to No. 6 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.​

No. 2 Houston tumbles to No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night, snapping nine game win-streak 

The Cougars led by as many as 10 after the break and were up 63-55 with just over six minutes to play before the Cyclones closed on a 15-4 run, capped by Nate Heise’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining and two late free throws from Joshua Jefferson. Houston did not score over the final 1:49 and came up empty on its last two possessions.​

That's How You Start The Second Half!#Cyclones | #C5C | @blake_buchanan4 pic.twitter.com/6axsqGUd4r

For the first time in weeks, Houston walked off with more questions than answers. The Cougars still project as a No. 1 seed in many bracket forecasts, including Sporting News senior writer Bill Bender’s latest field of 68, where they sit on the top line after bumping UConn. Houston entered the night ranked No. 4 in both KenPom and the NET and owning one of the nation’s stingiest defenses under Kelvin Sampson.

For Iowa State, they advance to 10-3 in league play and remain in contention in a wide-open Big 12 for a possible title. They'll turn their attention to BYU on Saturday, while Houston will focus on Arizona at home.

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