GAMER: No. 17 Iowa State 89, TCU 76

Alex Gookin

The Lowdown

Iowa State finished its best conference season under Fred Hoiberg, beating TCU 89-76 to improve to 22-8 and 12-6 Big 12 and solidifying the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament.

Georges Niang and Montè Morris led the team in scoring with 19 points each, with Bryce Dejean-Jones scoring 15 and Jameel McKay scoring 14 points. Naz Long scored nine points, Dustin Hogue and Abdel Nader scored five points, and Matt Thomas finished out the scoring with three.

McKay recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds, while also recording two blocks. Niang pulled down four rebounds, six assists and two blocks, while Morris also dished out six assists while stealing two balls.

The Cyclones scored 63 second half points, one game after scoring 59 second half points in a 21-point second half comeback.

The Turning Point

Down 32-26 at halftime, Iowa State started the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 37-34 lead before pulling away early in the second half.

The Cyclones were extremely efficient in the second half, scoring 39 points in the first 11 minutes of the half after scoring just 26 in the first 20 minutes.

The X-Factor

Georges Niang, Montè Morris and Jameel McKay — The trio of players are hitting their stride at the end of the season, each taking turns leading the offense. The three combined for 52 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists and four blocks.

The three are having a great end of the season, helping the Cyclones to a victory against Oklahoma, scoring 56 of the team’s 77 points and pulling down 24 of the team’s 44 rebounds.

By the Numbers

1 — Second half turnover by Iowa State

12 — Big 12 wins, the most since the 2000-01 season

18 — Assists by Cyclones

64.3 — Percentage from 3-point by the Cyclones

71.4 — Percent shooting in the second half for Iowa State (20-for-28)

122 — Second half points in the past two ISU games