Field Level Media
Feb 7, 2018
Freshman guard Zhaire Smith scored a season-best 21 points and also collected eight rebounds and three steals to lead No. 7 Texas Tech to a 76-58 victory over Iowa State on Tuesday in Big 12 play at United Marketplaces Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
Freshman guard Jarrett Culver added 16 points as the Red Raiders (20-4, 8-3 Big 12) won their fifth straight game and moved into a first-place tie with Kansas. Senior guard Keenan Evans scored 15 points as Texas Tech improved to 15-0 at home.
Iowa State freshman forward Cameron Lard scored a career-best 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting before fouling out with 3:50 left. Freshman guard Lindell Wigginton added 13 points for the Cyclones (12-11, 3-8), who shot 38.6 percent from the field and dropped to 0-7 on the road.
Iowa State was without junior guard Nick Weiler-Babb (knee) for the third consecutive contest.
Texas Tech shot 49.2 percent from the field with Smith's 7-of-8 effort leading the charge. The Red Raiders avenged a 70-52 loss to the Cyclones last month.
Iowa State trailed by nine points early in the second half before Lard's layup capped a 10-2 run as the Cyclones pulled within 45-44 with 15:01 left.
Iowa State later was down by two points after senior guard Donovan Jackson drained a 3-pointer with 12:13 remaining before the Red Raiders received three-point plays from Smith and Culver to open up a 55-47 lead with 10:11 to play. Lard scored the Cyclones' next six points to pull his squad within 57-53 with 7:06 remaining.
Gray's layup started a run of seven straight Texas Tech points to push the differential to 64-53 with five minutes remaining. Lard scored his final points on a layup with 4:30 left before the Red Raiders rattled off the next eight points to increase the margin to 17 with 2:12 to go.
Smith had 12 first-half points to help Texas Tech to a 39-32 lead at the break.
The Red Raiders led by six before the game was four minutes old, but the Cyclones caught them at 19 on Zoran Talley's hoop with 10:22 left in the half. Smith capped a 12-2 burst later in the half with a dunk to give Texas Tech a 35-24 edge with 2:57 left before Iowa State cut the deficit to seven.
--Field Level Media