Iowa State hopes to break into the conference win column Tuesday with a trip to TCU.
Tip is at 8 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas. ESPNU will televise the game. The sportsbooks in Iowa favor the Horned Frogs by about six points:
Iowa State vs. TCU odds
The Cyclones are coming off a 79-72 road loss to Oklahoma. The Sooners are No. 12 in the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll. Iowa State is 2-11 and 0-8 in the Big 12.
The hosts should be well-rested when the Iowa State Cyclones come to town. No. 2 Baylor called off its home game against TCU Saturday due to the health and safety protocols on the Waco campus.
The Horned Frogs postponed a home game against Texas and a game at West Virginia in January.
Coach Jamie Dixon announced a positive test on Jan. 18.
Following our team-wide testing, I was notified that I had tested positive for COVID-19. I have begun self-isolation and look forward to continuing our season soon.
— Jamie Dixon (@CoachDixon) January 19, 2021
The Horned Frogs (10-7, 3-5) are coming off an 81-78 win Wednesday over Oklahoma State. Jaedon LeDee sealed the win with a layup and foul shot in the closing seconds.
Iowa sportsbooks favor improving Frogs
School officials postponed three of TCU’s last six games due to health restrictions. The pandemic disrupted practices as well, according to TCU coach Jamie Dixon:
“We’ve made some good progress — execution, spacing, putting guys in the right spots. To be honest, we didn’t know what we had. We also … had guys playing in different spots. There was a stretch of two weeks where we did workouts with our team. Of our five guys, four of the guys were playing in the wrong position because we didn’t have any other guys to put in the position.”
RJ Nembhard (16.9 ppg) and Mike Miles (14.8) lead the Horned Frogs in scoring. TCU is 10-3 against unranked teams.
Cyclones often cover as they show flashes of progress
Rasier Bolten scored 21 points against then-No. 9 Oklahoma, and the Cyclones put themselves in a position to score a major upset in Norman. The Cyclones held a 58-57 lead, but Oklahoma used an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach for coach Steve Prohm‘s Iowa State team:
“Losing is no good. It is not acceptable. It’s not what this program has been about. There is great tradition here. Multiple championships have been in recent years. This program is about winning and doing things the right way on and off the floor. Though we came up short (Saturday), I think we checked all the boxes in all the other areas. Now, we’ve got to figure out ways to break through.”
Iowa State has three games this week. The Cyclones travel Thursday to Kansas. The Jayhawks come to Ames for a return game on Saturday.