Three Takeaways: Iowa State falls to No. 7 Texas Tech

Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm looks on as Tennessee shoots free throws during the Cyclones’ 68-45 loss.

Brian Mozey

A couple weeks ago, Iowa State upset then-No. 8 Texas Tech at Hilton Coliseum with a 70-52 final score.

Tonight, that outcome was reversed on the Cyclones as the No. 7 Red Raiders came out with the 76-58 win over Iowa State.

Here are the takeaways from tonight’s loss against Texas Tech. 

Foul Trouble

Iowa State had only eight healthy players coming into tonight’s game after Hans Brase and Nick Weiler-Babb were out, so the main goal was to avoid fouls. 

Right away, Cameron Lard picked up two fouls in about four minutes and found himself on the bench for the majority of the first half. The Cyclones went down to seven players and that deficit showed heading into halftime with a 39-32 lead for Texas Tech. 

Lard came back in a big fashion before fouling out with 3:50 left in the game. He scored 22 points, five rebounds and two blocks throughout the game. 

Besides Lard, Iowa State finished with five players having three fouls and two players with two fouls. The Cyclones finished the game with 24 fouls compared to Texas Tech’s 16 fouls. 

If Iowa State is playing without Brase and Weiler-Babb again on Saturday against Oklahoma at home, the Cyclones will need to be careful with foul trouble early in the game. 

Spread Offense

Iowa State scored 58 points and the majority came from five of its players. Lard was the leader for the Cyclones with 22 points, but the other four scored at least six or more points. 

Freshman guard Lindell Wigginton took over the point guard duties once again while Weiler-Babb was on the bench, but showed an all-around performance. 

Wigginton had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists to round out his evening. Solomon Young had eight points along with nine rebounds, which was an improvement from four points and five rebounds against Baylor last weekend. 

Donovan Jackson and Zoran Talley Jr. each had six points in the game along with 10 total rebounds. 

Even though Iowa State shot 38.6 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from the 3-point line, the five players shared the ball to score 55 of the 58 points. 

Turnovers and Free Throw Line 

Iowa State had 15 turnovers tonight, which led Texas Tech to a 13-2 run in the second half and cemented the Red Raiders victory over the Cyclones. 

Texas Tech had only nine turnovers, which allowed its team to make those small runs and control the majority of the game. 

Along with the turnovers, the Cyclones couldn’t take advantage of the free points from the free-throw line tonight as Iowa State shot 58.8 percent. Texas Tech finished the night shooting 84.2 percent from the free-throw line. 

Wigginton went 4-for-10 from the line, while Young and Lard were perfect with 100 percent. 

Iowa State needs to make sure to improve its numbers from the line as well as minimize turnovers against a point guard like Trae Young and Oklahoma coming to Hilton Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.