Texas Tech basketball: How the Red Raiders took apart Iowa State
We go inside the box score to look at how the Texas Tech basketball team was able to dismantle Iowa State Saturday in Ames.
You aren’t supposed to do that to Iowa State in Ames. It doesn’t matter how much the Cyclones are struggling and that they are now playing without their best player, Tyrese Haliburton. ISU doesn’t get blown out by 30 points at home, especially by a Texas Tech basketball program that had won just four times in Ames over the course of the all-time series prior to Saturday.
The 87-57 Red Raider win was the largest ever by a visiting team at Hilton Coliseum. It was also Tech’s third 30-point or larger Big 12 win this season.
"“That was our A+ effort,” head coach Chris Beard said after the game. “One of the best games we’ve played all year. I think, really it all started with how much respect we have for Iowa State…simply stated, we played well tonight. We were ready to play because we have so much respect for Iowa State and this state and these fans. The guys played really well…”"
Prior Saturday, we had yet to see the current version of the Red Raiders play a dominant game on another team’s home floor. After all, Tech is now just 3-5 this year in true road games.
Even the other two wins Tech had on the road this year were no walks in the park. The 77-63 win in Manhattan over Kansas State was a six-point game with just under five minutes to play and the 62-57 win in Austin was in doubt until the final seconds.
Not even last year’s National Runner Up team had such a decisive road win. The best that team managed to do away from home in terms of margin of victory was 28 points at Oklahoma State.
Of course, the poor season that the Cyclones are having is a variable in this equation. Sitting at just 11-16 overall and 4-10 in the Big 12, ISU is headed for a rather forgettable year and has suffered a couple of other big home losses.
In December, in-state rival Iowa ran circles around ISU at Hilton Coliseum in an 84-68 win that wasn’t even that close. And in the second Big 12 game of the year, Kansas depantsed Steve Prohm’s team 79-53.
Still, we shouldn’t be quick to dismiss what Tech put forth in Ames. That’s because this win wasn’t about the incompetence of the Cyclones as it was about Tech finally putting forth a championship-caliber effort in another team’s gym.
It’s a positive sign that Beard’s team might be starting to understand how to meet the expectations of its coaching staff. So let’s go inside the box score to see just how this blowout came together.