Kansas City, Mo. ? Iowa State kept giving away the ball, and Texas Tech kept making the Cyclones pay.
Jarrius Jackson converted three last-minute turnovers into six free throws Friday, sealing the Red Raiders’ 64-56 victory in the second round of the Big 12 Conference tournament.
“We turned the ball over 17 times, and they weren’t even pressing us,” Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan said. “They had 17 points off our turnovers. That is the key stat.”
Jackson led the fourth-seeded Red Raiders (19-9), who advanced to the semifinals for the fourth straight year, with 20 points. Texas Tech will meet top-seeded Oklahoma today.
Fifth-seeded Iowa State (18-11) scored just six points after the midpoint of the second half and lost despite a 42-32 rebounding advantage.
“There were three or four times that we had clean shots, good looks that just didn’t go in,” Morgan said.
Texas Tech trailed by eight with just less than 91/2 minutes remaining, but then went on a 14-2 run — capped by Curtis Marshall’s dunk with 1:41 left — for a 56-52 lead.
Curtis Stinson flipped in a layup with 1:29 left, getting the Cyclones within 56-54, but Devonne Giles rebounded Ronald Ross’ miss at the other end and hit two free throws with 52.4 seconds left to make it 58-54.
Iowa State turned the ball over on its next three possessions, and Jackson capitalized with a 6-for-6 performance from the line that iced the victory for the Red Raiders.
| At Kansas City, Mo.Thursday’s GamesMissouri 70, Nebraska 67Iowa State 77, Baylor 57K-State 68, Texas A&M 62Colorado 81, Texas 69Friday’s GamesOklahoma 83, Missouri 79Texas Tech 64, Iowa State 56Kansas 80, Kansas State 67Oklahoma State 87, Colorado 85Today’s Games1 p.m. — Oklahoma (1) vs. Texas Tech (4)3:20 p.m. — Kansas (2) vs. Oklahoma State (3)Sunday’s Game2 p.m. — Championship |
Giles had nine points and nine rebounds, and Ross had eight points in the first half for Texas Tech, which led 34-32 at the break. But for much of the second half, Iowa State’s zone defense kept both largely in check.
Giles didn’t pick up his first rebound in the second half until 6:13 remained and didn’t score until his basket with 4:40 left cut Iowa State’s lead to 50-49.
“It’s hard to get the ball in the middle sometimes because it’s so packed up,” said Giles, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. “But the guards did a good job of driving over the top and getting it to the post.”
Ross’ first basket of the second half came even later, at the 3:19 mark — but it was a big one, part of a three-point play that tied the game at 52.
Ross had 11 points for Texas Tech, and Martin Zeno and Marshall each added 10.
Stinson led Iowa State with 24 points. Jared Homan fouled out with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Will Blalock added 12 points.
Both teams hit shooting slumps midway through the second half. The difference was that Texas Tech recovered.
“We came back today as well as we ever have,” Red Raiders coach Bob Knight said. “The coming back was a real highlight of the team’s competitiveness.”
The Red Raiders got within 42-40 on Jackson’s basket with just less than 121/2 minutes remaining, then went scoreless from the field until Jackson hit a three-pointer with just less than six minutes to go.
Iowa State built its lead to 50-42 on Stinson’s driving layup with 9:25 to go — then didn’t score again until Stinson hit a jumper with 3:34 left for a 52-49 lead.
While Stinson had 16 points in the second half for Iowa State, Homan had only two points on 1-for-5 shooting after the break.
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