Iowa State tramples Texas Tech to reach Big 12 semifinals

Iowa State tramples Texas Tech to reach Big 12 semifinals

Tamin Lipsey scored 20 points to help fifth-seeded Iowa State roll to a 75-53 victory over fourth-seeded Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City and advance to the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Field Level Media

Joshua Jefferson added 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the No. 7-ranked Cyclones overcame an early 12-point deficit in the quarterfinal clash. Dominykas Pleta added 11 points off the bench as Iowa State (27-6) notched its second big performance in two days.

The Cyclones will face top-seeded Arizona in Friday's semifinals.

LeJuan Watts had 12 points and seven rebounds and Christian Anderson scored 10 points for No. 16 Texas Tech (22-10).

The Red Raiders dropped to 3-3 since losing star big man J.T. Toppin to a season-ending ACL injury.

The Cyclones have won their two Big 12 tournament games by a combined 71 points. They were victorious by 49 points to set a Big 12 tournament record while routing Arizona State on Wednesday.

Iowa State shot 53.6% from the field, including 7 of 18 from 3-point range. The Cyclones held a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

The Red Raiders shot 33.9% and were 9 of 29 from the 3-point range.

In the second half, Iowa State shot 65.2% from the field, while Texas Tech made just 22.2%.

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Iowa State turned the game into the blowout by making nine straight shots, eight coming during a 21-4 run to lead by 22.

Milan Momcilovic started the burst with a trey to give the Cyclones a 47-39 lead with 15:41 remaining. Jefferson followed with a putback, Lipsey converted a layup and Jefferson scored again to make it 53-39 with 12:31 remaining.

Jamarion Batemon and Lipsey followed with 3-pointers to push the margin to 20 with 10:39 to play.

After Texas Tech moved within 60-43, Lipsey drained a trey and Pleta added a fastbreak dunk to make it 65-43 with 8:37 to play.

Pleta later scored four straight points and Jefferson slammed home a fastbreak dunk to put the margin to 24 with 2:55 remaining.

Texas Tech was hot at the outset and a layup by Watts gave it a 17-5 lead just six-plus minutes into the game.

But the Cyclones quickly recovered with a 15-2 burst and Lipsey's 3-pointer gave Iowa State a 20-19 edge with 9:57 left in the half.

Batemon drained a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give Iowa State a 36-33 halftime lead.

Lipsey had 10 points in the first half for the Cyclones. Watts scored 11 points for the Red Raiders and Anderson added 10.

--Field Level Media

 

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