KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 7 Iowa State (27-6, 12-6 Big 12) used an explosive second-half performance to race past No. 16 Texas Tech (22-10, 12-6 Big 12) in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals to advance to tomorrow night’s semifinals, winning 75-53.
The Cyclones picked up where they left off yesterday, earning another blowout victory. Through two games at the Big 12 Tournament, ISU has outscored its opponents by 71 combined points. The 71-point combined margin of victory is the largest margin of victory in the first two games of a major conference tournament since 1992-93 Kentucky.
With the win, Coach Otzelberger has tied Fred Hoiberg and Johnny Orr for the most conference tournament wins in school history (7).
The Cyclones were led by senior duo Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson. Lipsey had a game-high 20 points and was an efficient 8-12 from the field. He would also chip in four assists with a steal. Jefferson on the other hand had his second-straight double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. On top of that, Jefferson had a game-best six assists. Dominykas Pleta was the only other Cyclone to finish in double figures with 11.
LeJuan Watts (12) and Christian Anderson (10) led the Red Raiders in scoring on the day. Watts had a team-best seven rebounds, while Jaylen Petty led TTU in assists with four. Tech shot just 33.9% from the floor and 31% from deep in the loss.
How it Happened
The game got off to as poor a start as Cyclone fans could’ve hoped for, as it was seemingly a continuation of the previous teams’ meeting in Ames earlier this year. Tech started 3-4 from deep and was winning every 50-50 ball as it raced out to a 17-5 lead.
The Cyclones responded to a hot Red Raider start with a 15-2 run to take a 20-19 lead with 9:57 remaining in the half. The teams would trade leads eight times in the remaining ten minutes until things got tied up at 33 with 35 seconds left.
With the final possession, ISU wound down the clock and got the ball to Jefferson with just under 10 seconds remaining. He would freeze the defense and find a wide-open Jamarion Batemon in the corner for a triple as ISU took a three-point lead into the break.
Iowa State rolled that end-of-half momentum into the second, as it began the second stanza on a 17-6 run to establish some breathing room.
The Cyclones were able to coast from there, earning revenge for their only home loss of the season and upending the Red Raiders by 22.
Key Performer
Joshua Jefferson became just the sixth Cyclone in program history to post at least two double-doubles in the Big 12 Tournament. He joined Jared Homan, Jackson Vroman and Stevie Johnson as the only players to do so in the same tournament. No Cyclone has had three or more double-doubles in a single tournament.
Notes
T.J. Otzelberger tied Steve Prohm for career wins on a neutral court, picking up number 23 – the second-most in program history.
Otz also earned his 30th win against a ranked team. He is the only coach in program history to earn 30 ranked wins.
Otzelberger tied Fred Hoiberg and Johnny Orr for most conference tournament wins (7).
Iowa State has won 100 games over the last four seasons, tying the most wins over a four-year stretch in program history.
ISU earned its 70th ranked-win since 2011-12 and 30th of the Otzelberger Era.
Tamin Lipsey now has the fifth-most points in the Big 12 Tournament by a Cyclone with 93.
Lipsey has 14 triples in the tournament, the fourth-most by a Cyclone.
Lipsey moved up to 18th on the ISU all-time scoring list and now sits at 1,452.
Milan Momcilovic now has the most 3-pointers in the Big 12 Tournament by an Iowa State player ever, with 17.
He has now made a three in 18 consecutive games – tied for the tenth-longest streak by a Cyclone.
Joshua Jefferson scored 10-plus points for the 33rd time this season and 39th consecutive game (the third-longest streak in the country).
Jefferson also eclipsed 1,00 career points as a Cyclone in the win.
Iowa State now has 197 steals this season, the sixth-most in a single season in program history.
The Cyclones are also up to 293 triples this year, tied for the fifth-most in a season in program history.
Up Next
[5] Iowa State awaits the winner of the [1] Arizona and [8] UCF quarterfinal matchup in tomorrow’s semifinal. ISU will play tomorrow’s winner at 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.
