No. 22 TCU loses fourth straight in sloppy loss at No. 19 Iowa State
The losing streak continued for TCU with a fourth straight loss at Iowa State.
Without Mike Miles Jr. for the fourth straight game, the Horned Frogs’ offense once again was lackluster in the 70-59 defeat at the No. 19 Cyclones.
The Horned Frogs started the game down 13 and despite a few valiant runs, Iowa State still maintained control of the game. Already holding an 11-point lead, the Cyclones (17-8, 8-5) started the second half with a 12-2 run to build their lead to 47-26 with 15:52 remaining.
TCU (17-9, 6-7) made things interesting in the final two minutes as the Horned Frogs cut it to single digits, but it was too little too late. The Cyclones completed the season sweep of TCU thanks to the Horned Frogs struggles at the free throw line.
TCU went just 6-of-18 from the free throw line while Iowa State was 15-of-17. Shahada Wells paced TCU with 15 points while Micah Peavy added 13.
Sniper Kunc
Iowa State big man Aljaz Kunc missed a big chunk of Big 12 play with a broken finger and made his first start since December against TCU. Kunc’s finger seemed just fine, especially in the first half. Kunc drained four 3-pointers that were all timely.
He opened the game with a 3 and hit his second to stop a 12-0 run by TCU that briefly cut Iowa State’s lead to 15-14. His next 3-pointer of the half put the Cyclones back ahead 26-16 with just over six minutes before halftime and then after TCU missed two free throws with a chance to cut it to six, Kunc drained another 3-pointer from the corner to give Iowa State a 35-24 lead.
Kunc scored five quick points in the second half, including three free throws to help build Iowa State’s lead to 20. Kunc made the most of constant defensive lapses by TCU and was one of the differences in the game. Kunc had a game-high 22 points and made five 3-pointers.
Overcoming a brutal start
Without Miles for the fifth straight game, the Horned Frogs were ill equipped to attack the elite Iowa State defense early in the game. The top ranked defense in the Big 12 flustered TCU as the Horned Frogs didn’t score their first points until a Shahada Wells layup almost four minutes into the game.
Meanwhile the Cyclones thrived on early TCU turnovers with four quick points on giveaways that led to an early 13-2 advantage in the opening five minutes. A Holmes layup would push Iowa State’s lead to 15-2 and forced a quick timeout from a disappointed Dixon.
Whatever Dixon said at that timeout worked as the Horned Frogs went on a 12-0 run to cut the early deficit to 15-14, but the Cyclones responded with a 13-2 run to retake control of the game and led 35-24 at the half. One of the keys to their early success was TCU’s shortcomings at the free throw line.
The Horned Frogs made just two of their first 10 free throws and made just two 3-pointers to Iowa State’s five. The two areas that TCU struggled with in the narrow loss to Baylor and the season overall once again put the Horned Frogs in a bad spot.
