Two starters went down and the Texas Tech Red Raiders went one-and-done in the conference tournament.
No. 4-seed Texas Tech was within striking distance with 5-seed Iowa State - and at one point had a 10-point first half lead - but two unfortunate injuries and a dominant second half by the Cyclones in Kansas City sealed the fate of the Red Raiders.
Iowa State rolled to a 75-53 win after outscoring Texas Tech by 19 points in the second half. The Red Raiders, playing still without All-Conference star JT Toppin inside, scored just 18 points in the paint. Iowa State scored 42.
As the Cyclones shot the lights out in the second half and ended the game with a 54 percent clip from the field, Red Raiders starters LeJuan Watts and Christian Anderson both left the game after sustaining injuries.
Watts landed awkwardly on the LED glass court of T-Mobile Center, injuring his ankle. Just a play later, Anderson slipped and went down grabbing at his groin area near the 8:30 mark of the second half. Players had reportedly voiced frustrations about the interactive, yet unorthodox floor surface, and not making the proper adjustments clearly played a role in the loss for Texas Tech.
No. 7-ranked Iowa State was led by Tamin Lipsey's 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting with four 3-pointers. Joshua Jefferson contributed a well-rounded 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
No. 16-ranked Texas Tech shot just 34 percent on the game and only made five field goals in the second half. Watt's 12 points and seven rebounds were team-highs. Anderson scored 10 points and dished three assists, while Jaylen Petty added eight points, five boards and four assists.
The Cyclones (27-6) now advance to the conference tournament semifinals where they will face either top-seeded Arizona or 8-seed UCF, with that matchup taking place as the next game on in Kansas City.
Iowa State avenged an earlier matchup with the Red Raiders from Feb. 28, when Tech completed an 82-73 win to end the Cyclones' 15-game win streak at home.
The loss for Texas Tech (22-10) on Thursday is now the team's third in a row as things unravel at the end of the season. Tech fell to TCU at home and at BYU to close the regular season.
Now the only thing left to do is await the fate of the NCAA Tournament, where the Red Raiders could fall to a No. 5 seed after this unfortunate end-of-season stretch.
The March Madness selection show is scheduled for Sunday, March 15 at 5 p.m. CST on CBS.
