FORT WORTH, Texas — Gabe Kalscheur hit a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining and finished with 15 points as No. 25 Iowa State beat No. 17 TCU 69-67 on Saturday.
Kalscheur’s winner from way beyond the arc came just after TCU had just claimed the lead for the first time since early in the first half.
“It felt really good coming out of my hands,” Kalscheur said.
Mike Miles led TCU (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) with 18 points, including two of three free throws with 23 seconds left to give the Horned Frogs a one-point lead.
Iowa State (12-2, 3-0) had three players with 10 points: Tamin Lipsey, Jaren Holmes and Robert Jones.
Kalscheur, who was 7 of 14 from the field, was 0 for 5 from the 3-point distance before his winner. Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger never lost confidence in his fifth-year senior guard.
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been around, the time that he puts in,” Otzelberger said.
“Gabe is a guy you can have unlimited confidence in based on the work he does every single day. I knew he’d be ready when the opportunity presented itself, and I’m really proud of him for stepping up in that big moment.”
TCU cut the lead to two with 6:39 remaining, but Iowa State scored the next seven points to build a nine-point lead with under four minutes remaining. Caleb Grill’s three-point play and a jumper by Kalscheur came on second-chance points and put the Cyclones up 65-56 with 3:49 remaining.
“The kid hit a tough shot,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “(We) didn’t want to use the timeout defensively there, but we guarded it as well as you could guard it, and the problem was we just didn’t come up with the loose ball on three separate occasions prior to … and they did.”
Miles, whose two free throws were the last points before Iowa State’s run, had two more free throws with 2:30 remaining to cut the lead to seven. Jakobe Coles’ 3-pointer pulled the Horned Frogs five with two minutes left and Damion Baugh’s layup after a steal by Micah Peavy on an inbounds pass cut the deficit to three.
The Cyclones’ Robert Jones missed two free throws to help open the door for a TCU comeback. Baugh pulled the Frogs to within 66-65 with two free throws with 1:22 remaining.
Iowa State led 36-30 at the half behind a balanced an efficient scoring attack that included four players with six points.
TCU missed 12 free throws, committed 18 turnovers, and was outrebounded 32-27. Dixon said the Cyclones were a more physical team than his Frogs.
“It showed we can play with anybody,” Miles said. “We didn’t play our best game on either defense or offense. We shot bad from the line, we had a lot of turnovers, and we still only lost by two. It shows how good of a team we are.”
TCU was attempting to beat an AP Top-25 team for the third time in its history after topping No. 19 Baylor on Wednesday.