TCU Loses To Iowa State
FORT WORTH, Texas — Iowa State is re-establishing itself as a power in the Big 12 Conference, and took care of business against bottom-feeder TCU on Saturday.
The Cyclones didn’t have a hangover from their upset of top-ranked Oklahoma on Monday, and certainly weren’t looking ahead to a marquee showdown against Kansas on Monday.
Instead, 19th-ranked Iowa State focused on picking up a road win and felt good about itself after a 73-60 victory over the Horned Frogs at Schollmaier Arena.
The Cyclones showed they are on another level than TCU, overcoming 23 turnovers. Iowa State outshot TCU by a staggering 54 percent to 39.1 percent, and made 8-of-15 3-pointers.
“Road win … anytime you get a road win is great,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “We had to come here and take care of business. Glad we won and took care of business.”
The Cyclones (15-3, 4-3 in the Big 12) moved above .500 for the first time in conference play, and is on a three-game winning streak going into its showdown against the Jayhawks in Ames, Iowa.
That, however, wasn’t on their mind.
“The league is really good from top to bottom — you can’t underestimate
anyone,” Prohm said. “I never even talked about Kansas. I haven’t talked about it.
“I’m sure Kansas isn’t talking about us until now. … The league is too good to look ahead of anybody.”
Added junior guard Monte Morris, who had a game-high 18 points: “Kansas is no different than TCU — Big 12 game. This is going to be my seventh time going against Kansas. I’m not overwhelmed. We’re going to treat it as another game.”
Morris certainly did his part in making sure the Cyclones didn’t look past the Frogs, playing a key role in a game-changing 11-0 run in the first half.
The Frogs had a 19-15 lead with 8:47 left in the first half, but the Cyclones eventually found their rhythm on both sides of the court.
The highlight play during their run happened to be a steal and fast-break layup by Morris, which gave Iowa State its first lead at 21-19 since an early 5-4 advantage.
Morris dissected the play perfectly, picking off a pass by TCU’s Brandon Parrish and going the length of the floor for an easy bucket.
“I took the chance and got the steal,” Morris said. “Just happy for our run. We built on it and were successful.”
TCU committed seven turnovers during Iowa State’s run, enduring a 5:20 scoring drought before freshman forward JD Miller’s basket with 3:27 left in the opening half.
By that point, Iowa State had built a 26-21 lead and comfortably stayed in front the rest of the way.
The Cyclones were even helped by a 3-pointer at the end of the first half, when senior forward Abdel Nader knocked down a shot at the buzzer for a 37-28 lead going into the locker rooms.
Iowa State didn’t let up in the second half, keeping its foot on the gas. The Cyclones took a 52-34 lead with 14:56 left on a 3-pointer by Matt Thomas, who finished with 15, and put it in cruise control the rest of the way.
TCU never managed to get back within a single-digit deficit, suffering its worst home loss of the season.
The Frogs (9-10, 1-6) are sub-.500 on the year, and appear headed for a losing season for the third time in four years under Trent Johnson.
“Without looking at the tape, I think a lot of (the turnovers) were unforced,” Johnson said of his team’s 18 turnovers. “I want to tip my hat to Iowa State, but obviously we’re our own Achilles heel right now in terms of crucial situations and crucial games.
“I spent way too much time, I thought, trying to get the guys’ confidence up. I felt more like a cheerleader. You know, we’re down eight, we’re down eight, we need to finish the half. You just got to keep playing, you got to worry about the next play, as opposed to the negative play that happened before.”
One thing the Frogs did fairly well is contain Iowa State guard Georges Niang, a national player of the year candidate. Niang, who entered averaging 21.5 points in conference play, finished with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting with five assists and five rebounds.
TCU sophomore guard Chauncey Collins led his team with 14 points, while Vladimir Brodziansky had 12.
“I don’t think we stepped back, just had a bad shooting night,” Brodziansky said after the Frogs lost their third straight game. “We are not a team that is going to give up.
“We just need to get better every game. … Iowa State is a really good team.”
