Iowa State picked up its first Big 12 Tournament victory since the 2012-13 season on Friday night, beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders for the third time this season by a score of 74-49. 

Freshman guard Madison Wise finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in a game that Iowa State was never really in danger of losing. 

The Cyclones advance to the quarterfinals, where they will take on No. 2 seed Texas Saturday afternoon. 

Ugly game, easy win for Cyclones

What happened in Oklahoma City Friday night was not necessarily an offensive masterpiece, despite the Cyclones scoring 74 points. 

After the first quarter, Iowa State was leading the Red Raiders 19-5. Iowa State’s defense completely shut down the Red Raiders’ offense, holding them to 2-for-12 shooting from the floor. 

In the second quarter, it was Iowa State’s turn to have a tough time from the floor. At one point in the second quarter, the two teams were shooting a combined 23 percent from the floor. Twenty-three percent! 

That’s not good.

Part of the equation was good Iowa State defense. The Cyclones forced 12 Tech turnovers in the first half and held the Red Raiders to 0-for-4 shooting from 3-point range, but they themselves only shot 30.2 percent on 10-for-33 shooting. 

The second half wasn’t much better. 

After a burst in the middle of the third quarter by the Cyclones to go up 53-28, there were a total of seven points scored in the final 3:30 of action. 

Both teams finished the game with under 40 percent shooting (30.8 percent for Tech and 36.9 percent for the Cyclones), and the teams combined to shoot 18.65 percent from the 3-point line.

The Red Raiders finished with a 2.7-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. 

This was a game that was pretty much over after the first 10 minutes, and the stats showed it. 

Dynamic duo continues to shine

Bridget Carleton and Emily Durr really don’t want this season to end. 

The roommates and Iowa State guards have carried the Iowa State offense for the entire second half of the season, and it was no different in the first half on Friday. 

After a career-high 27-point outing in Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Kansas, Durr had 13 first-half points against Tech on 5-for-11 shooting. Carleton, meanwhile, led all scorers at the break with 14 points despite only hitting two of her 12 first-half attempts. The junior guard did her damage at the line for much of the game, hitting 12-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe to offset a poor shooting night.

Carleton’s 24 points on the night pushed her up to 569 points on the season, passing Kelsey Bolte and moving into fifth in school history for single-season scoring. She needs only two points against Texas to tie Hallie Christofferson for fourth all-time. 

With the game largely in hand after two-and-a-half quarters, Carleton and Durr sat for most of the final frame to rest up for the quarterfinals.

Overall, Durr and Carleton combined for 39 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and three steals. 

The duo might need to go for nearly 50 tomorrow for Iowa State to move on to the semifinals, but they’re certainly capable.

Next matchup

The No. 2 seeded Texas awaits for the third time this season, and the Cyclones will be hoping the third time is the charm after losing their first two meetings against the Longhorns. 

Texas obviously packs a big punch, and coach Bill Fennelly has said before that they “have NBA players on that roster” and present a very difficult challenge for the Cyclones. 

The battle on the interior is one the Cyclones will likely not win, but must limit potential damage. In the two teams’ last meeting, Iowa State held the Longhorns’ center Jatarie White to two points in 15 minutes.

The Longhorns still went on to win 72-59, but the Cyclones hung around and got within 10 points in the fourth quarter. 

As important as the post battle is, though, making sure Texas senior Ariel Atkins can’t get into an offensive rhythm might be the Cyclones key to pulling off the upset. She scored 20 in the Longhorns’ February win over Iowa State, and her offensive dynamism can single-handedly give the Longhorns the advantage. 

The Cyclones were on point tonight with their disruptiveness and intensity on the defensive side of the ball, forcing turnovers and holding the Red Raiders under 31 percent shooting. That has to continue for Iowa State’s season to continue. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the formula is pretty cut and dry at this point: Let Durr and Carleton get buckets, and hope that others chip in at the right times. 

I have the Cyclones hanging around, but falling short in the second half.