Iowa State’s Jalen Coleman-Lands brings the ball across the court during the Iowa State men’s basketball game against Texas on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames. © Kelsey Kremer/The Register via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Iowa State’s down to one last shot to avoid a worst-in-program-history 0-18 mark in Big 12 play.
It comes Saturday at Kansas State — and the Cyclones will be trying to regroup yet again after an 81-57 beatdown courtesy of Texas Tech Thursday night in Lubbock.
“We’ve got to get these guys there (tonight) so we can get some rest,” ISU Coach Steve Prohm said on the Cyclone Radio Network postgame show. “We’ll walk through and stretch tomorrow (at 11 a.m.) and get some shots up over there in their gym. We’ll rest the rest of the day and then we’ve got to be able to have our best performance Saturday.”
ISU (2-20, 0-17) trimmed a 16-point first-half deficit to four less than a minute before the break, but the Red Raiders added four quick points to lead, 35-27, at halftime. Tech’s edge mushroomed massively from that point on during a second half that wasn’t remotely close.
“We stayed around for a little bit, but I think in the last 10-12 minutes defensively, man, they really exposed us and made shots,” Prohm said. “And then I thought we looked a little fatigued down the stretch.”
Jalen Coleman-Lands and Tyler Harris paced ISU with 15 points apiece. The transfer guards combined to convert six of the Cyclones eight made 3-pointers. Solomon Young added 10 points for ISU, which was outscored, 19-6, in points off turnovers despite having one fewer turnover than the Red Raiders.
In a conference season filled with nothing but Cyclone losses, at least half of them have been somewhat close. Not Thursday, obviously. The Cyclones shot just 31 percent from the field. The Red Raiders drilled a dazzling 62 percent of their shots while overwhelming ISU for the second time this season.
Texas Tech (17-8, 9-7) has won five straight games in the series — with the last four coming by a minimum of 20 points.
The Cyclones, who played their second-straight game without injured leading scorer Rasir Bolton, were outscored 36-14 in points in the paint and will try to finally dent the ‘W’ column against the Wildcats before turning the page to Big 12 Tournament play next week.
“We’re going to put this game behind us and focus on Kansas State,” Young said. “Try to get that win down there.”
