(Kansas City, MO) — 9th ranked Iowa St. overcame a slow start to thump #16 Texas Tech 75-53 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.
The Red Raiders led 15-4 early in the first half but the Cyclones went on a 16-4 run and a Tamin Lipsey three pointer gave ISU a 20-19 lead. The lead changed hands 10 times the rest of the half but Jamarion Batemon hit a three pointer right at the end of the half and Iowa St. led 36-33 at the break. Iowa St. used a pressure defense that completely shut down the Tech attack.
The 2nd half was all Cyclones — they went on a 23-6 run to start to build a 20 point lead and that buried Texas Tech. The Cyclones shot 54 percent from the field (30-56) and outrebounded the Red Raiders 39-29. Texas Tech did play the game without leading scorer J.T. Toppin who averages 21.8 ppg. The Red Raiders had just six made field goals in the entire 2nd half.
Iowa St. (27-6) was led by Lipsey with 20 points on 8-12 shooting and 4 of 7 from three point land. Joshua Jefferson had a double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds plus 6 assists. Dominykas Petra added 11 points off the bench. Milan Momcilovic was held to just 5 points including 1 of 8 from three point land.
Cyclones Guard Nate Heise says the defense focused on denying Texas Tech any opportunities inside
Head Coach TJ Otzelberger says the team overcame a sluggish start in a big way
Two big baskets from Iowa St. were Heise’s follow up dunk to regain the lead in the first half and Batemon’s three at the first half buzzer were huge
Otzelberger says everything is coming together at the right time
Texas Tech (22-10 was led by LeJuan Watts with 12 points while Christian Anderson added 10.
ISU will face the winner of Arizona and Central Florida in the Big 12 semifinals on Friday night, tip off at 6:00 pm, Cyclones Pre Game at 5:00 on KSOM.
