No.7 Iowa State knocks out No. 16 Texas Tech in Red Raiders in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-10, 12-6) fell to the No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones (27-6, 12-6), 75-53, at the T-Mobile Center in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon. Tech has now lost three straight, ending a two-year streak of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

“You could tell they had an edge and the right edge to win this basketball game,” said Texas Tech Head Coach Grant McCasland after the loss. “We didn’t match that physicality; we didn’t match the effort in the second half. I’ve got to do a better job at helping our team understand how important it is to get after it for the entire game.”

“I loved our fight to start. Obviously, we made shots, we got stops, but the game wore on us,” said McCasland. “Eventually, their size and athleticism caused us a lot of problems.”

The Red Raiders started the first half red hot from the field. Tech went on an 11-0 scoring run through the first three minutes of the opening half, shooting 67% from the field and 70% from three-point range. A pair of Red Raiders knocked down some early shots to finish the half in double figures as Tech built out a 12-point lead.

Texas Tech was led by junior forward LeJuan Watts, who finished the half with a team-high 11 points on 5-7 shooting. Along with the Big 12’s Most Improved player, sophomore guard Christian Anderson, who had 10 points and 3 assists. This helped Tech control momentum and game flow early.

However, Iowa State clawed back, going on a 15-2 scoring run entering the final 10 minutes, with senior guard Tamin Lipsey scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting, with Big 12 First Team forward senior Joshua Jefferson chipping in with 9 points. This helped the Cyclones enter the final five minutes only down by a point.

Multiple lead changes followed in the final five minutes of the first half, with Tech cutting the lead down to one multiple times despite a two-minute scoring drought in the final few minutes.

Ultimately, the Cyclones would extend their lead in the dying seconds with freshman guard Jamarion Bateman knocking down a quarter-ending three-pointer to give Iowa State the lead up 36-33 heading into halftime.

Iowa State continued to build off its first-half momentum, building an 8-point lead through five different scorers. While holding the Red Raiders 0-5 from the field entering the mid-way point of the final half. The deficit continued to grow for Tech as Iowa State went on a 21-4 run, as Texas Tech continued to struggle to score. Tech was 1 of 10 from the field entering the final 10 minutes.

Around the eight-minute mark, both Watts and Anderson went down with injuries seconds apart. Watts was injured while driving to the basket, with Anderson going down trying to get open on an inbound pass. Anderson gave an update on his injury after the game.

“I’m feeling good,” said Anderson when asked about if the conference’s freshly debuted ASB glass floor court was one of the factors that caused his injury. “The floor is a bit slippery. I think I just misstepped or did a movement that caused me to slip, and ended up in an unnatural position.”

Both players went back to the locker room and returned to the bench, but did not see any action down the stretch.

Texas Tech would try to climb back, but Jefferson and Lipsey built off their first halves. Jefferson finished with a double-double with 18 points, grabbing 13 rebounds. While Lipsey finished with 20 points on 8-12 shooting, knocking down four three-pointers for his first 20+ point game since January.

All as Iowa State cruised to victory with a 22-point win over the Red Raiders to move on to the semi-finals round of the tournament. With the loss ending Texas Tech’s two-season streak of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament under Head Coach Grant McCasland.

The result for Tech was a stark difference from the result against the Cyclones 12 days ago. Texas Tech handed Iowa State its first loss at home with an 82-73 win to end February. Tech out-rebounded Iowa State 35-29, particularly on the defensive glass where nearly 74% of rebounds came for the Red Raiders that night in Ames. Texas Tech also outscored the Cyclones in the paint 30-24 that night, a striking difference from what occurred this afternoon.

This afternoon, the Cyclones scored 42 points in the paint with 39 total rebounds compared to Tech’s 18 points in the paint and 29 total rebounds. Senior guard Donovan Atwell highlighted the changes from the last matchup to now.

“I just thought it was physicality that was the main thing,” said Atwell when asked if Iowa State did anything that differed from what happened in Ames. “I think finishing possessions in the second half, we didn’t do a good job at doing that, and taking punches. We didn't respond the right way in certain moments. A combination of both those things kind of led to what happened tonight. We just have to get better at responding the right way when we get down.”

With Selection Sunday this weekend for the NCAA Tournament, Tech has a few days to figure out who, when, and where they will see action again. Texas Tech is considered a lock for the tournament, with McCasland mentioning how the team will navigate the next few days with the tournament starting next week.

“I told our guys, let's get home, get a day to watch some film, and recoup. Let's practice on Saturday, let's practice on Sunday. Let's figure out a way to keep getting better,” said McCasland. “This team has shown we can do it. I think we have just hit a lull here. The spike initially was just the competitiveness of guys flying around. We are starting to really lose, I think, the edge of just competing, and playing without trying to make a mistake.”

“We got a great opportunity ahead of us. I told our guys that in the locker room," said McCasland. “We just got to have more fight and resolve with that group of forwards, and if we can find someone that can do it, then this team can have a special run.”

Texas Tech will be back in action next week after Selection Sunday with an opponent yet to be determined in the NCAA Tournament at the time of writing.

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