I don’t think enough can be said about how impressive it was that the Texas Tech Red Raiders were able to get this win over Iowa State. Grant McCasland was able to get the Red Raiders a win in Ames (which is a really difficult place to win) and it’s been years since Texas Tech has done that.
Plus, you know, Iowa State is the No. 4 team in the country. Texas Tech now has four wins over teams ranked in the top 10. This is just such a great thing to be excited about.
And some of the numbers really reveal that. Here’s a few stats that I found to be wild.
No. 1: Texas Tech was not slowed or bothered by Iowa State’s defense and the shooting percentage from the field shows that
It didn’t matter what Iowa State tried to do defensively, the Texas Tech Red Raiders managed to go out and shoot 58.5 percent from the field. That’s insane. Truly remarkable stuff. Entering this game, opposing teams were making just 42.1 percent of their shots from the field. Texas Tech didn’t care about averages or limitations. Thus, you know, really good offense.
No. 2: The Red Raiders were insanely dangerous from behind the three point line
Oh, and that really good offense extended out to the perimeter. The Red Raiders were not at all concerned about Iowa State’s perimeter defense. On the season, opponents made just 31.8 percent of their three point attempts. Texas Tech drained 48.3 percent. Iowa State was allowing teams to make 7.5 threes per game. Texas Tech made 14.
No. 3: Somehow, Blake Buchanan grabbed eight offensive rebounds, but Texas Tech won the rebounding battle
I have no clue how to explain this one, but Texas Tech somehow won the rebounding battle. And the Red Raiders won it pretty convincingly, to be completely honest. But the weird element of this is that Blake Buchanan grabbed a seemingly endless stream of offensive rebounds. And then Texas Tech still won the rebounding battle 35-29.