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7 strong minutes weren't enough for Texas Tech basketball to take down Iowa State | Giese
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- 7 strong minutes weren't enough for Texas Tech basketball to take down Iowa State | Giese
Plenty can be said about the Texas Tech basketball team's loss to No. 10 Iowa State on Saturday. These three, though, are the most obvious ones that need to be addressed.
First, the the Red Raiders were simply awful in the first half. Whether or not the Red Raiders had Warren Washington on the floor, they looked lost on offense, struggled to rotate on defense and couldn't take care of the ball if their lives depended on it.
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Second, Iowa State is a very, very good team, especially inside Hilton Coliseum, where the Cyclones remain undefeated after an 82-74 win on Saturday. As the game was going on, the NCAA Tournament's selection committee pegged the Cyclones as a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament if it started today. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said during the ESPN+ broadcast that he had Iowa State as a 2-seed in the tournament. Every metric supports the claim that Iowa State is a darned good basketball team.
And third, even with all of these things considered, the Red Raiders still, somehow, even after being down 21 points with 11:23 to go, had chances to sneak away with a win.
ABOUT THE GAME: Big deficit too much for Texas Tech basketball to overcome vs. No. 10 Iowa State: 3 takeaways
That the Red Raiders lost to Iowa State isn't a surprise. Even if Washington had played, I still would've picked the Cyclones. Not because Texas Tech couldn't win that game at all, but Hilton Magic is a real thing. Winning on the road is hard enough, and going to Ames to get a road win — something even Houston , a projected 1-seed in March Madness, couldn't do — is a big ask for even the best of the best.
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Play this game in Lubbock, and it's maybe a different result. Maybe. Hypotheticals can only get you so far, so we won't bother examining that one.
Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland calls out to his players in the first half against Iowa State during the first half of the Big 12 basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
Taking the whole game into account, the Red Raiders can at least be happy with getting back into the game at all. Things looked ugly when Tech trailed by 18 after coach Grant McCasland picked up a technical foul fighting for his guys. At that time, Iowa State had 28 points on Texas Tech's 16 turnovers.
Those numbers appeared on the stat broadcast with 7:07 on the game clock. The Red Raiders didn't have another turnover the rest of the way and wound up trimming the deficit by 10 points in that span.
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Basketball can be a simple game at times. Taking care of the ball is paramount for any team to be successful. Iowa State's identity is rooted in forcing turnovers and scoring off of them. That was ultimately the difference in the game.
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A few less turnovers, and Pop Isaacs and Chance McMillian hitting even two of their 13 three-point attempts — rather than the zero they combined for — changes the complexion of the game.
By getting the final score to an eight-point margin of defeat, the Red Raider continued the Big 12's trend of nothing but close games.
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Entering Saturday, the Big 12 had 76 league games played, 47 of which were decided by single digits (or 61.8% of all games). The average margin of victory in conference play across the board was 9.89 points.
Close games like that show how evenly matched the conference is from top to bottom. To separate yourself from the pack, teams need to be stout in their biggest areas of strength and make up ground for their weaknesses. Texas Tech did that in the last seven minutes and made it a respectable game. It's the other 33 minutes where the game was lost.
Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert (10) takes a shot as Texas Tech guard Pop Isaacs (2) defends during the first half of the Big 12 basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 7 strong minutes not enough for Texas Tech basketball to top No. 10 Iowa State
