KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joshua Jefferson had 18 points and 13 rebounds, longtime running mate Tamin Lipsey scored 20 and seventh-ranked Iowa State used a big second-half run to bury No. 16 Texas Tech 75-53 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Cyclones (27-6) fell behind by 12 early in the game, pulled ahead by halftime, then used a 19-3 run shortly out of the break to earn a Friday night date with second-ranked and No. 1 seed Arizona for a spot in the title game.
LeJuan Watts had led the Red Raiders (22-10) with 12 points. Christian Anderson had 10 before he appeared to strain a muscle while slipping on the glass court being used by the Big 12 for its postseason tournament with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Several players in both the women’s and men’s tourneys have complained of its slick nature.
The teams traded haymakers to start the game — No. 4 seed Texas Tech opened on a 17-5 run and Iowa State countered a few minutes later with a 15-2 charge of its own — before the game settled into a back-and-forth battle between top 20 teams.
There were nine lead changes in the first half, and Jamarion Batemon’s buzzer-beating 3 gave the Cyclones a 36-33 halftime lead.
Iowa State turned up the pressure another level in the second half, holding the Red Raiders to just two field goals over the first 9 1/2 minutes. And on the other end of the floor, Texas Tech had no answer for Jefferson, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound All-Big 12 forward, whose ability to split defenders and power his way to the basket had Grant McCasland’s team thoroughly frustrated.
That’s when Iowa State, which set a Big 12 Tournament record by beating Arizona State by 49 in the second round, put together its long run against the Red Raiders and assumed control of the game.
Up next
Iowa State lost 73-57 at Arizona in their lone regular-season matchup on March 2.
Texas Tech hopes to stay on the 4-seed line for the NCAA tourney on Selection Sunday.
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