In an overtime thriller, the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones came back and defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders thanks to two go-ahead frees throws by forward Joshua Jefferson to put the Cyclones on top permanently at 85-84.
Jefferson had 17 points and eight boards in the scrappy win versus Texas Tech but none bigger than his free throws late in the game. Down by as many as 13, his effort, along with Curtis Jones’s scoring off the bench(26 points), helped push Iowa State to their eleventh win in a row and 4-0 in Big-12 matchups.
This game was marked by hustle; in the five minute overtime period you saw both teams laying their bodies on the line; taking hard fouls, diving for loose balls, even diving to get passes through cracks in the defense.
Plays of the Game
JT Toppin was a one-man show in the first half for Texas Tech. He had 14 points and put the Red Raiders up by six at halftime. He was making everything- floaters, post ups in the paint, jump shots, even a three ball. Without his effort Texas Tech would have been lost in the water right from the get go.
(He leads to team in scoring averaging 17.2 points a game.)
The second half of this game consisted of a string of runs put together by Iowa State, only to answered nearly every time by TTU. At the halfway point of the second half, the Cyclones legitimatized their comeback with a pounding block by big man Brandon Chatfield, then dish cross court to Milan Momcilovic for three. From this point on neither team had more than a five point lead and the momentum switched back to Iowa State’s favor.
This back and forth continued down to triple zeroes on the fourth quarter clock. Only scoring one basket in the last 3:31 of the game, Texas Tech still had a two point lead with one ISU possession remaining. TTU failed to stop them spectacularly with an amazing effort by both Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson for ISU.
With only seconds remaining Lipsey drove into the lane, dove forward and executed a wrap around pass to his center, Jefferson, who flailed up a desperate layup as the buzzer sounded.
The ball miraculously went in and Iowa State went on to take the win in overtime.
Although the Red Raiders performed disappointingly in overtime, Christian Anderson was one of the only players hitting shots for Tech late in the game and had a few incredible plays. His best was in OT; Anderson hit a nasty spin move into fade-away three pointer over heavily contested defense to notch his 18th point of the night.
Despite the loss Texas Tech played well and still have a legitimate shot to make the March Madness playoffs.
Moving Forward
With six votes towards the AP-Top-25 poll last week, Texas Tech had some respect on their name coming into this game and because of how close their defeat was- it won’t impact their standings much at all. They still have four more games versus ranked opponents and after this loss you know that TTU is hungry for another shot at a nationally ranked team.
As for Iowa State, they would like to use this close game as motivation to get better. They got dominated on the offensive glass and struggled with their free throw shooting and turnovers. Coach T.J. Otzelberger is sure to emphasize these areas of improvements before their next game- No. 11 Kansas at home.
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