712 Digital Group - top

Iowa State looks to knock off No. 18 Texas Tech

Sports

January 8th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

No. 18 Texas Tech looks to give Iowa State its 12th straight loss to ranked opponents, Saturday, in Ames. The game at H. Hilton Coliseum, begins 3-p.m. CST. Iowa State’s last win vs a ranked opponent came against the then-No. 16 Seton Hall Pirates 76-66 on Dec. 8, 2019. Texas Tech got past Kansas State by 11 at home in its last outing.

Iowa State’s Jalen Coleman-Lands, Solomon Young and Javan Johnson have collectively scored 53 percent of the team’s points this season, including 53 percent of all Cyclones scoring over the last five games. Rasir Bolton has either made or assisted on 40 percent of all Iowa State field goals over the last five games. Bolton has 26 field goals and 25 assists in those games. Iowa State is 0-6 this year when it allows 70 points or more and 2-0 when holding opponents to fewer than 70.

The Red Raiders have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Cyclones. Iowa State has 27 assists on 76 field goals (35.5 percent) across its previous three outings while Texas Tech has assists on 37 of 75 field goals (49.3 percent) during its past three games.

The Texas Tech defense has forced opponents into turnovers on an impressive 27.2 percent of all possessions, which ranks the Red Raiders sixth among Division I teams. Iowa State has turned the ball over on 22.8 percent of its possessions (ranking the Cyclones 300th, nationally).