Iowa State needed to take care of business on Saturday afternoon and after a lethargic start to the game, they did just that. Leading by just two points at the half, the Cyclones went on to comfortably put TCU away in the following stanza, ultimately winning by a score of 83-66.
With the win, Iowa State moves to 6-2 in Big 12 play and will get a chance to even things up at the top of conference as they travel to Lawrence to battle Kansas on Monday night. We'll get to the Jayhawks in due time, but for now, we'll turn our focus to today's victory.
It's hard to believe, but it took eight league games before Iowa State managed to win one going away. The 17-point margin of victory was one point shy of matching the combined margin of victory (18 points) for Iowa State's other five conference wins.
Georges Niang led the way for the Cyclones on Saturday, pouring in 23 points and grabbing 8 rebounds while also dishing out 3 assists. Niang was 8-15 from the floor, 6-7 from the stripe and 1-2 from outside. More importantly, Niang looked relaxed throughout the contest, didn't force the action and scored within the flow of the game.
Not to be outdone, Monte Morris was just as impressive, scoring 16 points while also dishing out 6 assists. Morris was continually a spark plug throughout the game and played 37 outstanding minutes. He shot 7-9 overall and made his only 3-point attempt and his only free throw. Morris is playing himself right into the Big 12 Player of the Year conversation.
Dustin Hogue and Bryce Dejean-Jones also joined Niang and Morris in double figures. Dejean-Jones in particular played with great energy on both ends and finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Hogue was relentless in the paint and came away with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Abdel Nader also played well off the bench, scoring 9 points and pulling down 3 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Iowa State enjoyed a more familiar "Hoiball" performance offensively, shooting 56.4% from the floor, while hitting 5-11 from outside. Much criticized for their woes at the line, the Cyclones also managed to knock down 16-20 free throws. Iowa State did turn it over 13 times, but was +14 on the glass.
TCU simply was out-talented in the second half and finished the game shooting 40.6% from the floor and hit just 1-8 free throws. The Horned Frogs did an excellent job of taking care of the ball, however, turning it over just 6 times, which allowed them to hang around for the first 30 minutes or so.
After squandering big leads against Texas and Kansas in recent games, the Cardinal and Gold faithful finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief as Iowa State managed to bury TCU late in Saturday's action. It wasn't a beautiful 40 minutes by any means, but it's tough to pick nits with a 17-point win after the seven previous heartburn efforts we've seen.
Iowa State is still prone to giving up quick 5-0 runs after building double-digit leads, but the Cyclones kept TCU at arm's length and delivered in a spot where they needed to restore their confidence and that's exactly what happened in the final 10 minutes of this game.
Now that the Cyclones have avoided the trap contest, they can turn their full attention to Kansas and building a game plan that will hopefully allow them to win in "the Phog" for the first time since 2005 (which is coincidentally the last time I attended an ISU-Kansas game in Lawrence). That game will tip off at 8 PM on ESPN.