MEN’S BASKETBALL: Shorthanded Cyclones fall on road

Texas Tech guard Mike Singletary shoots between ISU forwards Craig Brackins and Justin Hamilton during the first half of the Red Raiders’ 78-71 win over the Cyclones Wednesday night. Singletary led the Red Raiders with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Photo: Geoffrey McAllister/Associated Press

Geoffrey McAllister

Texas Tech guard Mike Singletary shoots between ISU forwards Craig Brackins and Justin Hamilton during the first half of the Red Raiders’ 78-71 win over the Cyclones Wednesday night. Singletary led the Red Raiders with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Photo: Geoffrey McAllister/Associated Press

January 20, 2010

Betsy Blaney — Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — Mike Singletary scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Texas Tech over Iowa State 78-71 on Wednesday night, giving the Red Raiders their first conference win.

Texas Tech (13-5, 1-3 Big 12) led most of the game and built a 16-point lead with about nine minutes to play. The Cyclones (12-6, 1-2) used a 13-5 run, including a 5-point play after a technical foul was called on Darko Cohadarevic and 3-pointers by Craig Brackins and Scott Christopherson, to pull within 69-61.

But Texas Tech stiffened with baskets by John Roberson and Cohadarevic to seal the victory.

Marquis Gilstrap scored 19 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Cyclones. Brackins added 14 and had 10 rebounds.

Roberson scored 20 points and Nick Okorie added 15 for the Red Raiders.

The game was the first for the Cyclones without guard Lucca Staiger, the team’s third-leading scorer, who announced Tuesday he was going back to Germany to pursue professional opportunities there.

Staiger, a junior, started all 17 games this season before Wednesday night’s contest, averaging 9.4 points and shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range in his second year.

The Cyclones seemed to gain momentum from the 5-point play. Gilstrap made a layup and was fouled by Cohadarevic, who got angry about the call and slapped the pad beneath the backboard. An official called a technical on him, and Brackins sank both of those free throws.

Then Gilstrap hit his foul shot. Less than 40 seconds later, Brackins hit a 3. Christopherson’s 3 came at the 5:04 mark to whittle the Cyclones deficit to eight points.

Tech shot 42.6 percent from the field on 29-of-68 shooting, while the Cyclones hit 25 of 60 for 41.7 percent.

Both teams shot poorly from the free throw line in the first half. Together they missed 11 of 16 attempts. The Red Raiders got just two points off seven Cyclones turnovers, while Iowa State scored seven points off six Texas Tech turnovers.

The Red Raiders ended the first half on a 13-5 run to lead 41-31 at the break.