No. 17 TCU will look to extend its winning streak to 12 games when it hosts No. 25 Iowa State in Big 12 play Saturday at Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (13-1, 2-0) are coming off an 88-87 win at No. 19 Baylor on Wednesday, while the Cyclones (11-2, 2-0) extended their winning streak to four with a 63-60 win at Oklahoma on Wednesday.
Chuck O’Bannon Jr.’s jumper from the left corner with four seconds remaining proved to be the difference for TCU, while Xavier Cork blocked Keyonte George’s driving layup as time expired.
The Horned Frogs trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and by 11 with 14:43 remaining.
TCU, which hasn’t won 12 straight games since opening the 2017-2018 season 12-0, was led by Mike Miles Jr.’s career-high 33 points, the most by a Horned Frogs player since Desmond Bane had 34 against Texas in 2019.
“I found it going in early and stayed aggressive,” Miles said. “Everybody told me to keep shooting, and I knew I had to shoot more if we wanted to get back in the game and win. That’s what we did.”
Eddie Lampkin added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Damion Baugh chipped in 15 points and seven assists. Emanuel Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Horned Frogs.
“I don’t know where to start as far as which guy made the most clutch play down the stretch,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.
TCU, which is 13-1 for just the third time in program history and for the first time since the 2017-18 season, is led by Miles’ 19.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Miller averages 14.1 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds. Baugh is the team’s only other player averaging in double figures at 12.1 points to go with a team-high 5.0 assists.
For Iowa State, Caleb Grill hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 33 seconds left against Oklahoma before Osun Osunniyi’s two free throws secured the victory with five seconds to go. Oklahoma’s Tanner Groves missed an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Grill, who averages 11.5 points per game, scored a game-high 20 that included him going 5 of 9 from 3-point range and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.
“He starts out the game and he’s got it going, it really spaces out the floor and gives our guys confidence,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “It’s a huge weapon for us because you’ve got to pay so much attention to him, it’s hard to switch things and do things because you don’t want to let him have any space.”
Osunniyi, who averages 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds, added 12 points and a game-high-tying eight rebounds. Jaren Holmes, who averages a team-high 13.2 points, finished with 10 points, four assists and two rebounds for the Cyclones.
Though TCU and Iowa State split a pair of meetings last season, with each team winning on the other’s home floor, the Horned Frogs have won eight of the past 10 meetings dating to the 2017-2018 season.
–Field Level Media