# 1987–88 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Johnny Orr, who was in his 8th season. They played their home games at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
They finished the season 20–12, 6–8 in Big Eight play to finish in 5th place. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the #12 seed in the East region. The Cyclones lost to Georgia Tech in the opening round of the tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 20, 1987* 7:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Texas Big Apple NIT | W 100–83 | 1–0 | Hilton Coliseum (14,122) Ames, Iowa |
| Nov 24, 1987* 6:30 pm, Score | | at No. 2 Purdue Big Apple NIT | W 104–96 | 2–0 | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Nov 27, 1987* 8:00 pm, USA | | vs. No. 14 Florida Big Apple NIT | L 89–96 | 2–1 | Madison Square Garden (7,311) New York City |
| Nov 28, 1987* 6:00 pm | | vs. New Mexico Big Apple NIT | W 107–96 | 3–1 | Madison Square Garden New York |
| Dec 2, 1987* 7:35 pm, Iowa Public Television | | at Northern Iowa Iowa Big Four | W 80–75 | 4–1 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Dec 5, 1987* 7:38 pm, Heritage Cablevision | | at Drake Iowa Big Four | W 83–77 | 5–1 | UNI-Dome Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 8, 1987* 7:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Arizona State | W 99–85 | 6–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 12, 1987* 1:05 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | Creighton | W 115–73 | 7–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 19, 1987* 7:05 pm, Cyclone Television Network | No. 20 | No. 7 Iowa CyHawk Rivalry | W 102–100 $^{OT}$ | 8–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 21, 1987* 7:05 pm | No. 20 | Eastern Illinois | W 76–66 $^{OT}$ | 9–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 28, 1987* 5:30 pm | No. 16 | vs. Butler Blade City Classic Semifinals | L 76–78 | 9–2 | Centennial Hall (4,500) Toledo, Ohio |
| Dec 29, 1987* 5:00 pm | No. 16 | vs. Navy Blade City Classic Consolation | W 83–61 | 10–2 | Centennial Hall Toledo, Ohio |
| Jan 2, 1988* 1:00 pm, Cyclone Television Network | No. 16 | South Dakota | W 95–67 | 11–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 7, 1988* 7:00 pm | No. 17 | Grambling State | W 99–81 | 12–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 9, 1988* 7:10 pm, Cyclone Television Network | No. 17 | at Dayton | W 84–80 | 13–2 | Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Jan 13, 1988 7:08 pm, ESPN/Cyclone Television Network | No. 14 | No. 16 Kansas | W 88–78 | 14–2 (1–0) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 16, 1988* 1:08 pm | No. 14 | U.S. International | W 123–92 | 15–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 20, 1988 7:08 pm, Cyclone Television Network | No. 10 | Nebraska | W 114–76 | 16–2 (2–0) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 23, 1988 1:10 pm, Big Eight | No. 10 | at Missouri | L 93–119 | 16–3 (2–1) | Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri |
| Jan 27, 1988 7:35 pm, Raycom/Closed Circuit (Iowa) | No. 12 | at No. 10 Oklahoma | L 86–109 | 16–4 (2–2) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 30, 1988 1:00 pm, Big Eight | No. 12 | No. 10 Oklahoma | L 91–96 | 16–5 (2–3) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 3, 1988 7:05 pm, Cyclone Television Network | No. 16 | at Kansas State | L 68–79 $^{OT}$ | 16–6 (2–4) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 6, 1988 3:10 pm, Big Eight | No. 16 | Oklahoma State | L 78–80 $^{OT}$ | 16–7 (2–5) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 10, 1988 9:05 pm | | at Colorado | L 75–87 | 16–8 (2–6) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb 13, 1988 3:10 pm, Big Eight | | at Kansas | L 72–82 | 16–9 (2–7) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Feb 17, 1988 9:10 pm, ESPN | | No. 15 Missouri | W 102–89 | 17–9 (3–7) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 24, 1988 7:08 pm | | Kansas State | L 66–83 | 17–10 (3–8) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 27, 1988 3:08 pm, Big Eight (KCCI) | | at Nebraska | W 85–84 | 18–10 (4–8) | Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Mar 2, 1988 7:10 pm, Cyclone Television Network | | at Oklahoma State | W 97–88 | 19–10 (5–8) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Mar 5, 1988 1:10 pm | | at Colorado | W 98–62 | 20–10 (6–8) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Big Eight tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1988 12:10 pm, Raycom | (5) | vs. (4) Missouri Big Eight tournament Quarterfinal | L 80–90 | 20–11 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 1988* 11:07 am, WOI/KGAN/KCAU/KIMT/KLJB ESPN/NCAA Productions | (12 E) | vs. (5 E) Georgia Tech NCAA tournament East Region First round | L 78–90 | 20–12 | Hartford Civic Center Hartford, Connecticut |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time. ||||||