Three takeaways: Cyclones fall to 1-5 in Big 12 after loss at TCU

Iowa State senior Donovan Jackson drives into the lane during the first half against Maryland Eastern Shore in Hilton Coliseum.

Aaron Marner

Iowa State fell to TCU 96-73 on Wednesday night, dropping the Cyclones’ conference record to 1-5 (10-7 overall).

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Jackson’s hot run

When Iowa State fell behind early, senior guard Donovan Jackson led the Cyclones back.

Jackson had just three points in the win over Baylor over the weekend. He didn’t let that get in the way of his confidence in Fort Worth, Texas.

With Iowa State trailing 28-10 less than 10 minutes into the game, Jackson got hot.

He hit a 3-pointer to bring it to 28-13. On the next possession, Nick Weiler-Babb fired a pass to Jackson, who nailed another 3-pointer.

On the ensuing possession, with the defense keying on him, Jackson went around a screen and pulled up for a long jumper just inside the arc. He swished it and got fouled. After his free throw, Jackson had scored nine-straight points for the Cyclones.

His shooting helped Iowa State go from down-18 to down-seven (30-23) in just three minutes, keeping the team in the game temporarily.

Poor perimeter defense

Iowa State has had some struggles this season defending the 3-point line. Those struggles have only gotten worse as of late.

In three of Iowa State’s five conference games before Wednesday, three teams had hit 13 or more 3-pointers on the Cyclones. One of the keys in Iowa State’s win over Baylor was the 3-point defense, as Baylor hit just 4-of-18 attempts from long range.

The 3-point defense was again an issue in the TCU loss.

In the first half alone, TCU hit 7-of-15 attempts from deep. JD Miller, who entered the game shooting 26.3 percent on 3-pointers, rained down 3-of-3 in the first 20 minutes. He had only hit 10 3-pointers all season until Wednesday.

It didn’t get much better after the halftime break, either. TCU hit three 3-pointers early in the half to get to 10-of-20 at the 12:02 mark of the second half.

The Horned Frogs ended the game with 96 points, including a 12-of-25 performance from 3-point land. Miller finished with 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line.

Backcourt inconsistency continues

Iowa State’s backcourt starters — Lindell Wigginton, Nick Weiler-Babb and Donovan Jackson — have been an interesting storyline to watch this season.

The Cyclones are yet to get all three of them firing on all cylinders in one game. Steve Prohm and company have been waiting for that magical game to happen, but whenever two of them play well, the other one struggles.

Against Baylor last weekend, Weiler-Babb and Wigginton both played well. Wigginton had a career-high 30 points in that game. Jackson, on the other hand, was cold.

While Jackson was hot against TCU, Weiler-Babb struggled. Wigginton held his own, finishing with 16 points. Jackson led the team with 19.

Weiler-Babb went scoreless in the first half. He finished the game with four points, three rebounds and six assists on 2-of-7 shooting.