Iowa State Cyclones' Offense Falters in Road Upset Against TCU Horned Frogs

The Iowa State Cyclones suffered yet another road loss.

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. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Following their fifth straight win over the weekend, the Iowa State Cyclones headed on the road for what figured to be a challenging matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs. Unfortunately, this one did not go well.

Over the last three weeks, the Cyclones have been playing some very good basketball. This is a team that was 5-0 during that span, with a few notable lopsided victories. Getting off to quick starts on both ends of the court has been the mantra for success for Iowa State, but they were unable to do that against the Horned Frogs. 

In the first half, the Cyclones were able to hold a 30-29 lead, but it wasn't a particularly good showing on the offensive end of the court. Iowa State turned the ball over more than TCU, which is usually a recipe for trouble, and it proved to be. Furthermore, they did not shoot the ball well from three-point range, going just 2-for-11. To little surprise, those two made threes were from Milan Momcilovic. 

Furthermore, a bench unit that has been playing pretty well also started out slowly, and foul trouble for Killyan Toure hurt the team defensively. Overall, the first half wasn’t pretty, but road games in the Big 12 rarely are. 

Offense Lets Cyclones Down

Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

While the first half wasn’t good for Iowa State from an offensive standpoint, the second half was even worse in most areas. The TCU defense really caused a lot of problems for the Cyclones and was able to force 17 turnovers in the game. It was shocking that some of the stars were the main culprits, with Joshua Jefferson leading the way with six turnovers and Tamin Lipsey having three. 

Even though it has been a great season for Jefferson, he did not perform well in this one. While the turnovers were bad, he was also inefficient from the field. The star for the Cyclones went just 5-for-14 from the field in one of his worst games of the year. Furthermore, it was a tough shooting night for Momcilovic overall as well. He finished going 3-for-11 from beyond the arc. 

The turnovers will certainly be something that the team has to clean up, but they also left a lot of points at the free-throw line. Going 2-for-8 from the charity stripe isn’t going to get the job done in March, and those are two clear areas to work on. Next up will be a massive showdown against the Kansas Jayhawks, and Iowa State certainly has a lot of work to do leading up to Saturday.