Preview & Game Day Thread: Texas Tech vs. Iowa State

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-5, 0-3)
Bad Guys: Iowa State Cyclones (12-2, 3-0)
When to Watch: Tuesday, January 10th @ 7:00 pm
Where to Watch: Hilton Coliseum | Ames, IA
How to Watch: ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Iowa State -5.5

Advanced Stats

TEXAS TECH STAT IOWA STATE
41
KenPom
29
78
KP AdjO
95
24
KP AdjD
12
35
T-Rank
25
89
T-Rank O
135
20
T-Rank D
7
35
Haslemetric
33

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD De’Vion Harmon (6-2/205) 12.4 / 3.7*
SHOOTING GUARD Richard Isaacs (6-2/170) 11.3 / 2.7*
SMALL FORWARD Jaylon Tyson (6-6/210) 9.6 / 5.0
POWER FORWARD Kevin Obanor (6-8/235) 16.4 / 6.3
CENTER Daniel Batcho (6-11/235) 11.8 / 8.2
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Lamar Washington (6-4/205) 4.2 / 2.3*
SEVENTH MAN KJ Allen (6-6/255) 3.7 / 2.9
EIGHTH MAN Kerwin Walton (6-5/200) 2.9 / 1.1
NINTH MAN Elijah Fisher (6-6/190) 3.1 / 1.3
TENTH MAN D’Maurian Willaims (6-3/200) 4.7 / 1.9
ELEVENTH MAN Robert Jennings (6-7/225) 3.3 / 2.2
TWELFTH MAN CJ Williams (6-1/155) 1.2 / 0.4
THIRTEENTH MAN Fardaws Aimaq (6-11/245) – / –
IOWA STATE
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Tamin Lipsey (6-1/200) 6.7 / 4.5*
SHOOTING GUARD Caleb Grill (6-3/196) 10.8 / 4.3
SMALL FORWARD Gabe Kalscheur (6-3/194) 10.9 / 1.8
POWER FORWARD Jaren Holmes (6-4/207) 13.0 / 3.2*
CENTER Osun Osunniyi (6-10/218) 8.5 / 3.4
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Robert Jones (6-10/240) 7.4 / 3.6
SEVENTH MAN Tre King (6-7/236) 6.5 / 3.8
EIGHTH MAN Demarion Watson (6-6/197) 1.9 / 3.0
NINTH MAN Hanson Ward (6-9/215) 3.7 / 2.5
TENTH MAN – (-/-) – / –

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. Iowa State is the new Texas Tech? Not great on offense but great on defense. Iowa State is a jump-shooting team that doesn’t shoot free throws well, but shoots decently inside the arc, 69th in the nation while 162nd in 3-point shooting. ISU is 57th in the nation in offensive rebounding, which is really their best offensive trait. The Cyclones are 312th in free throw rate and 286th in free throw percentage. Defensively, they allow teams to shoot really well from outside and get to the line, 277th in opposing 3-point percentage and 304th in free throw rate. But ISU has managed to be the best team in the nation in forcing turnovers and are 65th in opposing eFG%.

2. Scouting. Osunniyi is a fantastic rebounder and shot-blocker as well as a terrific shooter inside. You can pretty much write that about Grill, Lipsey, and King. They are doing something to get guys open inside. Grill and Kalschuer are the volume shooters from the outside, they’ll jack up some shots. Lipsey is the distributor along with King. Everyone is chipping in here and Grill, Lipsey, Holmes, and Kalscheur do the heavy lifting (note that they are all 6’4″ or shorter).

3. How They Match Up. Texas Tech is going to have a tough time without Batcho and Isaacs so I hope they both play (they are both in the video embedded below with Isaacs taking a shot). Texas Tech’s biggest advantage is free throw rate where the Red Raiders are 27th in the nation, so they need to get to the line on the road in a hostile environment. Easier said than done. What’s going to be an issue for Texas Tech is the turnovers, 272nd overall and as noted ISU is the best in the nation at forcing them.

4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.

5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:

Texas Tech is set to play two Big 12 road games this week, starting in Ames, Iowa against No. 14 Iowa State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Hilton Coliseum before playing No. 10 Texas on Saturday night at the Moody Center in Austin.

The Red Raiders (10-5, 0-3 Big 12) suffered a 68-63 overtime loss to Oklahoma on Saturday in Lubbock, while the Cyclones (12-2, 3-0 Big 12) earned a 69-67 win over No. 17 TCU in Fort Worth to extend a five-game winning streak. Tech, which had not lost back-to-back games since the 2020-21 season, will now look to avoid a 0-4 start to its conference schedule for the first time since 2015 when that team started 0-6.

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