Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Jarrett Culver’s 31 lead Red Raiders to Big 12 title

By Matthew Conner

AMES, IA - MARCH 9: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders takes a shot as Marial Shayok #3, and Michael Jacobson #12 of the Iowa State Cyclones block in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on March 9, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 80-73 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - MARCH 9: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders takes a shot as Marial Shayok #3, and Michael Jacobson #12 of the Iowa State Cyclones block in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on March 9, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 80-73 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points as the Texas Tech basketball team beat Iowa State 80-73 to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

For the first time ever, the Big 12 basketball trophy is headed to Lubbock, Texas.  And fittingly, it was a career day from Lubbock’s favorite son that helped the Texas Tech basketball program capture its first conference title since 1996.

Lubbock Coronado product Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points on 12-29 shooting and Davide Moretti added 20 as the Red Raiders beat Iowa State 80-73 in Ames.   The Red Raiders fought off a spirited effort from a Cyclone team that has now lost six of its last eight games after being on top of the conference standings at the beginning of February.

Culver was huge in the second half with 19 points including a driving layup with 57 seconds to play  to put the Red Raiders up 74-69.  After two ISU free throws, Culver nailed a pair of his own to restore the five-point lead.  A Tariq Owens block on the next Cyclone possession followed by two Davide Moretti free-throws sealed the win as Tech won its ninth-consecutive game.

The home team came out with energy and intensity in the first half to take a nine-point lead on two separate occasions.  But the game turned in the final minute of the opening half when Tech got back-to-back 3-pointers from Matt Mooney and Davide Moretti to cut the ISU lead to 36-34 at the intermission.  It was the first time Tech had trailed at the break since its loss to Kansas on February 2nd (which is also the last time the Red Raiders lost a game).

To start the second half, the Red Raiders made their first three shots to tie the game at 41-41.  And after a Culver 3-pointer put Tech up 46-45 at the 15:06 mark, the Raiders would not trail again.  But ISU would not make it easy as they never let the lead swell to more than seven points.

Marial Shayok led the Cyclones with 17 points after being a game-time decision thanks to an injured toe suffered in a post-practice altercation with a teammate on Monday.  After sitting out Wednesday’s loss to West Virginia, the senior forward hit 6-13 shots including 4-8 from deep despite a noticeable limp in his step.

More from Wreck'Em Red

Lindel Wigginton also posted 17 points off the bench.  Doing a masterful job at eliciting calls from the officials on plays where he initiated the contact, the sophomore guard spent all afternoon at the free-throw line converting on 9-14 attempts.

Overall, ISU shot twice as many free throws as Texas Tech (26 to 13) but only outscored the Red Raiders by four points at the line.  That’s because Texas Tech was a perfect 13-13 from the stripe.  It was quite the reversal from the first meeting of the season between these teams.  In Iowa State’s 68-64 win in Lubbock back in January, free throw struggles cost the Red Raiders dearly as they shot just 6-15 in their only home loss of the season.

And Tech needed a solid day at the line to help offset a huge deficit in bench scoring.  ISU’s reserves outscored Tech’s 32-6 as Wigginton and Talent Horton-Tucker combined for 30 points while Brandone Francis was the only Red Raider substitute to score, hitting 2-9 field goals.  Both of Francis’ made field goals were from 3-point range and the second broke a 65-65 tie with 4:04 to play ending a 6-0 ISU run.

Fortunately, the Red Raiders’ three leading scorers picked up the slack.  Between Culver, Moretti and Matt Mooney (13 points), 80% of Tech’s scoring came from its three leading scores on the season.  That was quite a change from the way that Tech has been playing during the eight-straight wins leading up to Saturday.  In those games, Tech received an average of 20.6 points per game from its reserves but thanks to an 0-4 day from DeShawn Corprew and Kyler Edwards, the starters had to bear a greater offensive burden against the Cyclones.

Thankfully, Culver was able to take up the slack in what was a career-defining performance.  Both of his made field goals in the final three minutes of the game, as well as his trip to the free throw line at the 29-second mark came with Tech leading by just three points.

Next. Unforgettable moments from senior night. dark

When Chris Beard was hired as Texas Tech head coach in 2016, the first recruit he contacted was Jarrett Culver, who had been largely ignored by the Tubby Smith staff.  So on Saturday, it was only fitting that the best player to ever come out of Lubbock played the role of hero as his hometown team finally secured a Big 12 trophy.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball