Keshon Gilbert scored 20 points and Curtis Jones added 17 as No. 24 Iowa State overcame the absence of leading scorer Tamin Lipsey and held on for a 73-72 road victory Saturday over No. 19 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
Milan Momcilovic had 10 points for the Cyclones (14-4, 3-2 Big 12), who dominated the first half by shooting 56.3 percent from the floor and forcing the Horned Frogs into 18 turnovers, well above their average of 12.6 per game. TCU finished the game with 27 turnovers.
With Lipsey, who was out with a sprained left shoulder, Gilbert went 8 of 15 from the floor as Iowa State rebounded from an 87-72 loss at BYU on Tuesday.
Trevian Tennyson scored 19 points, Micah Peavy had 11 with nine rebounds and Emanuel Miller added 10 points as the Horned Frogs (13-5, 2-3) lost their second consecutive game after a victory over then-No. 2 Houston on Jan. 13.
Iowa State poured it on in the first half, taking a 28-18 lead with 8:30 remaining in the first half and going out in front 44-26 at halftime, led by 14 points from Gilbert.
The Horned Frogs opened the second half on a 7-0 run to pull within 44-33 before the Cyclones opened their biggest lead of the game at 57-38 with 14:27 remaining after a 3-pointer from Momcilovic.
Iowa State led 69-56 with 5:33 remaining before TCU made a late charge. The Horned Frogs got back within single digits at 71-63 on a jumper from Peavy with 2:56 left and were within 71-67 on a fastbreak layup from Tennyson with 1:47 to go.
Leading 73-69 with 20 seconds remaining, Iowa State’s Gilbert missed a free throw but TCU’s JaKobe Coles missed a 3-point attempt with 13 seconds left. The Horned Frogs pulled to within a point at the buzzer on a 3-pointer from Tennyson.
Iowa State shot 36.7 percent from the floor in the second half while TCU made half of their 32 shots after the break to nearly pull off the comeback.
–Field Level Media
