No. 14 Iowa State finishes strong, downs TCU

Tre King scored 15 points and No. 14 Iowa State held off TCU 71-59 on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

The Cyclones shot 50 percent (24 of 48) in winning their second straight game and improving to 14-0 at home. Keshon Gilbert and Curtis Jones each had 13 points for Iowa State (18-5, 7-3 Big 12 Conference) in addition to King's 15.

TCU (16-7, 5-5) dropped its second consecutive contest and is now 2-3 on the road in Big 12 play. Emanuel Miller led the Horned Frogs with 18 points.

Iowa State gained momentum early, going up 15-6 by the 12:28 mark on Jackson Paveletzke's 3-pointer. Two free throws from King extended the advantage to 17-6 as the Horned Frogs struggled offensively.

TCU fell behind 20-8 before JaKobe Coles' 3-pointer cut the deficit back to single digits with 8:31 left in the half, as the Horned Frogs battled through a 1-of-13 shooting stretch.

But as quick as Iowa State jumped in front, TCU soon found itself within striking distance. A 7-2 TCU run coincided with a three-minute Iowa State scoring drought as Miller's jumper cut the Cyclones' advantage to 22-18 with 3:51 remaining. With TCU building momentum, Jones and Lipsey each connected on 3-pointers inside the final two minutes of the half, extending Iowa State's lead to 30-20.

The Cyclones picked up where they left off in the early minutes of the second half after holding a 30-22 halftime lead. Iowa State scored the first eight points, as Milan Momcilovic's 3-pointer with 16:30 left put the hosts ahead, 38-22.

The Iowa State lead widened to 17 with 12:56 left, as Demarion Watson put down a statement dunk that forced TCU coach Jamie Dixon to use a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It worked, as the Horned Frogs countered with a 10-0 run sparked by a dunk from Ernest Udeh Jr., to trim the deficit to 49-42.

That was as close as TCU came to the lead, as Iowa State scored six of the game's next eight points and took a 55-44 advantage.

The Horned Frogs' last gasp came with 6:16 left, as Miller scored on a second-chance opportunity to cut the deficit to eight. Iowa State's Hason Ward answered with a dunk 14 seconds later and from that point on, the Cyclones led by double digits, sealing their victory.