Iowa State at TCU men’s basketball: Game preview and prediction

Want a measuring stick to how bad some of these lower teams are in other conferences? Look no further than TCU (9-16, 0-13), who defeated both Washington State and Mississippi State on the road in non-conference action.

In Big 12 play, the Horned Frogs can’t make a dent, losing all 13 attempts so far. They have five more chances to prevent a winless conference season, but that happening against Iowa State (20-5, 8-5) is rather small.

Feb 8, 2014; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Matt Thomas (21) drives past Texas Christian Horned Frogs forward Brandon Parrish (11) during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones beat the Horned Frogs 84 to 69. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

(17)Iowa State Cyclones at TCU Horned Frogs

Daniel-Meyer Coliseum | Fort Worth, Texas
Date: Saturday, February 22nd, 2014
Tip-off: 3:00 PM CT | TV: ESPN2

TCU ranks 205th nationally with 3.3 blocks per game. That’s the best overall ranking in any of the main categories for the Horned Frogs on both offense and defense. It’s even worse on offense; they average 64.4 points and 30.2 rebounds per game while hitting at 40.9 percent from the floor. All of that ranks at 317th or worse nationally.

Are things improving at all for a team that wasn’t close to being ready for Big 12 competition coming into the conference? It was. They had two competitive games on the road against Oklahoma and Texas Tech, then they almost upset Texas at home thanks to the Longhorns’ horrendous field goal shooting.

Since then, TCU has lost four straight games by a combined 90 points, each by double-digits and two of them by 30 or more points.

[Also see: 5 players to watch during ISU-TCU]

Series notes

Iowa State can even up the season series with a victory on Saturday. Currently, they have a 4-5 record against TCU all-time. The Cyclones have won all three meetings against them since they joined the Big 12.

ISU beat them 84-69 in Hilton Coliseum earlier this season, but what’s more notable was Melvin Ejim’s record 48 points and 18 rebounds in that contest.

Feb 8, 2014; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Melvin Ejim (3) is defended by Texas Christian Horned Frogs center Karviar Shepherd (1) at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones beat the Horned Frogs 84 to 69. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

What to watch for

Don’t ever forget about Kansas’ unbelievable loss at TCU last season. The Jayhawks came out flat for nearly an entire first half, and they weren’t able to get their legs under them in time to pull out a victory.

Iowa State can’t afford to come out flat with poor shooting from the perimeter and getting into foul trouble; the Horned Frogs are 3rd in the conference in free throw percentage (.728).

Prediction

The Cyclones still struggle on the road. They beat Texas Tech convincingly, but they’re 1-4 in the previous five games, and that win came against a struggling Oklahoma State team in three overtimes (despite them being ranked 19th nationally at the time).

Still, no one’s had many problems winning in Fort Worth, and Iowa State fans that live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will try to gather into the arena and outnumber the TCU fans to try and create some sort of atmosphere that favors the Cyclones.

Bottom line, there’s no excuse for Iowa State to walk out with a loss.

IAST 81, TCU 62 (Odds: IAST -12)