At least this time the Cyclones won’t have to talk about losing the

game in

the final minutes.

That’s because Bobby Knight’s No. 20 Red Raiders pummeled Iowa State

from

the start en route to a 69-43 victory.

“We just got whupped for sure,” said ISU head coach Larry Eustachy,

whose

team has lost five games by five or fewer points in conference play.

“That

was the best defense we’ve seen all year. Their defense really bothered

us

and their pressure took us out of how we run our offense.”

Coming off a poor performance in Lincoln that saw the Red Raiders lose

80-69 to the Cornhuskers, the Texas Tech defense shut down Iowa State’s

top

threats.

Team leading scorer Tyray Pearson was held to 12 points while Jake

Sullivan

was pressured into two of 14 shooting and held to just five points.

The Cyclones’ 38 points is the fewest the team has scored since

Oklahoma

held Iowa State to 28 points 40 years ago.

“I don’t think we’ll see a tougher opponent all year,” Eustachy said.

“We

caught them on a very difficult night, in my opinion. This is as bad as

we’ve been hit since I’ve been here.”

Iowa State dropped to 1-8 in the Big 12 Conference and 9-14 overall.

With

the win Texas Tech continues its impressive rise in the conference

ranks

with a 5-3 Big 12 record and 16-4 overall.

Iowa State has already lost more Big 12 games (eight) this year than

over

the past two seasons combined (five.)

Eustachy also missed a chance to pass long-time friend Tim Floyd on

the ISU

all-time wins chart. The two are tied for fifth place at 81.

Kasib Powell led Texas Tech with 22 points and eight rebounds. Andre

Emmett

added 13 points as both teams were struggling from the field.

Texas Tech made 26 of 55 shots (47.2 percent) while holding Iowa State

to

an icy 15 of 62 (24.2 percent.) Iowa State scored just 14 points in the

first half as the Red Raiders went into the locker room with a 24-14

lead.

Knight credited his defense.

“When you miss a shot, the defense has something to do with it,” he

said.

“They make you adjust a little bit, you don’t have the right

follow-through,

you don’t have the right whatever.”

The Cyclones will face another tough road test when they travel to No.

22

Missouri. Iowa State upset the Tigers 71-67 on Jan. 9 for its only win,

but

hasn’t won a game on the road this season.

The last time the Cyclones went winless on the road in conference play

was

1997-98, the year before Eustachy took over.

The Tigers and Cyclones tip off at 7 p.m.

-Information from Associated Press was used in this article.

IOWA STATE-TEXAS TECH BOX SCORE

IOWA STATE (9-14)

Power 3-9 2-5 8, Jefferson 1-4 0-0 2, Bynum 2-5 0-0 4 Sullivan 2-14 0-0

5,

Varley 2-4 1-2 5, Nicol 0-0 2-2 2, Gahan 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0,

Pearson 4-19 5-8 13, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Fries 0-0 0-0 0, Homan 1-7 2-2 4.

15-62 12-19 43.

TEXAS TECH (16-4)

Emmett 5-8 3-4 13, Powell 8-13 6-7 22, Ellis 3-10 2-2 9, Shropshire 0-2

0-0

0, Marshall 0-4 2-2 2, Storozynski 2-5 0-2 4, Doudney 0-0 0-0 0, Chavis

2-3

1-2 5, Ross 4-6 0-0 8, Cassidy 0-0 0-0 0, Valdez 0-1 2-2 2, Arenas 1-2

0-0

2, Michalec 1-1 0-0 2. 26-55 16-21 69.

Halftime-Texas Tech 26-14. 3-Point goals-Iowa St. 1-4 (Sullivan 1-3,

Power

0-1), Texas Tech 1-3 (Ellis 1-1, Shropshire 0-1, Chavis 0-1). Fouled

out-Jefferson. Rebounds-Iowa St. 40 (Pearson 12), Texas Tech 42 (Powell

8).

Assists-Iowa St. 8 (Power 3), Texas Tech 19 (Chavis 6). Total

fouls-Iowa St.

22, Texas Tech 19. A-15,098.