Three takeaways as TCU men’s basketball upsets No. 5 team to boost NCAA hopes
TCU men’s basketball captured its biggest win of the season with a 62-55 upset of No. 5 Iowa State on Tuesday night at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs (15-9, 5-6) entered the night trending in the wrong direction for an NCAA Tournament bid, but the win over the Cyclones (21-3, 8-3) is the type of victory that could be the difference in TCU reaching March Madness.
“We had to get one, and I told our players this had to be the one,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We had to get it done, defensively and rebounding. We kind of grinded it out. Defensively we forced 17 turnovers and outrebounded them. That was the difference.”
It was a victory that almost didn’t happen, as the Horned Frogs had to dig deep.
With a chance to secure a victory that would change the outlook of their season, the Horned Frogs watched an eight-point lead with less than nine minutes remaining turn into a 53-50 deficit with 3:19 remaining.
Iowa State slowed the game down and went on a 12-1 run to retake control, but TCU still had an opportunity to pull off the upset.
After allowing a layup by the Cyclones, TCU responded with a dunk off a backdoor cut by Micah Robinson to cut it to 55-52. After forcing a turnover, Jayden Pierre made it a one-point game as he shrugged off contact to bury a floater in the lane with 1:35 remaining.
The Horned Frogs forced another turnover on a shot clock violation and got the ball back with 1:05 remaining and a chance to take the lead. Pierre hit another clutch basket as he knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer over a defender to put TCU ahead 57-55 with 40.2 seconds remaining.
“On the first one I thought I got fouled, so I just shot it, and it went in,” Pierre said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t say I was trying to make it, I was just trying to get the foul. The last one, I was just confident. I saw it was about nine seconds left and a big guy was guarding me. It was a routine shot I work on every day, I haven’t been making them the last couple of games, but I trusted my work and I felt confident in that moment.”
The Horned Frogs’ defense forced another turnover that led to a breakout dunk by Robinson that gave TCU a 59-55 lead with 25.5. seconds remaining. The dunk by Robinson would be the clincher as TCU pulled off the dramatic upset, scoring the final 12 points of the game.
TCU’s student section stormed the court after the win as the Horned Frogs secured their first top-five win since defeating Houston on Jan. 13, 2024.
“I feel like that [win] was for the fan base,” Robinson said. “I feel like they’ve constantly come out and supported us in these previous games when we came up short, but it was definitely good to let them experience that.”
TCU will travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.
Here are three more takeaways from the upset win:
Robinson gets his moment
With a chance for a season-defining win, Dixon went with a change to the starting lineup as sophomore forward Micah Robinson started in place of Liutaurus Lelevicius against the Cyclones. It was only Robinson’s second start of the season, but the former blue-chip recruit quickly showed why Dixon’s decision was a wise one.
Robinson scored the first four points for TCU, but one of his biggest moments would come in the final minutes before halftime. The Horned Frogs were reeling, down 28-19 with less than four minutes remaining, when Robinson sparked a 10-2 run that changed the direction of the game. He knocked down two free throws and then added a 3-pointer that awakened the crowd at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs cut Iowa State’s lead to 30-29 at halftime as Robinson finished with nine points in the half. To his credit, Lelevicius also played well off the bench, knocking down multiple 3-pointers. But at the end it was Robinson who closed the game, and his defense on Iowa State wing Milan Momcilovic played a vital role in the upset.
Robinson finished with a team-high 17 points.
“It means a lot, it just shows the trust the coaching staff has in me,” Robinson said.
Toolson provides the spark
With Iowa State’s tenacious defense limiting TCU guards Brock Harding and Jayden Pierre, the Horned Frogs needed someone to pick up their scoring slack, and it was Tanner Toolson who rose to the occasion. Toolson played with a sense of reckless abandon as he flew all over the court making countless crucial plays.
During the second half, Toolson scored eight points during a decisive 10-0 run that put TCU ahead 49-41 with less than nine minutes remaining. He created most of his points by attacking the heart of the Iowa State defense and getting to the free throw line as he knocked down 10 of his 15 attempts. Toolson also came up with three steals and countless more deflections that allowed TCU to play in transition.
That pace favored the Horned Frogs as the Cyclones were unable to get set defensively in the half court. Toolson also crashed the glass and snagged multiple rebounds with the game hanging in the balance.
“He won us the game really,” Pierre said. “His effort and his impact was tremendous and something we needed.”
Toolson finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Veteran wings
The Big 12 has been dominated by freshman talents like BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa and Houston’s Kingston Flemings, but Iowa State has risen in the polls behind its pair of dynamic veteran wings Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic. The two upperclassmen used contrasting styles to frustrate TCU defensively.
Jefferson, a senior, did most of his damage in the paint including converting a layup with just 0.3 seconds in the first half to put the Cyclones back ahead at the half. Meanwhile, Momcilovic, a junior, stretched the Horned Frogs’ defense with his shooting prowess as he knocked down two 3s in the first half.
Iowa State’s Momcilovic and Jefferson knocked down back-to-back 3s to spark an 8-0 run that tied the game at 49 with 5:42 remaining. Jefferson finished with 11 while Momcilovic finished with 12, but TCU held both scoreless in the final five minutes to pull off the upset.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 10:59 PM.
