KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joshua Jefferson had 18 points and 13 rebounds, longtime partner Tamin Lipsey added 20 points and No. 7 Iowa State used a second-half surge to beat No. 16 Texas Tech 75-53 on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Cyclones (27-6) trailed by 12 points early in the game and led at halftime before going on a 19-3 run shortly after halftime to earn a spot in the championship game Friday night with either eighth-seeded UCF or second-seeded Arizona.
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LeJuan Watts led the Red Raiders (22-10) with 12 points. Christian Anderson scored 10 points but appeared to strain a muscle when he slipped on the Big 12 playoff glass with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
Several players in the women’s and men’s tournaments complained about its slick nature.
The two teams traded blows early in the game — fourth-seeded Texas Tech opened with a 17-5 run, followed by Iowa State’s 15-2 run minutes later — before the game descended into a back-and-forth battle between top-20 teams.
There were nine lead changes in the first half, with Jamarion Bartmon’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer giving the Cyclones a 36-33 halftime lead.
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Iowa State turned up the pressure in the second half, holding the Red Raiders to just two field goals in the first 9 1/2 minutes. On the other end of the floor, Texas Tech had nothing to do with Jefferson, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound Big 12 forward whose ability to beat defenders and get to the rim completely frustrated Grant McCasland’s team.
That’s when Iowa State set a Big 12 Tournament record by beating Arizona State by 49 points in the second round, making a big run against the Red Raiders and taking control of the game.
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Iowa State defeated UCF 87-57 on January 20 at Hilton Coliseum, but lost to Arizona 73-57 on March 2.
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Texas Tech is hoping to stay in the lineup as a No. 4 seed heading into Sunday’s NCAA Tournament.
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