The Lowdown

Iowa State cruised to a 87-53 win against TCU at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday. Georges Niang led Iowa State in scoring with a career-high 19 points while playing only 23 minutes. 

Iowa State now is 7-5 in conference play, still in the No. 6 spot behind Baylor in the Big 12. The Cyclones (17-8, 7-5 Big 12) now will travel to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor on Wednesday and have Texas Tech at home on Saturday, Feb. 23. 

X Factor

Georges Niang — The freshman scored a career-high 19 points playing only 23 minutes. 

In the first half, Niang only played eight minutes but scored 10 points. Then early in the second half, Niang scored seven-straight points with a jumper, a post shot and a 3-pointer. 

Turning Point

With 4:06 left in the first half, Georges Niang checked into the game with the score 24-21, then hit a 3-pointer to spark a 12-0 run to close the first stanza, making it 36-21 at half. 

The 12-0 run included a Tyrus McGee and-one layup, a Korie Lucious 3-pointer followed by a 3-pointer from Chris Babb, who has gone 11-of-17 from behind the arc in his last three games. 

By The Numbers

11-18 — Chris Babb has been white-hot behind the arc in his last three games, hitting 11 of his 18 shots. 

19 — Georges Niang scored a career-high 19 points against TCU. 

51.9 — The Cyclones shot over 50 percent from the field Saturday. 

48.3 — Iowa State made 14 of 28 from behind the arc against TCU on Saturday. 

21 — Iowa State has won 21 straight games at home and has won 13 straight Big 12 games at Hilton Coliseum. 

Quotables 

Slowing down and getting the ball down and making a quality move, before I felt like I was rushing. When I slowed down I felt like I could get off any shot that I wanted. — Georges Niang on how he scored his 19 points

It’s pretty hard. When we’ve got four or five guys on the court that can makes 3s and can drive past their defender and get to the hole, it’s hard. If you go zone we’re going to out-shoot the zone, if you go man we’re going to drive past you, if you help we kick out and shoot 3s, so it’s pretty tough. — Korie Lucious on why it’s hard to defend Iowa State’s offense

I would pack in a 2-3 zone as far in the paint as possible. — Fred Hoiberg, jokingly on how he would defend his team