Iowa State Basketball vs. Southern: Preview, Storylines

Nov 6, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger watches his team play the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Iowa State Basketball vs. Southern: Preview, Storylines

Originally posted on Iowa State Cyclones on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Nov 10, 2026 3:06 PM ET

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On Tuesday night, the Iowa State Cyclones will be back in action seeking their second win of the season. After a strong performance in their last game against Southern Miss, the team will be looking to build on that.

The Cyclones did not get off to the start to the season that they would have liked with a loss to the Memphis Tigers. As a big favorite, that loss booted them from the Top 25, and Iowa State will be working towards moving back up the rankings.

This is the first time since January of 2024 that the Cyclones haven’t been in the Top 25 of the AP Poll, and it snapped a streak of 53 straight weeks.

Despite the loss to the Tigers, this is still seen as one of the better teams in the Big 12 and the country overall. Against Southern, they will be a heavy favorite, and the expectation will be to come away with another big win.

As the two teams get set for the matchup, here’s how to watch the action on Tuesday night.

Who: Southern Jaguars vs. Iowa State Cyclones

When: November 10th, 2026, 8:00 PM EST

Where: Ames, Iowa, James H. Hilton Coliseum

Television: ESPN+

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following a game that was a bit out of character for them in their opener against Memphis, the defense was back on track in their win against Southern Miss. The Cyclones held them to 57 points in the game, and it was a far better showing on that end of the court.

Furthermore, the game also featured a monster performance from Tre Singleton. The transfer from Northwestern has quickly emerged as a star for the Cyclones, and he will be looking to keep up his hot start to the season.

So far, Singleton is averaging a double-double through two games with 19.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. It has been a really strong start to the year, and it will be interesting to see if he remains as aggressive offensively as he did in the last game.

Furthermore, while Singleton has been a star in the first couple of games, transfer Ryan Prather Jr. has also been very productive. After scoring 19 off the bench in the first game against Memphis, T.J. Otzelberger moved him into the starting lineup, and he scored nine points.

Overall, with a ton of new faces, Otzelberger will likely continue to test lineups in the next couple of games before the team heads to Vegas for the Players Era.

This article first appeared on Iowa State Cyclones on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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