Texas Tech proved Jan. 24 that in the Big 12, there is no such thing as a guarantee.

No. 9 Iowa State (14-4, 4-2 Big 12) fell to Texas Tech (11-9, 1-6 Big 12) by a score of 78-73, as the Red Raiders earned their first conference victory of the season.

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg said when his league-leading Cyclones took the court in Lubbock, Texas for a showdown with the conference cellar dwellers, that his team was not overlooking its opponent.

Post game, however, not everyone shared Hoiberg’s perspective.

“We knew this was a trap game, a big game, and we just didn’t come prepared for it,” said point guard Monté Morris, who led the team with a career-high 20 points. “We [saw] ‘Tech’ across [their] jersey and took it for granted, and that’s all it was.”

Whether or not Iowa State mistakenly viewed the game as a night off, there was no more fitting description of the Cyclones’ evening than that of an off night.

As the ISU players slumped from the hardwood in defeat, avoiding the droves of Red Raider fans that jubilantly stormed the court in the process, all that remained for Hoiberg were questions.

Questions absent simple answers.

“I don’t think we took them lightly. I wish I could figure it out,” Hoiberg said of his team’s performance. “But it’s bothersome. Especially two consecutive games on the road now where you get off to such a poor start.”

Iowa State stands at 1-2 on the road in Big 12 play, having suffered defeat in its previous excursion at Baylor, 74-73, on Jan. 14.

Hoiberg lamented last year’s 3-6 road record against Big 12 competition as early as media day, which served as his first press conference of the season. Now, three games into the nine-game road schedule, Iowa State is on pace to finish with the exact same mark.

Three common denominators appear to exist in Iowa State’s Big 12 road failures thus far. The first is the play of team-leader Georges Niang.

Niang shot 40 percent from the field and scored only 10 points against Texas Tech, while committing four turnovers. Niang also struggled versus Baylor, posting only 10 points on an even worse shooting performance, while failing to connect on his first field goal until late in the second half.

The second commonality is that of the slow start. Baylor jumped on Iowa State 22-5 to open that ISU loss, while Texas Tech began the Jan. 24 contest on a 29-10 run, burying Iowa State at the bottom of a hole too steep to shovel out of.

“We were dead in the water,” Hoiberg said. “They took us to the woodshed, and again, we did not respond very well.”

Finally, there has been a significant defensive discrepancy for Iowa State depending on whether a Big 12 matchup is held inside or outside of Hilton. The Cyclones cede, on average, 71 points to conference opponents in home victories. That number jumps to 76 points per game in road losses to Big 12 foes.

The Red Raiders compiled 56 of their 78 points from behind the 3-point line and at the free-throw stripe, two areas against which the ISU coaching staff stresses defending. Iowa State gave up 11 3-point connections versus Texas Tech on 24 attempts and put the Red Raiders on the line 28 times, where they tallied 23 makes.

Iowa State entered the night leading the country in free-throws allowed, acquiescing only 229 attempts through 17 games, which equated to an average just below 13.5 free looks per contest. That number more than doubled against Texas Tech.

“They were just too comfortable,” Hoiberg said.

Forward Jameel McKay, who posted nine points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Red Raiders, said that a lack of effort was the primary focus of a post game discussion that took place in a players-only meeting.

“[It was] about as angry [of] a locker room as I have been in, especially since I have been here. It was a very emotional locker room,” McKay said. “If there is one thing you can control every game, it is your effort.”

The Cyclones will need an improved effort against No. 17 Texas on Jan. 26, and will have to muster it despite being granted only one day off between games.

“We have no choice but to forget this one fast,” McKay said.

The defeat at Texas Tech already cost the Cyclones the conference lead, as Kansas regained its position as the Big 12 pace-setter following a road victory against the aforementioned Longhorns on Saturday.

A loss to Texas in Ames would drop Iowa State to 4-3 in the conference and knock the Cyclones back to the middle of the pack in America’s deepest league, which currently boasts six members ranked in the top 25.

“It’s a quick turnaround. That’s actually good for us though,” Morris said. “We’ve got a tough taste in our mouth right now, but come Monday night, you should see a different Iowa State team.”