AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State was in no mood to celebrate a
second straight Big 12 championship.
The eighth-ranked Cyclones got 22 points from Martin Rancik and
beat Texas Tech 80-63 Wednesday night to clinch at least a tie for
the title. But coach Larry Eustachy thought it was a poor effort,
especially in the first half, and his players agreed.
"We are too inconsistent," Rancik said. "If we want to do
what we're trying to do later on in the season, we can't be like
this. It's going to catch up with us and we're going to be upset."
Iowa State (24-4, 12-3) won the title outright last season and
can do it again by beating Nebraska at home in its regular-season
finale Saturday.
"We've got a tough, tough game on Saturday," Rancik said. "If
we win, then we can celebrate."
Texas Tech (9-17, 3-12) traded baskets with Iowa State much of
the first half before the Cyclones scored the final 10 points of
the half to open a 44-34 lead.
Iowa State then blew it open with a 19-4 second-half run and won
for the 35th straight time at home.
"We should have come out of the gate and popped and played 40
minutes and we didn't," Eustachy said. "It's a spurty team and
spurty teams get beat when they finally meet their challenge.
"Our team is not where it has to be to beat anybody really
good. I really mean that. The commitment to defending is zero."
Tyray Pearson added 12 points for Iowa State on 6-for-7
shooting, while Jake Sullivan scored 11 points and Jamaal Tinsley
had 10 points and 12 assists. Cliff Owens led Texas Tech with 16
points and Jamal Brown scored 13 – 12 in the first half.
Texas Tech cooled off after shooting 56 percent in the first
half and lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
"Our guys competed hard. We're just not mature enough to
understand how to play a quality team like this," Texas Tech coach
James Dickey said. "This is one of the great crowds in college
basketball. What happens when you have a crowd like that is the
home team feeds off of it."
Iowa State, leading the nation in 3-point shooting, missed its
first seven from long range and finished 4-for-16 from beyond the
arc. But Rancik and Pearson scored consistently in the lane and the
Cyclones shot 55 percent overall.
"We did a poor job of making them work on offense," Owens
said. "Iowa State has one of the best crowds and you really have
to put them back on defense, run the clock and try to put fans back
in their seats and we just didn't do that."
Texas Tech trailed just 44-39 after Mikey Marshall slammed in a
follow shot early in the second half. But the Red Raiders quickly
unraveled and Iowa State capitalized.
Tinsley converted a three-point play and Sullivan hit Iowa
State's first 3-pointer in an 11-0 run that made it 55-39. The
crowd roared when Tinsley bounced a pass between Marshall's legs to
Paul Shirley for a basket, and Tinsley's steal and layup put the
Cyclones up 63-43.
It was never closer than 13 points after that, and the Cyclones
soon were thinking about the next one.
"We don't want to be co-champs," Sullivan said. "We want this
thing outright."
The first half ended with an angry Dickey shoving aside a
television camera as the cameraman followed him off the floor.
Enraged by an offensive foul against Brown, Dickey stormed along
the sideline and could be heard uttering a profanity. He was given
a technical foul with 5.5 seconds left and Sullivan made both free
throws to give Iowa State its 10-point lead.
Dickey later apologized to the cameraman.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Texas Tech Clubhouse
Iowa State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jamaal Tinlsey passes the ball through the defender's legs to Paul Shirley.
avi: 990 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jamaal Tinsley sheds the defender with the crossover and finds Martin Rancik for the easy hoop.
avi: 919 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Martin Rancik handles the no-look feed from Jamaal Tinsley and slams it home.
avi: 879 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jake Sullivan beats the defense down the floor and scores the finger roll.
avi: 768 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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