FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kenrich Williams and Desmond Bane delighted a strongly purple crowd with punctuating dunks in a victory that gave TCU a winning record in the Big 12 for the first time.
The Horned Frogs are making some tough conference opponents notice in their first season under coach Jamie Dixon, who was on the last TCU team to win an NCAA Tournament game 30 years ago.
Vladimir Brodziansky had 25 points and 14 rebounds, Brandon Parrish scored 15 points and the Frogs ended an eight-game losing streak against Iowa State during their first four seasons in the Big 12 with an 84-77 victory over the Cyclones on Saturday.
“I guess we’re on the map because we’re above .500 now,” said Williams, who had his sixth double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“But I feel like we’re still sort of the underdog. That’ll change soon. I’m cool with the underdog tag.”
Brodziansky, who was 11-of-14 from the field and had three blocks, hit his first 3-pointer of the season and made a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul against Darrell Bowie during a 9-2 run that built a 75-65 lead.
The Horned Frogs (14-3, 3-2 Big 12) surpassed last season’s Big 12 win total after topping last year’s overall victory count with a win at Texas earlier in the week.
Nazareth Mitrou-Long scored 19 points for the Cyclones (11-5, 3-2), who play Kansas, the likely the new No. 1, at home Monday night.
Preseason All-America guard Monte Morris was held to nine mostly meaningless points on 4-of-14 shooting after getting a career-high 30 in Iowa State’s previous game. Fellow guard Deonte Burton was 1 of 10 from the field and scored five points.
“They’re not going to have nights like this every night,” Mitrou-Long said. “We’re going to wake up Monday and count on those guys like we’ve been the whole year.”
Freshman guard Jaylen Fisher had nine points and a season-high 11 assists as the Horned Frogs won consecutive Big 12 games for just the second time.
Iowa State’s Donovan Jackson, a first-year junior college transfer, had his season high at halftime with 16 points before getting shut out in the second half. He went without a 3-point attempt after going 4-of-5 from long range in the first half.
It was TCU’s first win over Iowa State since Dec. 24, 1997, in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.