No. 10 Iowa State men’s basketball crushed top-ranked Purdue in a showdown of undefeated teams — and tied a record in the process.
The Cyclones’ 81-58 win on Saturday tied the record for the largest home loss by a No. 1 team, matching the 23-point margin when No. 15 Villanova took down No. 1 UConn 96-73 on Feb. 18, 1995. It’s also tied for the eighth-largest loss overall by a No. 1 as Purdue dropped a nonconference game at home for the first time in more than six years (70-66 to Texas on Nov. 9, 2019).
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Iowa State shot 54 percent in West Lafayette, Ind., turning a slim four-point halftime lead into a rout thanks to 46 second half points. Milan Momcilovic led the way with 20 points and was one of three Cyclones with three 3-pointers.
The win is Iowa State’s third against No. 1 since 2022, after beating No. 1 North Carolina in 2022 and defeating top-ranked Houston in 2024. That 69-41 win against the Cougars in March 2024 in the Big 12 tournament championship game is the fourth-largest loss by No. 1 ever.
Here’s a look at the largest defeats by No. 1 teams in history.
Margin
Winning team
Score
Losing team
Date
41
No. 2 Kentucky
81-40
No. 1 St. John’s
Dec. 17, 1951
32
No. 2 UCLA
101-69
No. 1 Houston
March 22, 1968
30
No. 8 Florida
73-43
No. 1 Tennessee
Jan. 7, 2025
28
No. 7 Iowa State
69-41
No. 1 Houston
March 16, 2024
27
No. 25 Miami (Fla.)
90-63
No. 1 Duke
Jan. 23, 2013
24
No. 3 UMass
104-80
No. 1 Arkansas
Nov. 25, 1994
24
No. 2 North Carolina
97-73
No. 1 Duke
Feb. 5, 1998
23
No. 10 Iowa State
81-58
No. 1 Purdue
Dec. 6, 2025
23
No. 15 Villanova
96-73
No. 1 UConn
Feb. 18, 1995
22
No. 5 Oklahoma
100-78
No. 1 Kansas
Feb. 27, 1990
Wayne Staats is a senior interactive producer for NCAA.com. His work has also appeared in the Augusta Chronicle, augusta.com and Land of 10. He is a graduate of Penn State University.
