The Horned Frogs’ best offensive effort in nine games, complemented by tough defense, lifted TCU to a 92-83 victory over No. 17 Iowa State to secure their first road game victory against a ranked team in 21 years.
TCU’s most recent, and only, road win against a ranked team was No. 24 Hawaii in January 1998.
The win also marked TCU’s first Big 12 road victory of the season.
The upset was led by freshman guard Kendric Davis, who scored a career-high 22 points on 7-10 shooting from the field. In his career-high 29 minutes of play, he proved instrumental to the TCU offense. His previous scoring high was 14 points against Lipscomb early this season.
However, the first four minutes showed no signs of an upset.
Iowa State jumped out to a 13-4 lead while TCU made just two of its first 10 field goals. TCU head coach Jamie Dixon picked up his first technical foul of the season in that opening stretch, and the Frogs looked to be en route to another road loss.
A revived TCU team emerged from the huddle after a timeout called by Dixon, scoring 10 unanswered to take their first lead.
In the nine-plus minute run, TCU outscored Iowa State 27-4, including 10 points by Davis and eight points by redshirt sophomore forward Kouat Noi; it gave the Horned Frogs the lead and they never looked back.
TCU led by as many as 19 points and outlasted the Big 12’s top scoring offense through strategic timing. TCU was able to get point-blank looks, including a big dunk by Kevin Samuel down the stretch, even as the shot clock dwindled below five seconds.
Desmond Bane, Noi
In the second half alone, TCU shot 63.3 percent and Bane scored all 17 of his points.
Iowa State pulled within nine points, but never any closer as TCU finished with 92 points, the most allowed by Iowa State at home since Jan. 9, 2016.
TCU’s momentum is surging as it returns home to Schollmaier Arena for an 8 p.m. Big Monday match-up against Kansas, looking to extend its eight-game Big 12 home win streak.
