AMES – No. 3 Iowa State is off to a hot start in Big 12 play. Through three league games, the Cyclones are 3-0, but this upcoming stretch of games will prove to be a big challenge.
A home game against the always-dangerous Kansas Jayhawks and a road test with the sneaky West Virginia Mountaineers are ones fans have their eyes on. But before those games happen, Iowa State will travel to Lubbock, Texas to take on Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders are always a tough matchup on their home court, and in their first two road games of the season, the Cyclones have struggled at times. Iowa State did come out the victor against Iowa and Colorado, but not without a fight.
“In both games, there was a point in the game late where our togetherness, our unity led to us getting stops,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “There’s certainly areas we could have played better and more specifically keeping our focus for 40 minutes.”
Iowa State and Texas Tech have met 45 times over the course of history. The Cyclones lead the all-time series 23-22, in one of the more competitive series in the Big 12.
But, Iowa State is 6-14 at the United Supermarkets Arena. Road games in the Big 12 are never easy, and Texas Tech is a prime example.
“They have a great home court,” Otzelberger said. “Their fans come out and support it. It’s a rowdy environment. They crank the noise all the way up.”
“I’d rather play with a crowd that’s big on away games than smaller ones,” senior guard Nate Heise said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it. A lot of guys play their best games when the biggest crowds are there.”
Through three games in Big 12 play, the Red Raiders are 2-1. Surprisingly, the two wins came on the road against Utah and BYU, while the lone loss happened at home to UCF by four points.
Iowa State will be the second-ranked team Texas Tech faces this season. The only other game the Red Raiders had against a ranked opponent was a five-point loss to then-No. 22 Texas A&M in the US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
There are four Red Raiders that average over 10 points per game. One of them, starting forward JT Toppin, nearly averages a double-double. He leads the team with 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game but did miss four games due to a minor knee injury in late December.
“A lot of respect for the program, for coach [Grant] McCasland and their team fits together really well,” Otzelberger said. “They shoot the ball tremendously well from the perimeter. [Elijah] Hawkins lately is really shooting it well, their point guard.”
Hawkins has started to turn it on as the Big 12 games have continued. In those three games, he scored 11 points against UCF, 12 against Utah and most recently had a season-high 22 points at BYU.
Entering the game, the goal remains the same, a simple thing like always: win.
“Do whatever we need to do to win,” junior forward Joshua Jefferson said. “The best teams can take punches and then throw them right back.”
Iowa State takes on Texas Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday from Lubbock, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN.
