Iowa State Gets Upset by Texas Tech 56-51

The Cyclones are at their weakest when they can’t hit their 3-point shots, don’t take care of the ball, and aren’t able to win in the rebounding department. All of those and more suffered in a crushing defeat to the Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas, on Wednesday night.

Jan 23, 2013; Lubbock, TX, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Dejan Kravic (11) takes a shot against Iowa State Cyclones center Percy Gibson (24) in the first half at the United Spirit Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Texas Tech (9-8, 2-4) was able to snap a four-game skid in Big 12 play thanks to their starting forwards, Dejan Kravic and Jordan Tolbert, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds combined. Their starting guard, Josh Gray, was all around impressive with 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists despite suffering five turnovers. Iowa State (13-5, 3-2) was unable to take advantage of the Red Raiders’ 15 turnovers by giving up eight steals and 11 turnovers themselves.

ISU only made 6-23 from the 3-point line, their lowest output of Big 12 play and looked even worse overall just making 35.3 percent from the field. Korie Lucious was able to make a couple big 3-point shots toward the end of the game to keep the Cyclones in it, but ultimately couldn’t overcome having three turnovers and just two assists. Tyrus McGee was unable to provide much of a spark off the bench, making just 1-6 3-pointers.

Neither team was able to gain many second-chance opportunities, both teams combined for just seven offensive rebounds and Iowa State found themselves on the losing end of a 34-28 overall rebounding margin.

It’s clear that after starting the game shooting multiple bricks early that the Cyclones were looking ahead to the Kansas State game on Saturday. They’ll have to rebound quickly to try and grab their first big victory of the season.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Clones Confidential. Get more Cyclones coverage by following us on Twitter.