The Texas Tech Red Raiders only took seven healthy players to Ames, Iowa, to play Wednesday, and that did not include their leaders in points per game (Terrance Shannon, Jr.), rebounds per game (Kevin McCullar), assists per game (McCullar), or blocks per game (Daniel Batcho).
But in a performance that was both invigorating and frustrating, the Red Raiders could not overcome the No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones in a 51-47 loss Wednesday night.
Super senior guard Davion Warren led the shorthanded Red Raiders with 12 points, 10 of them in the second half, and Tech held Iowa State to 15.6% shooting in the second half.
What really did it in for the Red Raiders, however, was shooting an atrocious 6-for-15 (40%) from the free throw line, and shooting 3-for-17 from deep (18%) didn’t really help.
It seemed like Iowa State’s ability to score and a triple as the shot clock expired from senior forward Aljaz Kunc would be a problem for the Red Raiders, but Tech came out in the second half with fury.
“We felt like at halftime that we couldn’t play a lot worse,” Tech head coach Mark Adams said, “and so we just said, “Hey, we can win this game, these guys felt like, in their heart, they could do that, and they played to the very end.”
He added that they got some tough calls near the end, but this is a performance the Red Raiders can build on.
Although Tech didn’t score much themselves, they did not let Iowa State score for over seven minutes to start the second half, and with a resurgence from Warren, super senior forward Bryson Williams, and hard-nosed play from junior guard Clarence Nadolny, they got it within three points with five minutes left in the game.
After a Kevin Obanor free throw and dunk, Warren laid it in to tie the game at 40, and then Marcus Santos-Silva slammed it home on a fastbreak to get Tech’s first lead of the game with a little over two minutes.
Iowa State finally started to look like the No. 11 team in the country, however, and senior guard Izaiah Brockington converted on a four-point play with a made triple and free throw, and combined with a questionable offensive foul on Warren late, the Cyclones finished the game on an 11-5 run to escape.
Brockington led Iowa State with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Kunc had 13 points as he shot 7-for-10 from the free throw line, making many of the important free throws down the stretch for the Cyclones.
Five Tech players did not travel to Ames, Iowa, due to health and safety protocols, per a Tech press release. Shannon, Jr., Batcho, Sardaar Calhoun, Austin Timperman and Chibuzo Agbo were not seen in Ames.
McCullar and Mylik Wilson were out Wednesday night due to injury, per the release.
Adams said the team did not know they were only going to have seven players until they got on the plane to travel to Ames.
He said McCullar’s injury was a freak practice injury, but he traveled to Ames before the team determined he would be out closer to game time.
Texas Tech will try to take the positives from this and hopefully get healthier before their next game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. back home at the United Supermarkets Arena against No. 6 Kansas.
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