- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,129,275
- Reaction score
- 59
FORT WORTH, Texas — The previous game against Baylor ended well for Iowa State men's basketball, but there was a cautionary tale included as a comfortable double-digit lead evaporated in the closing minutes.
The Cyclones managed to hang on for the win, but they weren't as lucky in a much tighter game against TCU.
They couldn't put away the Horned Frogs, and TCU promptly punished them for their miscues down the stretch.
In a closely-contested game, the resilient Horned Frogs upset the Cyclones, 62-55 at Schollmaier Arena on Feb. 10. TCU went on a game-sealing 12-0 run over the final 2:14 of action.
Iowa State did not have any players available in the post-game press conference.
Iowa State (21-3, 8-3 Big 12 Conference) had a 30-29 halftime lead, thanks to a last-second basket by Joshua Jefferson before the break. After the break, the Horned Frogs started to impose themselves and led 49-41 after a big run midway through the second half.
Following the under-8 media timeout, Iowa State had a 14-1 run that allowed the Cyclones to take a 55-50 lead with 2:38 left, before the game slipped away.
Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 12 points apiece. Milan Momcilovic had 11 points, and shot 3-of-11 from deep.
For TCU (15-9, 5-6), Micah Robinson had 17 points after being promoted to the starting five. Tanner Toolson added 17 more points off the bench, including 11 in the second half.
Here are three takeaways from the Cyclones' loss:
Iowa State puts plenty on itself for its habits, consistency, effort and mental toughness. It's been the recipe for the Cyclones' success and a consistent theme in 21 victories. They were rolling with momentum and entered with a five-game winning streak.
When things haven't gone well for the Cyclones, there has seemingly been deficiencies in some of those areas. The lopsided loss to Kansas can be somewhat attributed to a hot start by the Jayhawks and the historic difficulties that come with playing at Allen Fieldhouse, but the Cincinnati and TCU losses featured uncharacteristic play from the Cyclones.
Unlike the Cincinnati game, though, there appeared to be moments where the Cyclones led and was on the path to victory against TCU.
They had assists on each of their first 14 baskets of the game, including an assist for every first-half make, with crisp ball movement to start. The Cyclones limited leading scorer David Punch and ended Xavier Edmond's double-double streak.
Iowa State led, 28-19, after a Dominykas Pleta dunk with 4:16 remaining in the first half. Sloppy play and an offensive lull allowed TCU to respond with a 10-0 run to briefly grab the lead, before Joshua Jefferson had a last-second basket before the half to put the Cyclones back in front.
Things unraveled in the second half, as offensive struggles and turnovers piled up. Iowa State was outrebounded, 36-31, for the game.
It surrendered another run, before digging deep after the under-8 media time out with a 14-1 surge to lead, 55-50, with 2:38 remaining in the game.
Just when it looked like Iowa State would survive, the Cyclones faltered late and TCU had a 12-0 run to snatch the game.
"We got some confidence of seeing the basketball go through the hoop, obviously Milan hit a big three, Joshua hit a big three," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the Cyclones' late run to take the lead. "Then we started to get some stops, and then we needed to see it go through to get some confidence. Felt like we had a little bit more space out there when we went the smaller lineup without a true center out there and Jefferson at the '5.' (Nate) Heise had some great cuts and great finishes, so we got ourselves back into a good position and just couldn't do enough.
"Once we built that, whatever it was (five-)point lead, we couldn't get the stops we needed to put ourselves in position from there."
Between the ups-and-downs and getting outrebounded, Iowa State had plenty of turnovers, key players struggled to get comfortable, and TCU was unrelenting and wasn't giving the ball up at a high clip.
Its inconsistency throughout the game allowed the Horned Frogs to remain in position until they took the game late.
With a tough six-game stretch ahead, which starts against heavy-hitters Kansas (Feb. 14) and Houston (Feb. 16), Otzelberger doesn't believe the Cyclones fell into a trap situation. TCU had some impressive showings this season and they didn't take them lightly.
"We knew coming here that we're going to play a TCU team that was going to be as desperate and urgent as a win as anybody we play the rest of the way," Otzelberger said. "It's important that you take it one day at a time, you focus on how can you get better, what can you learn and how can you get better."
The Cyclones racked up 17 turnovers, which is the second-most they've had this season. Based on their crisp ball movement in the first half, it wasn't the expected way they would finish in this margin.
"Their pressure over time wore us down, they were relentless," Otzelberger said of his team's turnovers. "It had an impact, especially as it wore on later in the game, just their ability to disrupt and frustrate us and not let us get the rhythm we wanted offensively. I don't know if there's as much of a schematic adjustment as more probably a wear-down in terms of our ability to take care of the ball and make the plays we needed to."
They had 18 turnovers in the 84-71 win at Oklahoma State on Jan. 24.
Joshua Jefferson finished with six turnovers, which tied his season-high. He also had six giveaways against Baylor on Jan. 7 and in the Dec. 6 rout of Purdue.
While he has been an impressive player this season, Tuesday night was a lowlight. He had 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, with eight boards, nine assists, three steals, two blocks and six of his team's 17 turnovers.
He got stripped in traffic, had some tough decisions and there were times he could have potentially had more turnovers, but he was able to recover after getting the ball knocked loose.
"It was a variety of guys on Jefferson," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said of the plan for the versatile big man. "He's obviously a hard guard, they played him at the '5' down the stretch. Our bigs, we're not big, but they have good feet and we try to use that as part of our defense. I think normally, he's able to beat guys off the dribble maybe easier than (David) Punch and (Edmonds)."
Jefferson wasn't the only guilty verdict. Lipsey had three turnovers, Momcilovic and Toure had two apiece.
During TCU's run to take the lead, the Horned Frogs pulled away late as a result of consecutive turnovers by the Cyclones.
A turnover by Toure led to a jumper by Jayden Pierre to trim the deficit down to one. The Cyclones followed up with a shot-clock violation, which led to Pierre's go-ahead 3-pointer.
Iowa State immediately had a turnover by Lipsey, which resulted in an insurance dunk by Micah Robinson to make it a two-possession game with less than a minute to go.
The Cyclones still managed to generate 15 turnovers, but the Horned Frogs did a great job of getting back in transition and limiting the damage on fast-breaks.
Iowa State had 14 points off turnovers, but only four fast-break points. The Cyclones are at their best when they're able to get out and run.
With more importance on half-court offense, Iowa State appeared to still get some good, open shot looks that just wouldn't drop, but when things started looking dire — turnovers, desperation mistakes and a poor shooting night made the game even more difficult to salvage.
The Cyclones have previously won even when the 3-ball is not dropping, but there was no outrunning the 17-turnover performance or getting outrebounded.
Iowa State shot 24-of-57 (42.1%) overall and just 5-for-23 (21.7%) from deep. The Cyclones went 2-for-8 from the free-throw line, which included several front ends of one-and-ones.
Iowa State recorded a season-low 55 points.
"(Dixon) is a coach I've respected for a long time and his teams are always highly competitive and play physical, and played with great purpose," Otzelberger said. "He did an unbelievable job having his team prepared tonight and they really executed for him and made big plays down the stretch. All the credit goes to TCU, their coaches, their players and their program, they did a great job tonight and obviously they took it to us."
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 3 things we learned from Iowa State basketball in loss to TCU
Continue reading...
The Cyclones managed to hang on for the win, but they weren't as lucky in a much tighter game against TCU.
They couldn't put away the Horned Frogs, and TCU promptly punished them for their miscues down the stretch.
In a closely-contested game, the resilient Horned Frogs upset the Cyclones, 62-55 at Schollmaier Arena on Feb. 10. TCU went on a game-sealing 12-0 run over the final 2:14 of action.
Iowa State did not have any players available in the post-game press conference.
Iowa State (21-3, 8-3 Big 12 Conference) had a 30-29 halftime lead, thanks to a last-second basket by Joshua Jefferson before the break. After the break, the Horned Frogs started to impose themselves and led 49-41 after a big run midway through the second half.
Following the under-8 media timeout, Iowa State had a 14-1 run that allowed the Cyclones to take a 55-50 lead with 2:38 left, before the game slipped away.
Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 12 points apiece. Milan Momcilovic had 11 points, and shot 3-of-11 from deep.
For TCU (15-9, 5-6), Micah Robinson had 17 points after being promoted to the starting five. Tanner Toolson added 17 more points off the bench, including 11 in the second half.
Here are three takeaways from the Cyclones' loss:
Jekyll and Hyde-like showing for Iowa State, inconsistent execution costly
Iowa State puts plenty on itself for its habits, consistency, effort and mental toughness. It's been the recipe for the Cyclones' success and a consistent theme in 21 victories. They were rolling with momentum and entered with a five-game winning streak.
When things haven't gone well for the Cyclones, there has seemingly been deficiencies in some of those areas. The lopsided loss to Kansas can be somewhat attributed to a hot start by the Jayhawks and the historic difficulties that come with playing at Allen Fieldhouse, but the Cincinnati and TCU losses featured uncharacteristic play from the Cyclones.
Unlike the Cincinnati game, though, there appeared to be moments where the Cyclones led and was on the path to victory against TCU.
They had assists on each of their first 14 baskets of the game, including an assist for every first-half make, with crisp ball movement to start. The Cyclones limited leading scorer David Punch and ended Xavier Edmond's double-double streak.
Iowa State led, 28-19, after a Dominykas Pleta dunk with 4:16 remaining in the first half. Sloppy play and an offensive lull allowed TCU to respond with a 10-0 run to briefly grab the lead, before Joshua Jefferson had a last-second basket before the half to put the Cyclones back in front.
Things unraveled in the second half, as offensive struggles and turnovers piled up. Iowa State was outrebounded, 36-31, for the game.
It surrendered another run, before digging deep after the under-8 media time out with a 14-1 surge to lead, 55-50, with 2:38 remaining in the game.
Just when it looked like Iowa State would survive, the Cyclones faltered late and TCU had a 12-0 run to snatch the game.
"We got some confidence of seeing the basketball go through the hoop, obviously Milan hit a big three, Joshua hit a big three," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the Cyclones' late run to take the lead. "Then we started to get some stops, and then we needed to see it go through to get some confidence. Felt like we had a little bit more space out there when we went the smaller lineup without a true center out there and Jefferson at the '5.' (Nate) Heise had some great cuts and great finishes, so we got ourselves back into a good position and just couldn't do enough.
"Once we built that, whatever it was (five-)point lead, we couldn't get the stops we needed to put ourselves in position from there."
Between the ups-and-downs and getting outrebounded, Iowa State had plenty of turnovers, key players struggled to get comfortable, and TCU was unrelenting and wasn't giving the ball up at a high clip.
Its inconsistency throughout the game allowed the Horned Frogs to remain in position until they took the game late.
With a tough six-game stretch ahead, which starts against heavy-hitters Kansas (Feb. 14) and Houston (Feb. 16), Otzelberger doesn't believe the Cyclones fell into a trap situation. TCU had some impressive showings this season and they didn't take them lightly.
"We knew coming here that we're going to play a TCU team that was going to be as desperate and urgent as a win as anybody we play the rest of the way," Otzelberger said. "It's important that you take it one day at a time, you focus on how can you get better, what can you learn and how can you get better."
TCU made Iowa State uncomfortable and generated turnovers
The Cyclones racked up 17 turnovers, which is the second-most they've had this season. Based on their crisp ball movement in the first half, it wasn't the expected way they would finish in this margin.
"Their pressure over time wore us down, they were relentless," Otzelberger said of his team's turnovers. "It had an impact, especially as it wore on later in the game, just their ability to disrupt and frustrate us and not let us get the rhythm we wanted offensively. I don't know if there's as much of a schematic adjustment as more probably a wear-down in terms of our ability to take care of the ball and make the plays we needed to."
They had 18 turnovers in the 84-71 win at Oklahoma State on Jan. 24.
Joshua Jefferson finished with six turnovers, which tied his season-high. He also had six giveaways against Baylor on Jan. 7 and in the Dec. 6 rout of Purdue.
While he has been an impressive player this season, Tuesday night was a lowlight. He had 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, with eight boards, nine assists, three steals, two blocks and six of his team's 17 turnovers.
He got stripped in traffic, had some tough decisions and there were times he could have potentially had more turnovers, but he was able to recover after getting the ball knocked loose.
"It was a variety of guys on Jefferson," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said of the plan for the versatile big man. "He's obviously a hard guard, they played him at the '5' down the stretch. Our bigs, we're not big, but they have good feet and we try to use that as part of our defense. I think normally, he's able to beat guys off the dribble maybe easier than (David) Punch and (Edmonds)."
Jefferson wasn't the only guilty verdict. Lipsey had three turnovers, Momcilovic and Toure had two apiece.
During TCU's run to take the lead, the Horned Frogs pulled away late as a result of consecutive turnovers by the Cyclones.
A turnover by Toure led to a jumper by Jayden Pierre to trim the deficit down to one. The Cyclones followed up with a shot-clock violation, which led to Pierre's go-ahead 3-pointer.
Iowa State immediately had a turnover by Lipsey, which resulted in an insurance dunk by Micah Robinson to make it a two-possession game with less than a minute to go.
Iowa State limited in transition, suffered poor shooting night
The Cyclones still managed to generate 15 turnovers, but the Horned Frogs did a great job of getting back in transition and limiting the damage on fast-breaks.
Iowa State had 14 points off turnovers, but only four fast-break points. The Cyclones are at their best when they're able to get out and run.
With more importance on half-court offense, Iowa State appeared to still get some good, open shot looks that just wouldn't drop, but when things started looking dire — turnovers, desperation mistakes and a poor shooting night made the game even more difficult to salvage.
The Cyclones have previously won even when the 3-ball is not dropping, but there was no outrunning the 17-turnover performance or getting outrebounded.
Iowa State shot 24-of-57 (42.1%) overall and just 5-for-23 (21.7%) from deep. The Cyclones went 2-for-8 from the free-throw line, which included several front ends of one-and-ones.
Iowa State recorded a season-low 55 points.
"(Dixon) is a coach I've respected for a long time and his teams are always highly competitive and play physical, and played with great purpose," Otzelberger said. "He did an unbelievable job having his team prepared tonight and they really executed for him and made big plays down the stretch. All the credit goes to TCU, their coaches, their players and their program, they did a great job tonight and obviously they took it to us."
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 3 things we learned from Iowa State basketball in loss to TCU
Continue reading...
