Texas Tech basketball: How the Red Raiders beat Iowa State

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AMES, IA – JANUARY 9: Mac McClung #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders drives the ball under pressure from Dudley Blackwell #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on January 9, 2021 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 91-64 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech finally got off to a fast start

When playing on the road, life becomes much easier when you jump out to an early lead. That’s what Tech did against the Cyclones on Saturday, which was the first time this year that saw Beard’s team jump on a Big 12 team early.

While both the KU and OU games were tight affairs through most of the first half, Tech fell behind Oklahoma State 22-10 early in that loss and even trailed Kansas State 17-10 mid-way through the first half of Tuesday’s win.

But against the Cyclones, there were two big first-half runs, one that put Tech ahead for good and one that turned the game into a blowout.

After falling behind 4-3, Tech would rattle off a 20-11 run to jump out to a 24-14 edge. And during that run, sophomore Kevin McCullar came up big with seven points.

However, it was Tech’s second big run of the game that really took this contest from competitive to a blowout. From the 9:39 mark of the first half to the 5:26, Tech ran off a 16-4 streak that essentially put this game to bed.

During that stretch, Tech made five-straight shots as it became clear that the buckets were falling for the Red Raiders and all that was left to wonder was whether or not the torrid offensive pace could be sustained for the entire game.

In the first 20 minutes, Tech was 20-33 (60.6%) from the floor and 5-11 (45.5%) from 3-point range. What’s more, they were 9-11 from the free-throw line and they had a 9:1 assist: turnover ratio. That’s how you come out of the gates on the road if you want to put the home team on its heels.

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