TCU basketball avoids Big 12 upset, rallies by last-place Iowa State
PJ Fuller glanced over at the bench to make sure he had the green light to score with 24 seconds left.
TCU had a 77-74 lead at the time and Fuller was wide-open on a press break. RJ Nembhard read the play perfectly from the baseline and heaved a pass down to Fuller.
Fuller was given the go-ahead, of course, and had an easy two-handed slam. That proved to be the pivotal play in TCU’s 79-76 victory over Iowa State on Tuesday night at Schollmaier Arena.
“That’s how athletic he is,” Nembhard said, laughing about Fuller’s play. “He slowed down and looked to see if it was OK and then sprung up for the two-handed dunk.”
All joking aside, that play came at the perfect time for the Frogs. They were on the brink of an upset against the last-place Cyclones.
But TCU (11-7, 4-5 Big 12) escaped with a victory and has now won two straight following a five-game losing streak. Iowa State (2-12, 0-9 Big 12), meanwhile, remains winless in conference play.
“The Big 12 is no pushover. Iowa State is a good team,” Nembhard said. “Teams aren’t going to lay down whether you’re in first place or last place. You’ve got to come with your A game every night.”
Nembhard finished with a team-high 20 points on a 4 of 16 shooting night, a performance he admitted was “ugly.” Fuller and Taryn Todd both had 11 points for the Frogs, while junior center Kevin Samuel finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Terren Frank had a nice game off the bench finishing with eight points and four rebounds in a season-long 20 minutes.
The Frogs were without their second leading scorer, freshman Mike Miles, who missed the game with an illness that is non-COVID related. Sophomore guard Francisco Farabello remains sidelined, too, as he works his way through COVID protocols.
Iowa State’s Rasir Bolton had a game-high 26 points with half of them coming from the free throw line (13 for 13).
With the game tied at 66-all with three minutes left, TCU took the lead on a jumper by Todd. Then Chuck O’Bannon blocked a shot on the defensive end, setting up a fast-break layup by Nembhard.
Nembhard drew a foul on the play and converted the three-point play to give the Frogs a 71-66 lead with two minutes, 21 seconds left.
The Frogs stayed in front the rest of the way, essentially sealing the game on Fuller’s fast-break dunk with 24 seconds left.
“We ran a couple different press breaks,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “A great pass by RJ, good timing, everyone was on the same page. … We’ve been pretty good against the press.”
Iowa State made it a one-possession game on a layup by Tre Jackson with 11 seconds left, but Jackson’s potential game-tying 3-pointer didn’t connect with five seconds left.
In the end, TCU escaped with a victory. The Frogs dominated on the boards with a season-high 51 rebounds compared to the Cyclones’ 34, but only shot 38.5% from the field. TCU also missed nine free throws (22 of 31).
But it was enough for TCU and an all-too-familiar ending for Iowa State.
Despite what its record suggests, ISU has played teams close with two losses against ranked teams within the past week. ISU fell 76-72 to West Virginia on Feb. 2 and then had a 79-72 loss at Oklahoma on Saturday. The Cyclones played a ranked Texas team tough last month, too, falling 78-72 in Austin on Jan. 5.
“They’re young, they’ve had a lot of guys in and out [due to COVID], which is not a recipe for success in this league,” Dixon said. “But this team, Iowa State, they’re just battling. They’re well coached and run good stuff.”
TCU faces No. 13 Texas on Saturday in Austin. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 10:34 PM.
