The first time playing against the last place team in the Big 12, the Cyclone offense came in bunches, mainly from Melvin Ejim, overshadowing the lack of defense. 

On Feb. 8 in an 84-69 win against Texas Christian University, Ejim set a Big 12 record, scoring 48 points on 20-of-24 shooting. He dunked six times, five coming from alley-oops. Ejim’s teammates fed him again and again in transition, assisting him on 17 of his 20 made buckets against the Horned Frogs. 

“It’s rewarding,” Ejim said after the game. “It’s good to see that your hard work has paid off. The endless hours that you put in the gym in the summers working out trying to get better every day.”

Head coach Fred Hoiberg recalled the first game he scouted as a member of the Timberwolves front office. He watched Kevin Durant drop 40 points and grab 20 rebounds at Colorado. And even with Durant in the middle of an MVP race playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA, for the time being it will be Ejim’s name that will be showcased as the record-holder. 

“I think this will get a lot of national attention because it’s a Big 12 record,” Hoiberg said after the first game. “There’s been some pretty special players that have gone through this league and for a guy like Durant and Blake Griffin and all the great players that have gone through this league, Melvin Ejim’s name is at the top for points and that’s unbelievable for a guy, like you said, who doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves.”

But what Ejim’s record-setting performance did was overshadow one of Iowa State’s worst defensive performances on the season. 

TCU sits in last place in the Big 12 in scoring offense, field goal percentage and second-to-last in 3-point percentage. Against Iowa State, the Horned Frogs scored above their season average points per game with 69 and made nine triples at a 39 percent clip, which is also above their season average. 

Hoiberg said after the game they needed every bucket Ejim scored because TCU went toe-to-toe with the Cyclones offensively otherwise. 

Even in the category of assist to made field goals ratio — a number Hoiberg likes to note as his favorite — they had a similar mark to Iowa State’s. 

The Cyclones had a season-high of 27 assists on 32 made baskets, with almost all of Ejim’s 15 layup or dunks coming from assisting teammates. But TCU rivaled that number with 18 assists on 21 made baskets. 

Since coming to Ames, TCU has had three straight double-digit losses and still remains winless in the Big 12, a conference Hoiberg and a few college basketball analysts have called the best league in the country. 

Tipoff against the Horned Frogs is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Feb. 22 in Fort Worth, Texas.