TCU hangs on for much-needed victory over No. 19 Iowa State
TCU put to rest any NCAA Tournament doubts. For now.
It wasn’t easy, or pretty at times, but the Frogs held on for a 75-72 victory over No. 19 Iowa State on Saturday afternoon at Schollmaier Arena.
TCU (18-9, 6-8 Big 12) snapped a three-game losing streak and picked up a crucial win over a ranked team to boost its resume. The Frogs, despite missing 10 free throws on the day, have now posted consecutive seasons with multiple wins over ranked teams for the first time in program history.
Much credit went to the return of sophomore forward Kouat Noi, who posted his second career double-double after missing the previous two games with a left ankle injury. The Frogs lost both games to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, and are 0-3 when Noi is out of the lineup in conference play.
“He adds another element to us, somebody who can stretch the floor,” junior guard Desmond Bane said of Noi.
“He impacts us on defense, too, which allows us to get out and get some easy offense.”
Said Noi: “It was tough not being out there with my team, but it was good to be out there today and get an opportunity to win.”
Noi finished with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds, including 10 rebounds in the first half. The Frogs clearly need his offense after failing to reach the 70-point mark in the previous two games.
And his length helped on the defensive end.
Iowa State (19-8, 8-6), which entered as the second-best 3-point shooting team in the Big 12, went just 2-for-20 from deep. That marked a season-low in 3-pointers made by Iowa State.
“You need some luck. They missed some open ones,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “But when you look, they’re a 3-point shooting team and they only had 20 of their 70 shots it means you probably weren’t giving them many good looks. A lot of broken plays that maybe got them some open looks. I thought we guarded well on the perimeter.”
TCU, meanwhile, relied on its 3-point shooting in the second half, knocking down 7-of-13 attempts.
Iowa State had taken a 60-56 lead with less than eight minutes left, but Noi drained a 3-pointer and then knocked down two free throws as TCU regained a 61-60 lead in 57-second stretch.
Iowa State took a 62-61 lead on the next possession on a two-pointer by Arlington Martin product Nick Weiler-Babb, but Noi answered with a 3-pointer.
Then Bane drained a 3-pointer to make it 67-62 with 5:12 left.
Asked about that stretch, Noi said: “We had to get the momentum going. So when I hit them 3s, D-Bane hits some and then JD knocked down some free throws toward the end … that was big for us.”
Still, the game hung in the balance to the end.
Bane drained a crucial 3-pointer with 1:56 left to break a 68-68 tie, but Iowa State cut the deficit to one point a couple times in the final minute.
TCU stayed in front, though. Senior forward JD Miller made a layup, although failed to convert a three-point play, with 41 seconds left for a 73-70 lead.
Miller said he relishes the ball in his hands in the final seconds as he made a game-winner against Oklahoma State earlier this month.
“I just do my job out there,” Miller said. “My teammates give me the ball down low and they expect me to go to work. That’s what I try to do, you know what I mean? I try to make them happy and see what we did today.”
Noi made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left and TCU sweated out a much-needed victory.
“Oh, we needed it,” Dixon said. “We needed the one we lost the other day [at Oklahoma State], but we didn’t get it. You’re battling. Everybody is.
“Our goals haven’t changed and our expectations haven’t changed. We needed the win.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 3:07 PM.
