LJ Cryer responds as $215,159,700 NBA All Star Trae Young reacts to epic run at Iowa State vs Houston game: "That's crazy"

Trae Young, the 2025 NBA All-Star and Atlanta Hawks superstar was captivated by Houston star LJ Cryer's epic performance against Iowa State on Saturday. Young expressed his amazement at Cryer's torrid shooting display, which saw the senior guard pour in 28 points to lead the Cougars to a 68-59 home win.

Young, who signed a $215,159,700 max contract extension with the Hawks, shared his thoughts on Cryer's performance on X (formerly Twitter) as the game was ongoing.

"LJ Cryer in his "gimme the ball & get out the way" bag right now !!" the All-Star wrote.

When sports reporter Chancellor Johnson asked Cryer for his reaction to Young's praise, the 6-foot-1 native from Texas was clearly humbled.

"That's crazy because I grew up watching him," Cryer said. "I used to watch all his mixtapes whenever I was in high school. I used to watch his workouts ... he used to be in the gym with Juwan Evans, those type guys. So growing up with them being smaller guards, I always looked up to them. So, you know, that's pretty cool."

LJ Cryer's 28-point outburst was just two shy of his season-high of 30 points, which he scored in a loss to No. 4 Alabama in November.

He shot 11-of-17 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and grabbed 5 rebounds as No. 5 Houston (23-4, 15-1 Big 12) defeated the No. 8 Cyclones (21-6, 11-5 Big 12) in a key conference matchup.

LJ Cryer discusses mindset behind beating Iowa State this time

Going into Saturday's showdown with Iowa State at Fertitta Center, LJ Cryer and the Cougars were seeking redemption after suffering two losses to Iowa State last season.

After Cryer led Houston to victory this time around, he explained his mindset and what the win meant to the team.

"We knew last year that they beat us twice. Well, we only won one time, so going into the game, we kind of kept that in mind, and we had to get that bad taste out of our mouth," he said (at 6:16). "They beat us real bad in the Big 12 tournament, so coming into this game, it was just to win the game."

The two teams faced each other three times in the 2023-24 season. Iowa State defeated Houston 57-53 in only their second Big 12 game but the Cougars got revenge, snagging a 73-65 win in February last year. Then in the Big 12 tournament championship, the Cyclones blew out Houston 69-41.