Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Iowa State 84, Texas Christian 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 10, 2017
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Officials: # Don Daily, # Joe DeRosa, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance: N/A

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Deonte Burton is not a big post player for Iowa State, but he made his presence felt in a big way against TCU.

The 6-foot-4 Burton scored 22 points as Iowa State cruised to an 84-63 victory in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship on Friday. The Cyclones will face the winner of the second semifinal between Kansas State and West Virginia in Saturday's championship game.

"He was the spark we needed in the first half," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said of Burton. "We were a little sluggish offensively in the beginning. When we become too set-oriented we can become passive. I think those two guys (Burton and Monte' Morris) got in some two-man-game action which helped us. We move the ball off ball screens. They were trying to hard-hedge Monte (Morris), and he hit some pocket passes to Deonte and freed him up for some shots.

"Deonte has put a lot of time in this spring and summer to become a better shooter, and you can see the results. When we've been playing really good basketball, he's been really consistent for us on both ends of the floor. He was really good tonight."

Burton scored nine of Iowa State's first 11 points in the first half, and then had the first seven points in the second half for the Cyclones. He had a 3-point basket in each of those runs. He finished 8-of-16 from the field.

"He hurt us, no question," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. "He hurt us inside. We know he's a driver first, offensive rebounds.

"I thought they were so much more physical than us around the rim, and it was him and Solomon (Young) as well. I didn't see that coming, but they just simply overpowered us. They pushed us around the entire game, start to finish, so give them credit."

No. 23 Iowa State pulled away in the first half and never let TCU mount any kind of rally in the second half. Iowa State led by 22 before the first media timeout. The margin eventually grew to 26 points.

"Obviously they outplayed us, (they) deserved to win," Dixon said. "They played well; we didn't. We looked fatigued, to be honest with you, and I wasn't sure that would be the case. But we just didn't seem to respond like I thought we would."

Morris had 15 points for Iowa State (22-10) and Naz Mitrou-Long added 11.

TCU (19-15) was led by Jaylen Fisher and Vladimir Brodziansky with 10 points each.

Iowa State controlled the first half, racing to a 44-27 lead at halftime. After falling behind briefly, the Cyclones used a 10-0 run to assume the lead for good. They distributed the ball evenly, connecting on six 3-pointers by five different players.

Iowa State was led in the opening half by Burton with 13 points. He scored nine of the Cyclones' first 11 points. Morris had 12 points at halftime.

"(The game) just came to me," Burton said. "We were playing basketball and I just happened to get the opportunity and took advantage of it."

TCU was led by Brodziansky and Brandon Parrish with eight points each in the opening 20 minutes. The problem for the Horned Frogs was that their starting backcourt of Fisher (three points) and Alex Robinson (zero) combined for just three points in the half.

NOTES: The victory by Iowa State means that for the 21st straight season the conference tournament champion will not come from the state of Texas. ... This game was TCU's first venture to the Big 12 semifinals. The Horned Frogs have played in the first round all five seasons in the conference, losing twice in the first round and twice in the second round before Thursday's victory over top-seeded Kansas. ... The Cyclones and the Horned Frogs split the regular-season series, with each team winning at home.
Top Game Performances
 
Texas Christian   Iowa State
Vladimir Brodziansky 10 Scoring Deonte Burton 22
Alex Robinson 5 Assists Deonte Burton 4
Kenrich Williams 8 Rebounds Solomon Young 9
Desmond Bane 2 Free Throws Made Deonte Burton 4
Jaylen Fisher 1 Steals Monte Morris 3
Kenrich Williams 2 Blocks Solomon Young 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Texas Christian 63 39.3 5-19 10-13 15 28 4 3 8
Iowa State 84 56.4 12-25 10-17 13 30 6 4 6