Texas Tech Athletics
Iowa State
RECAP: No. 14 Tech rolls into semifinals
March 10, 2022 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – No. 14 Texas Tech advanced to take on Oklahoma at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after earning a 72-41 quarterfinal win over Iowa State on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center.
"I thought we played the best forty minutes we have played all year," Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. "Our guys were ready to play. I was proud of their effort, especially on defense. I thought we made a great statement there that we're a defensive team, and guys took a lot of pride doing that."
The Red Raiders (24-8) will be playing in the program's sixth semifinal after eliminating the Cyclones with a historic defensive effort and four players scoring in double figures. OU (19-14) advanced in the tournament with a 72-67 upset of second-seeded Baylor on Thursday. TTU and OU split their regular season matchups with the home team winning both times.
The 41 points allowed were the lowest any Big 12 opponent has scored in a game against the Red Raiders in program history, while the 31 points victory is the biggest in tournament history. Texas Tech earned a 66-42 win at home against OU for the previous low, while a 22-point win over Oklahoma State in the 2002 conference tournament was the previous biggest margin of victory. On the flipside, the Sooners handed the Red Raiders their largest loss of this season with a 70-55 win over Tech on Feb. 9 in Norman.
Terrence Shannon, Jr. led the Red Raiders with 15 points and three steals in the win over Iowa State, while Kevin McCullar scored 11 and Kevin Obanor and Adonis Arms both had 10. Tech dominated with a 42-14 scoring advantage in the paint and with a 40-24 rebounding margin. Obanor led the team with six rebounds, while Bryson Williams, Davion Warren and Marcus Santos-Silva each had five rebounds. Warren added nine points and three assists in the win. Williams, who leads Tech with 13.8 points per game, was limited to five points in the game.
"We have a lot of veterans on our team and we know during this postseason that it's not all about who scores," Obanor said. "We just want to win and we have a lot of selfless people that want to play basketball and leave Texas Tech better than they found it. I'm just grateful to play with a group of guys that just love playing basketball."
Tech's defense forced 20 turnovers and limited the Cyclones to only 31.3 percent shooting from the field and 5-for-25 on 3-pointers. Shannon and Warren each had three steals in the game while Mylik Wilson had two blocks as Tech held an opponent under 50 points for the fifth time this season. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 6-for-17 on 3-pointers. McCullar had missed the past two games before returning for the conference tournament. He led Tech by going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and also had three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Shannon has now led Tech in scoring six times this season and 15 in his career.Â
"We just watched Oklahoma beat Baylor and I feel like that fueled us more," Shannon said. "We also saw that Texas had a 20-point lead and they blew it, so we knew any team could come win today. We did our best to start, come out strong, and once we got the lead we kept our foot on the gas."
Tyrese Hunter led Iowa State with nine points, while Izaiah Brockington had seven points and two rebounds. Brockington was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after averaging over 17 points per game this season.
Tech took a 39-20 lead into halftime with seven Red Raiders scoring, a 24-8 scoring advantage in the paint and a 21-12 rebounding margin through the opening 20 minutes of play. Shannon had 10 points and four rebounds, while Obanor had eight points and four rebounds to lead the team at the break. TTU was shooting 55.2 percent from the field and limited ISU to only 28.6 percent, including going just 3-for-15 on 3-pointers. Tech was 3-for-7 on 3-pointers with its paint dominance pushing the lead to 19. Warren had five points and four rebounds, while Santos-Silva and Arms both had four points. Hunter had seven points to lead ISU.
KEY MOMENTS
First Half
- ISU won the tip and scored on its opening possession with Hunter making a layup… Williams started Tech scoring by hitting one of two free throws on its first offensive possession
- Arms made Tech's first basket with a fastbreak dunk off a steal and assist from Warren… Warren gave Tech a 5-2 lead with another dunk on the next trip before an ISU 3-pointer tied it
- Shannon hit Tech's first 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Santos-Silva for an 8-5 lead going into the first media timeout of the game
- Warren pushed Tech's lead to 13-5 with the second 3-pointer (14:21) that completed an 8-0 run by the Red Raiders… ISU stopped the run with a Kalscheur layup
- Shannon gave Tech its first double-digit lead of the night with a layup that came after a Batcho block… Tech was up 18-7 on the layup and Shannon had eight points
- McCullar made his first shot of the game with a 3-pointer to give Tech a 21-9 lead (10:43)
- Tech was on a 6-0 run with ISU committing four turnovers and not scoring for five minutes before a Brockington jumper to make it a 27-13 led by the Red Raiders… Santos-Silva pushed the lead to 29-13 on the next trip with a putback
Second Half
- Tech started the second half on a 9-0 run with McCullar hitting a 3-pointer… Iowa State did not score its first points until a free throw at the 14:31 mark
- Tech took a 30-point lead with Santos-Silva hitting a free throw and was then up 56-25 with McCullar hitting a 3-pointer…
- McCullar got to 11 points and gave Tech a 64-32 lead with a layup with 8:30 remaining… He was the fourth Red Raider in double figures
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