BYU men’s basketball coach Mark Pope walked into the visiting team’s locker room at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday screaming.

“Ahhh!” Pope exclaimed. “It’s hard to win, isn’t it?”

Pope’s 100th victory as the Cougar coach was probably one of the hardest, a 63-58 slugfest on the road against a UCF team just two days from knocking off then-No. 3 Kansas. BYU didn’t do everything right — those late missed free throws could have been crucial and oh, boy, the fouls — but did played well enough defensively to hold the Knights without a point in the final two minutes.

Also doing plenty of things right was 6-foot-11 center Aly Khalifa, who scored a BYU career-high 17 points and made three 3-pointers.

“We celebrated Coach’s 100th win and gave him a jersey,” Khalifa said. “It was great to get the first win the Big 12. We were thirsty and ready to play. We were so close the past two games (losses to Cincinnati and Baylor) to to see us win this game on the road in a really tough environment, it feels great. It feels like we belong in this conference and it’s the best in the world. We can get a lot of wins in this conference.”

Khalifa also shocked the UCF fans and delighted his teammates with a second-half dunk out of the high post, spinning past a stunned Ibrahim Diallo and gliding swiftly to the hoop. Pope said in practice last week, Khalifa’s teammates were ribbing him about not dunking and he said he was saving it for the game.

He certainly did.

“Nobody expected that, obviously,” Khalifa admitted. “Nobody in the whole world, I guess. Coach told me to have some energy when I subbed back in. In my head I was like, ‘He (Diallo) is going to fall for it.” I go try to dunk it and it was a perfect opportunity. There are many more to come, you know?”

It was a spectacular performance for Khalifa, who had already proven to be one of the most unique centers in college basketball by leading the country in assist to turnover margin by a large margin.

UCF coach Johnny Dawkins noted in his post-game comments that Khalifa had only been averaging around four points per game before his 17-point outburst and was a big difference in the game.

There are many more difficult games ahead for the Cougars but Pope did take a minute to reflect on win No. 100 and his first in the Big 12.

“This league is special,” Pope said. “It’s just like nothing else. I have to be honest, and I hope this doesn’t hurt feelings or make people made at me, but as we previewed the league this year, one of the things we thought was this UCF venue was not going to be over-the-top electric. But it was maybe the best we’ve played in so far and that’s a tribute to the league.

“In terms of relief, I don’t know if we have relief. We’re just hungry to go find a way to win a game. Now we’re hungry to go find a way to win another one.”

SCOUTING REPORT

Tuesday’s opponent, Iowa State, was picked to finish seventh in the league’s preseason poll but is No. 9 in the NET rankings and No. 12 in KenPom. The Cyclones entered the Top 25 at No. 24 this week, are 2-1 in Big 12 play and last Wednesday upset No. 2 Houston 57-53 in Ames.

Iowa State is third in the country in scoring defense (58.4), fourth in steals (11.4) and fifth in turnovers forced (18.6). If BYU can get past ISU’s pressure, 3-point defense has not been a strength for the visitors (32.8%, 163rd in the country).

Sophomore guard Tamin Lipsey has made a huge jump this season, going from 7.3 points per game to 14.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5-6 assists per game. His is the straw that stirs the Cyclones drink but fellow guard Keyshon Gilbert (12.9 ppg) and freshman forward Milan Momcilovic (13.3 ppg, 41% from three) are dangerous as well. Momcilovic is fearless, (and making) and baseline fadeaway jumper over two defenders for the game-winning shot against Houston.

“We’ve got to do what we do,” BYU sophomore guard Richie Saunders said. “We shoot. We rebound every time. We’re going to have to shoot our shots confidently. I’m stoked that we can have this challenge moving forward because, and I’ve said this 15 times, every game you play is going to be difficult.”

Men’s College Basketball

No. 24 Iowa State (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) at No. 20 BYU (13-3, 1-2 Big 12)

Tuesday, 7 p.m. MT

Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla.

TV: None

Streaming: Big 12 Now on ESPN+

Radio: Sirius XM 143/BYU Radio.org/BYU Radio app/KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM

Live stats: byucougars.com

The Word: Iowa State is 6-0 all-time against BYU and won the last meeting 90-88 in 2013 at Provo. … This will be the first game in the Marriott Center between ranked teams since No. 23 BYU beat No. 2 Gonzaga 91-78 in 2020. … Eight of the 14 Big 12 teams are ranked in this week’s Top 25. … In its first three Big 12 games, BYU has been whistled for 64 fouls to their opponent’s 47 and have been outshot at the free throw line 85-41.

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