Feb 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger looks on from the bench against the TCU Horned Frogs during the first half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
Open 3-point shots caromed off the rim.
Free throws failed to meet their mark.
And No. 5 Iowa State wilted completely down the stretch Tuesday night at TCU, falling 62-55, before an announced crowd of 4,944 in Fort Worth.
A smattering of those hardy and elated Horned Frogs fans stormed the court after their team outscored the Cyclones, 12-0, over the final 2:14 of the game — and ended ISU’s five-game winning streak.
So what now for a suddenly erratic ISU team (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) that entered the night just one game behind in the Big 12 title race? Regroup, refocus, and get ready for arguably the most important three-day stretch of the season when No. 9 Kansas and third-ranked Houston come to Hilton Coliseum on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
“We’ve just gotta be better in all aspects,” junior Cyclone forward Milan Momcilovic said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the loss. “Especially turning over the ball. I had a few. The whole team had a lot of turnovers. We’ve just gotta (make) shots at the end of the day. I thought our defense was a pretty good. Second-shot defense — we’ve just gotta rebound a little better, but I think offensively we’ve just gotta clean it up.”
ISU made just two of its eight free throws while missing 18 of its 23 3-point attempts. The Cyclones turned the ball over 17 times and fumbled away possessions three times during TCU’s (14-9, 5-6) decisive run in the final two-plus minutes.
Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey led ISU with 12 points apiece, and Momcolivc added 11 — but eight of those points came in the opening six minutes. The Cyclones used a stirring 14-1 run of their own to seemingly take control of the game with 2:38 left on Nate Heise’s second basket of the game. That surge proved to be a mirage, though, as the Horned Frogs flattened ISU in the final 134 seconds to secure the stunning win.
“We’ve got to treat every game like (we’re facing) the same opponent and just be who we are,” said Cyclone five-man Blake Buchanan, who scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in just 17 minutes. “And we didn’t do that tonight.”
TCU outscored ISU 19-to-14 in points off turnovers — with many of those scoring plays coming at the end. The Horned Frogs shot just 40 percent from the field, but made their final four field goal attempts and went 3-for-4 from the free throw line to send ISU to its third Big 12 road loss.
Next up: The aforementioned rematch with the surging Jayhawks, who pounded the Cyclones, 84-63, on Jan. 14 in Lawrence to spark a seven-game win streak. Expect a fired up and sold-out Hilton Coliseum crowd to try to propel ISU back on the winning path in Saturday’s noon game that will be televised nationally on ABC.
“I think we’ll respond well,” Momcilovic said. “This team is full of competitors and that’s what we’ll do in practice. We know we’ve got a big one Saturday and we lost to them down in Allen Fieldhouse, so we know we’ve gotta get it back.”
