Rob Gray

Audi Crooks’ favorite word isn’t “score.” It’s not “rebound.” It’s not even “win.” No, Iowa State’s star 6-foot-3 center — the program’s first freshman to attain Big 12 player of the week honors on Monday — adores a different word that embodies all of the aforementioned ones: “Growth.”

No. 20 BYU utterly dominated the 24th-ranked Cyclones in every facet of the game — including defense, which is what Iowa State Coach T.J. Otzelberger’s team “hangs its hat on.”

Iowa State dismantled Oklahoma State, 66-42, before a paid, but blizzard-affected crowd of 14,267 at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones trailed 15-10 early before springing a 12-0 run on the Cowboys to help build a 37-26 halftime lead.

Iowa State upended No. 4 Baylor, 66-63, Saturday to move to 5-0 in the Big 12 women’s basketball standings. The Cyclones rallied from a 24-11 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

Demarion Watson has taken zero shots in seven of the past nine games he’s logged minutes. Why? The versatile 6-foot-7 Iowa State sophomore guard’s too busy supplying his team with hustle plays

Iowa State honored Bill Fennelly for winning his 600th game as the Cyclones’ head women’s basketball coach before Wednesday’s matchup with No. 24 West Virginia. But what his young ISU team did to conjure up win No. 601 stole the show.

Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic swished a fadeaway jumper in the final minute — and Hilton Coliseum erupted Tuesday night as the Cyclones eventually toppled Houston, the nation’s lone remaining unbeaten team, 57-53, before an officially sold-out crowd of 14,267

There’s a wall at the Iowa State women’s basketball practice facility dedicated to several former Cyclones who made the WNBA. And someday, versatile freshman forward Addy Brown could be on it.

If there’s one thing Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has learned about life in the Big 12, it’s that every team will find itself with a seemingly faint pulse at least once during the conference season, making tumult a day-to-day feature with no relief in sight.

Iowa State went on a 7-0 run to take its first lead, at 56-55, with 4:47 left, but No. 11 Oklahoma responded with a 7-0 flourish of its own and eventually pulled away for a 71-63 win at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Iowa State freshman forward Milan Momcilovic acknowledges one flaw in his otherwise wide-ranging, shot-making repertoire. He’s simply not shooting enough.

Hannah Belanger finished with a game-high 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc while scoring the 2,000th point of her career. Her outburst helped Iowa State outscore Kansas by 11 points in what proved to be a decisive third quarter that came on the heels of a shaky first half.

Iowa State freshman Arianna Jackson doubled her previous career-high in points while quadrupling her single-game benchmark in made 3-pointers Sunday against Oklahoma State. She already had established herself as a skilled defender and facilitator at this level, but she proved she could score at a high level, as well.

The Iowa State men’s basketball team closed its nonconference slate with a sloppy, 85-70, win over New Hampshire behind Keshon Gilbert’s triple double.

A relatively youthful Iowa State football team fell to 7-6 to close the season. But all of the Cyclones’ star players on the offensive side of the ball will return, along with most of the standouts on the defensive side.