No. 3 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State both begin series of Big 12 clashes

Expect the fur to fly and defense to be front and center when No. 3 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State square off Monday in the latest of a series of titanic Big 12 Conference clashes in Ames, Iowa.

Monday's game is the second of three contests in a row against ranked teams for Iowa State, and the first of a three-game stretch versus opponents ranked in the top 25 for the Cougars over an eight-day period.

The Cyclones (22-3, 9-3 Big 12) bounced back from a mid-week road loss to TCU with a dominating 74-56 win at home over No.