# 1985–86 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Johnny Orr, who was in his 6th season. They played their home games at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
They finished the season 22–11, 9–5 in Big Eight play to finish in 2nd place. The Cyclones advanced to the Big Eight tournament championship game against #2 Kansas, falling 73–71. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament as a 7 seed, defeating 10-seed Miami (Ohio) and 2-seed Michigan before falling to 6-seed NC State in the Sweet Sixteen.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 23, 1985* 8:00 pm | | South Dakota State | W 83–39 | 1–0 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| November 26, 1985* 7:30 pm | | at Illinois State | W 55–52 | 2–0 | Horton Fieldhouse Normal, Illinois |
| November 30, 1985* 1:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | San Francisco State | W 90–53 | 3–0 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| December 4, 1985* 7:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Northern Iowa Iowa Big Four | W 83–60 | 4–0 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| December 7, 1985* 7:38 pm, Heritage Cablevision | | at Drake Iowa Big Four | L 69–77 | 4–1 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| December 10, 1985* 8:08 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Iowa CyHawk Rivalry | W 74–61 | 5–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| December 14, 1985* 1:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Michigan State | W 82–80 $^{OT}$ | 6–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| December 16, 1985* 8:00 pm | | South Dakota | W 95–58 | 7–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| December 21, 1985* 1:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | at No. 17 Indiana | L 65–86 | 7–2 | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| December 27, 1985* 6:00 pm | | vs. Rice Music City Invitational | W 94–60 | 8–2 | Memorial Gymnasium (6,104) Nashville, Tennessee |
| December 28, 1985* 8:00 pm | | at Vanderbilt Music City Invitational | W 80–79 | 9–2 | Memorial Gymnasium (11,674) Nashville, Tennessee |
| December 30, 1985* 8:05 pm | | vs. No. 16 Illinois | L 62–64 | 9–3 | Rosemont Horizon (9,876) Rosemont, Illinois |
| January 4, 1986* 6:35 pm | | at Detroit Mercy | L 67–77 | 9–4 | Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan |
| Exhibition ||||||
| January 6, 1986* 8:00 pm | | Windsor (Canada) Exhibition | W 114–61 | | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Regular season ||||||
| January 11, 1986 3:08 pm, Big Eight | | Missouri | W 92–84 | 10–4 (1–0) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| January 15, 1986 7:35 pm | | at Kansas State | W 77–73 | 11–4 (2–0) | Ahearn Fieldhouse Manhattan, Kansas |
| January 18, 1986 3:00 pm, Big Eight | | at No. 7 Oklahoma | L 82–95 | 11–5 (2–1) | Lloyd Noble Arena Norman, Oklahoma |
| January 21, 1986 8:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Colorado | W 90–62 | 12–5 (3–1) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| January 25, 1986 3:00 pm, Big Eight | | at Nebraska | L 58–75 | 12–6 (3–2) | Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| January 28, 1986 8:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | No. 4 Kansas | W 77–74 | 13–6 (4–2) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| February 1, 1986 1:10 pm, Big Eight | | at Oklahoma State | L 65–67 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (4–3) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| February 8, 1986 1:08 pm, Raycom/Big Eight | | No. 5 Oklahoma | W 73–70 | 14–7 (5–3) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| February 12, 1986 9:05 pm | | at Colorado | W 83–57 | 15–7 (6–3) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| February 15, 1986 3:08 pm, Big Eight | | Kansas State | W 84–74 | 16–7 (7–3) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| February 18, 1986 8:05 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | at Missouri | L 62–81 | 16–8 (7–4) | Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri |
| February 22, 1986 1:08 pm, Raycom/Big Eight | | Nebraska | W 81–73 | 17–8 (8–4) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| February 25, 1986 8:00 pm | | Oklahoma State | W 76–61 | 18–8 (9–4) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| March 1, 1986 3:08 pm, Big Eight | | No. 2 Kansas | L 70–90 | 18–9 (9–5) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Big Eight tournament ||||||
| March 7, 1986 6:10 pm, Big Eight | (2) | vs. (7) Colorado Big Eight tournament quarterfinals | W 78–60 | 19–9 | Kemper Arena (11,032) Kansas City, Missouri |
| March 8, 1986 3:00 pm, Big Eight | (2) | vs. (3) Nebraska Big Eight tournament semifinals | W 75–58 | 20–9 | Kemper Arena (16,985) Kansas City, Missouri |
| March 9, 1986 12:40 pm, Big Eight | (2) | vs. (1) No. 2 Kansas Big Eight tournament finals | L 71–73 | 20–10 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 14, 1986* 2:37 pm, ESPN/NCAA Productions | (7 MW) | vs. (10 MW) Miami (Ohio) NCAA tournament Midwest Region First Round | W 81–79 $^{OT}$ | 21–10 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| March 16, 1986* 3:45 pm, CBS | (7 MW) | vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Michigan NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Second Round | W 72–69 | 22–10 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis |
| March 21, 1986* 6:30 pm, ESPN | (7 MW) | vs. (6 MW) NC State NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Sweet Sixteen | L 66–70 | 22–11 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Team players in the 1986 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 2 | 46 | Jeff Hornacek | Phoenix Suns |