The TCU Horned Frogs (9-9) and Iowa State Cyclones (14-4) will be playing at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for this game. The game gets underway at 4:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and can be seen on ESU and ES3.
The Horned Frogs are hoping to rebound after their 76-69 loss to Texas Tech in their last matchup. Vladimir Brodziansky had a good outing, putting up 18 points, six rebounds, and one block for TCU. The Cyclones are coming off an 82-77 win against Oklahoma in their last outing. Abdel Nader stood out for Iowa State, registering 20 points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
A focal point for TCU is getting to the free throw line. It ranks 17th in the nation in FTA rate (45.6), but Iowa State is among the best in the nation at keeping opponents away from the charity stripe (ranking first by yielding a FTA rate of 20.9).
TCU, an eight-point underdog, will look to capitalize at home against Iowa State. The teams combine to set the Over/Under (O/U) at 153 points. The Horned Frogs enter the game with records of 9-9 Straight Up (SU) and 6-6 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the Cyclones have records of 8-6-1 ATS and 14-4 SU. Offensively, they average 85.0 points per game, which is good for eighth in the country. The Cyclones are an unselfish team with an average of 16.6 assists per game, ranking 29th in Division I. Defensive rebounding is an area where Iowa State has excelled. The Cyclones average 23.9 defensive rebounds per game, making them one of the best in the nation.
These conference foes will be facing off in their first head-to-head contest of the season. When they last met the Cyclones were winners, bringing their SU record in their most recent games to 6-0. Additionally, Iowa State holds the advantage ATS with a record of 4-2. Iowa State held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers once, while TCU was never able to do so in their most recent five games.
Predictions: SU Winner – IaSt, ATS Winner – IaSt, O/U – Over
Notes
TCU is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games.
TCU is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games at home.
TCU is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Iowa State.
The Iowa State Cyclones hold a split 3-3 SU record against Big 12 Conference teams, but the TCU Horned Frogs have an underachieving 1-5 SU record in such matchups.
Iowa State is one of the top-scoring teams on the road, averaging 86.5 points per game (ranked second). TCU, on the other hand, allows 67.2 points per home game (ranked 159th).
With 69.4 possessions and 1.002 points per possession, the TCU Horned Frogs perform worse on both metrics than the Iowa State Cyclones. Iowa State averages 73.0 possessions and 1.164 points per possession.
Ranked 14th in the nation, Iowa State has an average effective field goal percentage of 56.3%. TCU has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage (0-4).
On average, TCU attempts 16.0 three pointers and Iowa State attempts 22.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the TCU Horned Frogs have a 1-2 record while the Iowa State Cyclones have a superb 12-1 record.
The Iowa State Cyclones rank 14th with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.57, while the TCU Horned Frogs rank outside the top 100 at 289th with an A/TO of .87.
Iowa State, the 81st-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 38.8 rebounds per game. TCU does worse, ranked 233rd with 35.6.
The TCU Horned Frogs make an average of 5.8 steals per game. When the Iowa State Cyclones allow 5 or more steals, they are an exceptional 7-2.
