Texas Tech routs Iowa State 72-41 in Big 12 quarterfinals
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 18 points and No. 14 Texas Tech rolled to a 72-41 rout of sloppy, mistake-prone Iowa State on Thursday night in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Kevin McCullar added 11 points, and Adonis Arms and Kevin Obanar had 10 apiece for the third-seeded Red Raiders (24-8). They built a 39-20 halftime lead and cruised into a semifinal showdown with No. 7 seed Oklahoma on Friday night.
The Sooners upset third-ranked Baylor 72-67 earlier.
They Cyclones (20-12), who started the season 12-0 and beat the Red Raiders in early January, are now left to sweat out Selection Sunday. They didn’t do themselves any favors with a dismal performance Thursday night, one that included 20 turnovers, a 5-for-25 night from the 3-point arc and far too many easy baskets at the other end.
Tyrese Hunter led the Cyclones with nine points, though he also had seven turnovers. All-Big 12 guard Izaiah Brockington scored seven but was just 3 of 16 from the field and 1 of 6 from the 3-point line.
Texas Tech is one of the most experienced teams in the country, starting a junior alongside four seniors, and it showed from the very first minute, when the Red Raiders ran crisp half-court offense that produced easy inside buckets.
The difference came when Texas Tech got into transition, though.
Whether it was off a long 3-point miss — Iowa State was 3 of 15 from the arc in the first half — or off one of the 10 turnovers from the normally sure-handed Cyclones, the Red Raiders swiftly raced down court for uncontested layups.
They led 39-20 at halftime, and that was largely due to a 12-0 advantage on fast breaks.
The lead could have been bigger, too. Texas Tech got possession when Iowa State’s Caleb Grill stepped out of bounds with 1.2 seconds left. After an inbound pass the ball went to Arms, whose shot from beyond the midcourt line rattled through the basket, only to be waved off after a video review showed it left his hands a split-second late.
Not that those three points mattered in the grand scheme of things.
The Red Raiders had the game firmly in hand.
Besides, they scored the first nine points of the second half anyway, while Iowa State continued to throw the ball away to prevent any sort of comeback in a tournament where the Cyclones have been tough to beat over the years.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State’s remarkable 18-win improvement over last season is sure to impress the NCAA selection committee. So should wins over over Xavier, Memphis and Iowa out of conference play and the Red Raiders and Texas in the Big 12.
Texas Tech went 18-0 at home this season under Mark Adams, the Big 12 coach of the year. But the Red Raiders were just 5-8 away from home, leaving questions about how they would perform in the Big 12 and NCAA tourneys. Well, they answered any doubters with their performance against the Cyclones on Thursday night.
UP NEXT
The Red Raiders play the Sooners on Friday night for a spot in the championship game. They split two meetings earlier this season with Oklahoma winning in a rout in Norman and Texas Tech returning the favor in Lubbock.
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