Big 12 play continues on Saturday afternoon with a matchup between the #3 Iowa State Cyclones (13-1, 3-0 Big 12) and the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-3, 2-1 Big 12). These teams met last season with Iowa State winning by eight at home. The Cyclones are fresh off a home win over Utah, winning 82-59 and covering the 16.5-point spread as favorites. Texas Tech just won on the road at BYU 72-67, winning outright as 1.5-point underdogs. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 EST from the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas and can be found on ESPN.
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Who wins this showdown of Big 12 teams? Read below to see our Iowa State vs. Texas Tech prediction.
Iowa State Wins Ten Straight
The Iowa State Cyclones have quietly climbed up to be one of the best teams in the nation, and have won ten straight coming into this game against Texas Tech. They only lost one game all season, and that was against #4 Auburn in the Maui Invitational. The Cyclones opened up league play with three straight wins, most recently running Utah off the floor is a 23-point victory. In that game, Curtis Jones led the way with 23 points off the bench.
Jones is their leading scorer and shooter, he has been coming off the bench in recent games, but he still plays starters minutes with 28.3 minutes per game. He is a 6'4 senior guard scoring 16.6 PPG and has made 38 three pointers on the year on 38.8% shooting from deep. Jones has scored 20 or more five times this season. Keshon Gilbert is their other big scorer, he gets 16.2 PPG and contributes another 4.7 APG as a solid playmaker. Gilbert is a 6'4 senior who takes most of the ball handling responsibility. Their top scorer in the frontcourt is Joshua Jefferson, he is getting 11.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG as a 6'9, 240 pound forward. Jefferson does most of his work around the basket as he has only made five threes on the season.
Iowa State is ranked 4th out of 364 Division I teams according to KenPom. They are 6th in offensive efficiency and 9th in defensive efficiency. Iowa State plays at an average pace, ranking 117th in pace of play.
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Red Raiders Grab Two Road Wins
The Texas Tech Red Raiders started off conference play with a surprising home loss against UCF where they were 13.5-point favorites. Since then, they went on the road to play Utah and BYU, and concluded the short trip with two wins. They are now 2-1 in league play, trailing Iowa State, Houston and Arizona who are all undefeated. Their most recent win was the game against BYU where they were led by Elijah Hawkins with 22 points and five assists in the win.
Hawkins is their 5'11 senior point guard who runs the show for the Red Raiders, he leads the team with 5.6 APG, and grabs 1.9 steals per game while scoring 8.9 PPG. Hawkins transferred in from Minnesota where he was one of the top assist men in the Big Ten, and now starts at point guard for Texas Tech. Their top scorer is 6'9 sophomore forward JT Toppin with 17.2 PPG, and also leads the team with 9.2 RPG. Toppin is coming off his worst game of the season as he only finished with five points against BYU, but has scored in double figures in every other game. Their top outside shooter is Chance McMillan, he has 36 made threes on 50.0% shooting from deep, and scores 15.6 PPG as a 6'3 senior guard.
Texas Tech is ranked 18th overall according to KenPom. They are 8th in offensive efficiency, but only 59th in defensive efficiency. They play much slower than the Cyclones, ranking 264th in the country in pace of play.
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Best Bets for Iowa State vs. Texas Tech
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
Iowa State is getting 1.5 points on the spread, so if you believe in the Cyclones like I do, then the moneyline is the play. They are getting points here because the game is being played in Texas Tech, and everyone in the nation just saw #1 Tennessee get roasted on the road by Florida. But not every game goes to the home team, and Texas Tech also recently took a bad loss at home against UCF where they were double-digit favorites. JT Toppin is Tech's best player, but he has not looked like himself after missing some games with an injury. Toppin only had five points last game, and 11 in the game before that, he will struggle against an Iowa State defense that ranks 9th in the nation in efficiency. Tech tanks 59th in defensive efficiency, going up against the Cyclones who rank 6th offensively. Iowa State has too many weapons and is playing excellent basketball right now, take Iowa State to win.
Take Iowa State on the Moneyline.
Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
These are two of the top offenses in the nation according to KenPom's offensive efficiency rankings. Iowa State is 6th and Texas Tech is 8th, showing that both teams convert a high percent of their possessions, and do not leave points off the board. The weakest unit in this game by far is the Texas Tech defense, they gave up 87 points to UCF recently, and have gone through stretches where they struggle to get stops. This will not go well against the Cyclones who have two guards averaging over 16.0 PPG in Jones and Gilbery. Iowa State plays faster than Texas Tech, they will use that to their advantage and attack this Texas Tech defense before they can get set up. Texas Tech has gone over in three of their last four and will go over again here.
Take the over.
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For another opinion on this game, check out Iowa State vs. Texas Tech Prediction from Statsalt, our partner site.
