Texas Tech vs. Iowa State: College basketball game preview, TV schedule
The Red Raiders have been impressive all season but suffered a slight setback to Texas this week. Now the team will travel to one of the most difficult places in the country, Iowa State.
TV schedule: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2:00 p.m. ET. ESPNU
Arena: Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa
In the grand scheme of things, there really is no such thing as a bad loss in the Big 12, as all 10 teams are capable of winning on any given night, especially when playing at home. That being said, when you’re trying to win the regular season title while Bill Self and Kansas are around, you can’t afford to lose to teams in the bottom half of the league.
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Unfortunately for Texas Tech 15-3 (4-2) that happened this Wednesday, where they fell in Austin to the Longhorns, 67-58. As great a defense is for the Red Raiders, Texas is right up there, as they used Mo Bamba to dominate them inside and patrol the paint. Keenan Evans wasn’t as effective, scoring just 11 points in the game. They’re now one game back of Kansas, although they do have the tiebreaker with a win already at Allen Fieldhouse.
So Texas Tech really can’t afford to lose against Iowa State 10-7 (1-5), a team that got destroyed by TCU without the team’s starting point guard. The Cyclones shot 51% from the field but surrendered 60% from the field to the Horned Frogs.
The defense was a disaster but the offense had their issues as well. That was due to the worst game of the year by Nick Weiler-Babb. The junior normally fills up the stat sheet but had just four points, three rebounds, and six assists. Those numbers are usually in the triple-double range on a given night.
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The Cyclones only have one conference win but have played four very competitive league games, and plays very well at home. It’ll be interesting to see is the offense for the Red Raiders improves, as they’ll need the offense to win some games as well. I believe this will be one of them, as Iowa State is not a good team on defense, regardless of where they play.
Prediction: Texas Tech 82 – Iowa State 71