Iowa State Falls To Texas Tech, 82-73, In Top-20 Matchup

Saturday, February 28

Ames, Iowa

3:00 PM

Iowa State

24-5,11-5Big 12

Texas Tech

22-7,12-4Big 12

Texas Tech

Iowa St.

Iowa State Falls To Texas Tech, 82-73, In Top-20 Matchup

02.28.2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

AMES, Iowa – No. 16 Texas Tech (22-7, 12-4 Big 12) handed No. 4 Iowa State (24-5, 11-5) its first home loss of the season in an 82-73 victory Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

Timely shots and hot shooting by the Red Raiders doomed the Cyclones. TTU shot 58.5 percent from the field, including a 48.3 percent clip from downtown at 14-of-29.

Donovan Atwell made six 3-pointers and led six Red Raiders in double-figuring scoring with 18 points.

ISU fell down by 20 points in the first half and trimmed a once 18-point second-half deficit to six points on two occasions in the final seven minutes, but the Red Raiders made the big shots when needed.

Joshua Jefferson led the Cyclones with 22 points, but baskets were hard to come by for ISU. The Cyclones shot under 40 percent from the field (39.0) for just the second time this season.

Milan Momcilovic added 20 points with four of his five 3-pointers occurring in the second half.

How it Happened
After multiple lead changes in the first eight minutes, the Red Raiders took control with a 20-2 run to move ahead 33-16. Luke Bamgboye tallied three buckets and Christian Anderson buried two of Tech's four 3-pointers during the run.

The Cyclones briefly trimmed the lead to 12 points, but TTU went back up by 20 before a pair of Blake Buchanan putbacks cut the Tech lead to 45-29 at the break.

The Red Raiders scorched the nets at 62.1 percent compared to ISU's 35.7 percent in the first half. TTU was 8-for-18 from beyond the arc, including a 5-of-9 effort from Atwell for 15 first-half points.

ISU picked up the defense at the beginning of the second half, forcing five early turnovers to trim the lead to 12 points (49-37). However, Tyeree Bryan hit two big corner treys on back-to-back possessions for a 55-37 Tech advantage with 14:15 left.

Tamin Lipsey helped the Cyclones cut the deficit to 13 at 62-49, but LeJuan Watts hit a desperation 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to deflate the crowd and give Tech a 65-49 lead with 9:15 remaining.

ISU didn't cave, mounting a 10-0 run to give the Cyclones a little hope while cutting the lead to 65-59 with 7:07 remaining. With the Red Raiders in the double-bonus early, the Cyclones hit their charity shots and Jefferson scored on a conventional 3-point play followed by a Lipsey lay-in.

The Red Raiders answered with an 8-0 run with two big 3-pointers from Jaylen Petty and Atwell to give Tech breathing room at 73-59 with under four minutes left.

ISU made one last ditch effort with a pair of Momcilovic 3-pointers in the final two minutes to cut the lead to six, but it was too late.

Key Performer
Blake Buchanan tallied eight points and led the Cyclones on the glass with 11 boards. He was 4-of-6 from the field and his two baskets in the final minute of the first half gave ISU a boost heading into the break.

Up Next
Iowa State travels to No. 2 Arizona on Monday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.