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.
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 either top-seeded Arizona or eighth-seeded UCF 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%.
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.