L.J. Cryer scored 28 points and Milos Uzan matched his season best of 19 points to lead No. 5 Houston to a 68-59 home win over No. 8 Iowa State in Big 12 play on Saturday.Cryer made 5 of 7 attempts from long range, going 11-of-17 from the field overall. Uzan made 7 of 10 attempts from the field and went 3 of 5 from behind the arc. Cryer (16) and Uzan (14) combined for 30 of Houston’s 34 first-half points as the Cougars pulled out to a 12-point lead at halftime.Iowa State was without its two leading scorers, as guards Curtis Jones Jr. (illness) and Keshon Gilbert (muscle strain) were unavailable. Milan Momcilovic led the way with 16 points, while Nate Heise added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting.Tamin Lipsey finished 11 points and broke the school’s record for steals early in the second half. Lipsey had 226 steals and surpassed former Iowa State standout Monte Morris (225 from 2013-17),Iowa State nearly fought all the way back with an 18-3 run in the second half, trimming Houston’s lead to 48-47 on Heise’s 3-pointer with 8:10 remaining. Houston immediately threatened to pull away with a prompt 5-0 but the Cyclones responded again, cutting the lead to 58-56 on a pair of Momcilovic free throws with 5:24 remaining.From that point, Houston made seven of its last nine field goals and outscored Iowa State 10-3 to secure the nine-point win. Cryer led the way with 12 points in the second half, while Emmanuel Sharpe scored all 11 of his points in the frame.