Sloppiness Leads Iowa State Cyclones to Tough Road Loss Against TCU Horned Frogs

The Iowa State Cyclones couldn't get out of their own way against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Feb 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) dribbles as TCU Horned Frogs forward Micah Robinson (5) defends during the second half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were back on the road for another tough test against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Desperate for a marquee win, the Cyclones knew that the Horned Frogs would come out motivated to pick up a resume-boosting victory. It was a physical, hard-fought game that ultimately went TCU's way.

The Horned Frogs picked up arguably their best victory of the season, beating Iowa State 62-55. They used a 12-0 run to pull away and close out the game, winning for the fifth time in Big 12 competition and 15th time overall.

Allowing TCU to hang around and build confidence as the game went on was a disaster waiting to happen for the Cyclones, and that is exactly what occurred.

Turnovers plague Iowa State against TCU

Feb 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs forward Micah Robinson (5) attempts to block the shot by. Iowa State Cyclones forward Dominykas Pleta (21) during the second half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

While their execution faltered down the stretch, Jamie Dixon’s squad played at a high level. One area that plagued Iowa State was turnovers. They committed 17 in the game, with a few mistakes coming down the stretch in crunch time.

“Yeah, and I think, for us, we take so much pride taking care of the basketball, but it's got to be something that really matters to us. We can't have turnovers at a key part in the game. You know with the veteran guys we have out there and again, our guys really care, they're about the right things, they do the hard work,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network.

Similar to their road losses earlier in the season against the Kansas Jayhawks and Cincinnati Bearcats, Joshua Jefferson was not his normally efficient and dominant self.

He stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, three steals and two blocks. However, he shot only five of 14 from the field overall and turned the ball over a team-high six times.

30-Straight Games in Double Figures for J Jeff#Cyclones | #C5C | @Joshua_LV0 pic.twitter.com/F73nunaR0Y

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) February 11, 2026

The normally steady Tamin Lipsey also turned the ball over three times while handing out five assists. Blake Buchanan was the only starter who didn’t record multiple turnovers in the game.

Heading into the contest, one of the keys was to play mistake-free basketball, which included not fouling. It was something the Horned Frogs excelled at, creating a massive advantage at the foul line.

TCU attempted 23 free throws on the night, and in their typical fashion, struggled to convert, making only 15. However, they made nearly double as many free throws as the Cyclones committed.

Final: TCU 62 - ISU 55

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) February 11, 2026

Iowa State shot two of eight from the free-throw line, highlighting a two-fold issue with their offense. Not only do they struggle to get to the foul line consistently, but they aren’t a good free-throw shooting team when they do get there.

It was an issue that plagued them earlier in the season and reared its ugly head again in Fort Worth. The Cyclones have to clean these things up because their schedule isn’t getting any easier with games against the Jayhawks, Houston Cougars and BYU Cougars up next.