Iowa State seeks revenge from Texas Tech basketball in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's not hard for Jamarion Batemon to dissect what the Texas Tech basketball team did to beat Iowa State on its home floor a few weeks ago.

Part of it came down to the Red Raiders being fresh off losing All-American forward JT Toppin to a season-ending knee injury. Texas Tech had two games without Toppin before heading to Ames, and the competition brought by Kansas State and Cincinnati didn't provide much of a glimpse into how Grant McCasland's team was going to operate.

The biggest factor, though, was that the Red Raiders were determined, and the Cyclones weren't quite ready to match the intensity.

"They came out and was the aggressor right away," Batemon said after Iowa State's 91-42 win over Arizona State to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday. "The same way we did today, we're going to be the aggressor tomorrow, and it's going to be a different outcome."

Iowa State pummeled Arizona State into submission early, getting up by more than 30 points in the first half alone and forcing 23 Sun Devil turnovers. That 49-point margin of victory, a Big 12 Tournament record, allowed the Cyclones to rest its top players the final 10 minutes of the game.

Both Texas Tech and Iowa State have tried to ramp up their intensity since that Feb. 28 meeting in Hilton Coliseum, though the Red Raiders enter this week's tournament at the T-Mobile Center after losing back-to-back games. The setback to Texas Tech was Iowa State's first of its own back-to-back losses, the second coming at Arizona two days later.

Since then, Iowa State has played Arizona State twice, winning by a combined 80 points. Batemon and the Cyclones know the opponent will be of different caliber facing the Red Raiders, and he plans on exacting some revenge in the Power and Light District.

"Especially with them being the only team that came into our home floor and beat us," Batemon said, "we definitely looking forward to getting those back. If there's anybody we want to play, it's them for sure."

What did Texas Tech do to beat Iowa State the last time?

Texas Tech came out firing on all cylinders in the first meeting with Iowa State, building a 20-point lead and going into halftime with a 16-point lead.

Iowa State hung around enough to forge a comeback in the closing minutes, cutting the deficit to six points with 42 seconds left. Milan Momcilovic missed a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left that would've made it a 3-point game, but Jaylen Petty grabbed the rebound as he sank one free throw and Christian Anderson two to ice the 82-73 upset win.

Donovan Atwell hit six 3-pointers and was one of six Red Raiders to have at least 10 points on the day, finishing with 18. Texas Tech made 14 3s in the victory compared to just eight for Iowa State.

The Cyclones forced 15 turnovers against the Red Raiders, turning them into 17 points on the other end. Anderson had six turnovers in the game, something Iowa State will try to replicate in the rematch.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball set for rematch with Iowa State in Big 12 Tournament