The clock stopped after a turnover with 15:01 to play in the first half of Iowa State’s 89-83 loss to TCU on Wednesday night.

Senior guard Donovan Jackson made eye contact with coach Steve Prohm on his way back down the court. As Jackson passed Prohm, he stopped and briefly hugged his coach.

Opening statement from coach Prohm. #Cyclones pic.twitter.com/5D12aDJ0Im

— Aaron Marner (@A_Mar32) February 22, 2018

“I was just trying to get him at peace a little bit,” Prohm said.

While every player gets instruction from coaches during the course of a game, that hug was special for both Jackson and Prohm.

Jackson was playing his first game since the death of his father, Donald, on Saturday. 

He was back home in Milwaukee for two days to be with his family prior to Wednesday’s game. Jackson wrote “RIP Dad” on his shoes for Wednesday’s game in honor of his father.

“The only thing that I know to do is to just be there,” Prohm said. “Over the last 72 hours that’s what we tried to do. It’s hard.”

On the court, every Iowa State player warmed up with white t-shirts with “DJ” on the front in black, to honor Donald. And once the game began, Donovan wasted no time making his impact.

He splashed a 3-pointer the first time he touched the ball. And he kept firing shots all game en route to a 27-point performance, just three points shy of tying his career-high.

“I just know that he would want me to come out here and compete,” said an emotional Jackson. “He always used to tell me, ‘attack the basket, attack the basket, get to the free throw line.’ I think I got to the free throw line 10 times tonight, so I know he’s happy about that.”

Jackson hit 9-of-10 free throw attempts and went 7-of-19 (4-of-12 on 3-pointers) on the night. He also added four assists and three rebounds in 33 minutes.

“It was real different,” Jackson said. “I know he was watching from above. I know he’s not gonna call me… I gotta do everything he used to tell me. I tried to do it today.”

Iowa State couldn’t keep up with TCU in the second half, as the Cyclones lost a 47-41 halftime lead.

TCU outscored the Cyclones, 48-36 after the halftime break, largely because the Horned Frogs shot 18-of-27 from the floor (66.7 percent) in the second half.

And while the result wasn’t ideal for the Cyclones, the team knows tonight was bigger than basketball.

“It means a lot,” said redshirt junior forward Zoran Talley Jr., who finished with 12 points and six rebounds. “He didn’t have to come back and play, he could’ve spent time with his family back home. He came out and gave us his all. He did the things his father expected him to do tonight.”

The loss dropped Iowa State to 13-14 overall and 4-11 in the Big 12. For a senior like Jackson, it all but ends postseason aspirations for the Cyclones, which means the final three regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament may very well be the end of his college career.

But losing wasn’t the main thing on anyone’s mind tonight.

“It puts a lot of things in perspective. You hate losing, you wanna do a better job, but Donovan’s a 22-year old senior,” Prohm said. “He’s got the whole world in front of him. He probably would give everything in the world to have another conversation with his father. I can’t even imagine what it’s like, what it would take [to play], but I’m proud of him for coming back and competing. I know his dad is proud.”