Texas Tech-Iowa State Preview
By Ross
Date: February 22nd, 2012
Time: 8:00 PM CST
Where: Hilton Coliseum
TV: ESPNU
Spread: Iowa State (-15.5)
Know the Foe: I know Billy Gillispie didn’t have high hopes in his first year at Lubbock, but I doubt he though it would end up this bad. The Red Raiders are currently 8-18 overall and 1-13 in conference play. I still don’t know how they thumped Oklahoma (the team that has beat Kansas State twice) by 18. Anyways, it has been a tough year for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech hasn’t scored over 50 points in the last two games, but they have played somewhat competitive basketball lately. As I mentioned, they topped the Sooners on the 11th and played a close game with Texas A&M last week. At one point Tech had a 15-point lead on the Aggies in the first half, but it went downhill after that. Yes, Texas Tech is an awful team, but if the Cyclones are having a terrible day, Tech can make it a game.
The Red Raiders simply can’t do what it takes to win a basketball game; score points. The Red Raiders have only a single player that averages in the double-digits for points. Freshman forward, Jordan Tolbert, is Tech’s leading scorer at 11.4 points per game. Last game, Tolbert dropped 12 on Kansas in Lawrence. Tolbert is also efficient shooting the ball as he makes 52.6% of his field goal attempts. Against ISU the first time, Tolbert struggled and only scored 4 points. Expect more output from Tolbert this time around.
A Red Raider who had a big game against Iowa State was 6’10 senior Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski scored 20 points on the Clones. Lewandowski had 16 points in their win against Oklahoma, but was held scoreless last game against Kansas. Iowa State has had problems in the past matching up with other team’s height, so we’ll see how well ISU does against Lewandoski this time around.
Preview: I’m not going to say much here. Iowa State is 15.5 (probably should be more) point favorites for tonight’s game for a reason. Iowa State has proven their NCAA Tournament worthy while Texas Tech is one of the worst teams the Big 12 has seen in the past decade. Iowa State beat Tech by 24 points in Lubbock, so there is absolutely no reason this game should end in a single-digit victory for the Clones. If Iowa State somehow manages to lose this game, it would be a large hit to ISU’s tournament hopes.
Iowa State will take care of business.
Texas Tech – 55
Iowa State – 75
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