FORT WORTH – That giant sigh of relief you heard on Saturday across town came from TCU’s Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs desperately needed a victory and got one over ranked Iowa State, which couldn’t have been any more rank in the first 20 minutes.
Kouat Noi was a welcome sighting for TCU, which scratched and clawed its way out of quicksand, breaking a three-game slide with a 75-72 Big 12 victory over the No. 19 Cyclones.
Noi, out with a ankle issue, played in his first game since Feb. 11, and he was a difference maker, scoring a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds.
His personal 8-0 run in the second half couldn’t have been more timely as the Horned Frogs struggled to score throughout much of the game’s final 20 minutes.
He also hit two free throws with 21 seconds left to account for the game’s final score.
“It felt great to be out there,” said Noi, who added that the ankle was not a bother. “I couldn’t wait until today.”
Said Desmond Bane: “He adds another element for us. Someone who can spread the floor.”
JD Miller turned in a good effort with 17 points and nine rebounds. Alex Robinson had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
TCU hasn’t been as good without Noi, as coach Jamie Dixon noted afterward. TCU has lost all three Big 12 games he hasn’t played. On the season, they are 3-3 without. Noi missed the first three games of the season. He returned against Lipscomb, a TCU loss, but Noi was rusty.
TCU survived a desperation 3 heave from Lindell Wigginton with .4 seconds left.
A cursory scan of the stat sheet would immediately make you wonder how TCU managed to get this done. Some key metrics weren’t on TCU’s side.
TCU committed 17 turnovers, were outscored in the paint by 14 points, the Frogs surrendered 29 points to the Cyclones’ bench — to TCU’s six — and they watched a 10-point halftime lead disappear in a fog of second-half shooting woes. TCU also missed 10 free throws.
The Frogs did get 16 offensive rebounds, though they were outscored in second-chance points.
The answer to victory can be found in Iowa State’s performance from the 3-point line. The Cyclones were woeful, going 2 for 20.
Iowa State entered third in the conference in 3-point shooting at 37 percent. There’s a basketball adage about not being able to throw it in the ocean. That was the Cyclones on Saturday.
“Coach emphasized in practice to run them off the line and run into the bigs,” Miller said. “That’s what we did.”
The Frogs weren’t feeling a bit bad about it.
While the Frogs got off to a good start, the Cyclones slept walked through the first 20 minutes.
“Mentally not locked in in the first half,” was the way Mike Jacobson described it.
Iowa State was without leading scorer Marial Shayok for much of the game, foul trouble limiting him to 16 minutes because of foul trouble.
The victory was the Frogs’ sixth in the Big 12, improving to 6-8 and 18-9 overall. Iowa State (19-8, 8-6) has dropped two consecutive.
The Cyclones, Jacobson and Wigginton said, were in a “funk.”
It’s a standard condition for basketball teams over a long season.
That’s what TCU has been in. Teams that get out of them thrive over the course of a season.
The Frogs needing and getting baskets late was a good sign of TCU getting out of its funk. They found a way.
Bane hit a big 3-pointer to untie the game at 1:56, Miller, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, had another, a layin in the paint, in the final minute, and Noi hit the free throws in a one-and-one situation.
“We haven’t had this feeling in a while,” said Bane, who had 16 points. “That’s how this league goes. We’re going to keep fighting. We’ve got another one on Tuesday.”
The Frogs go for a taste of Appalachia with a game at West Virginia. It’s a manageable road contest.
They need that one. They need them all.
The Frogs continue to project as an NCAA Tournament team, while trying to stave off bubble status.
“We needed the win,” Dixon said. “Everybody is battling. I know it’s a new world for TCU, talking about the tournament [annually], but this is what our expectations are. The goals haven’t changed [despite the roster setbacks].
