How Iowa State, sparked by an underrated freshman, pulled off an historic upset of No. 1 Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  — There are 48 seconds left in regulation, and Iowa State freshman Killyan Toure is bringing fullcourt pressure defense like his life is on the line. This isn't a nailbiter. This game has been over for eight minutes, and yet, the headband-rocking freshman is hunting for another back-breaking takeaway.

This is Iowa State basketball, and Toure is at the epicenter of a nasty, connected squad of killers. The Cyclones' 81-58 dismantling of No. 1 Purdue at Mackey Arena on Saturday was not only historic, tying the record of 23 points for the biggest home loss by a No. 1 team ever, but also a warning cry to the Big 12 and the rest of the country that Iowa State's A+ game is equally terrifying and terrific.

After coughing it up nine times in the first 17 minutes of regulation, Iowa State magically turned the turnover sliders off and dismantled a puzzled Purdue defense for 31 points on 18 straight, turnover-free possessions. 

"They were damn good," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "They took us to the woodshed."

Iowa State entered Saturday's slate with three 18-point-per-game scorers in Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson, but it was a Toure, a man born in France but bred at the renowned Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, who caught his eye for his relentless defense on Purdue All-American Braden Smith to go along with 13 points and five boards.

"I was really impressed with Toure," Painter said. "I thought his fight was fabulous. He was into us. But just the determination. He never gave in to anything. He played hard, and stayed with it."

Not bad for a guy rated outside the top-100 nationally in the Class of 2025.

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"They don't know (what) they're talking about," said Painter, who is never shy to hip-check recruiting rankings. "He was determined to guard. That determination will take you a long way in this game if you got the physical ability to play it, and he's got the physical ability to play it. For a guy that's not a high-volume three-point shooter, and he goes 3 for 5 on the road, like, that's pretty good, but he has more things not on the stat sheet that affected the game, right? What does it say on here about his defense if you don't get steals or blocks, right? Like, a stat sheet stinks sometimes. I thought he was fabulous. 

"Dudes like that, they can plug in anywhere. That value is very, very high, and the NBA sees that stuff with some two-way guys, especially some guys that might have to come off the bench and play different roles. He's perfect."

Toure's emergence is a big reason why Iowa State sits at a sparkling 9-0 and may have posted the single best non-conference win in the history of college basketball. It may sound hyperbolic, but Purdue had won 48 of its last 51 non-conference games entering Saturday. This offense, a unit on pace to potentially post the highest offensive efficiency rating of the modern era, missed open shots in the first half and got utterly obliterated in the second half. 

"Obviously, we have a good offense, and they made us not look like we had a good offense," Painter said matter-of-factly.

Toure's on-ball pressure on Smith was a monster piece of that, but it also allows Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger to shift Tamin Lipsey onto secondary options and turn their water off. Purdue's Fletcher Loyer, long an assassin in huge games, had a miserable afternoon, totaling just five points and three turnovers.

"When we first became aware of Killyan, we knew that he had that relentless mindset, and people have said he was built to play in this program and our style," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. "We certainly have strong feelings that way."

Moments later, Otzelberger would admit that he didn't want Toure turning up the heat in the closing seconds, but maybe that's lip service for Iowa State's head man, who is notorious for running a lunch-pail, military-like operation that's centered on consistency. 

How you do one thing is how you do everything at Iowa State. Since Toure was asked to pressure the basketball like a hyena from the opening tap, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that he had more in the tank in the 40th minute of regulation.

"We're a really good team. Really connected," said Momcilovic, who poured in a game-high 20 points, including some back-breaking fadeaway jumpers. 
It shows a lot. Purdue is a really good team. So the way we played today, the way we shared the ball, I think it just shows we're one of the best teams in the country, and you gotta be scared to play us."

For Purdue, an R-rated film session seems inevitable to clean up a defense that made far too many mistakes. 

For Iowa State, it's business as usual, even after making history.

"You gotta have good pieces," Painter said. "Obviously, they're the only team in the country with three guys averaging 18 points. And then you got good role definition and you got toughness and you can guard. They used to be a team that their offense was, you know, just okay. 
Now they've got their offense at an elite level. They could do it, man. This is not an easy place to play, and they came in here and just took it to us."