Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
22-7,12-4Big 12
No. 4 Iowa State
24-5,11-5Big 12
No. 16 Tech takes down No. 4 Iowa State
February 28, 2026 | Men's Basketball
AMES, Iowa – For the first time in program history, No. 16 Texas Tech has four top 10 wins and three top 5 wins in a season after going on the road and earning an 82-73 victory over No. 4 Iowa State on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The Red Raiders (22-7, 12-4 Big 12) built out a 16-point halftime lead and held off a second-half surge to hand the Cyclones (24-5, 11-5 Big 12) their first home loss of the season. Â
"I thought we came into this game with the right mentality," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "We took care of the ball until the end but the only way we were able to play this way was because of the respect we have for Iowa State, this building and Hilton Magic. I know how tough it is to play here and just tried to prepare our guys what playing a great team here is about. There is a competitiveness to every possession and we were able to do it."
Tech had six players score in double figures in the game, led by 18 points from Donovan Atwell and Christian Anderson going for 14 points and seven assists. Luke Bamgboye matched his season-high with 13 points, Jaylen Petty added 12 points and matched a career-high with nine rebounds and Tyeree Bryan and Josiah Moseley scored 10 points each. Mosely matched his career-high with his 10 points and established a new career-best with nine rebounds. The Red Raiders, who started the game 3-for-10 on 3-pointers, finished shooting 14-of-29 (48.3%) from beyond the arc while limiting Iowa State to 8-of-24.
"We compete hard every day in practice and it translates to the games," Atwell said. "I've been saying it all season, but we have so many offensive threats on our team that it's hard for anyone to stop all of us. Every night is somebody different and today was a good day. Everyone works hard and we're going to keep going for sure."
Atwell led Tech by going 6-for-10 on 3-pointers while Petty made three and Anderson and Bryan had two each. In the second half, Petty was 2-of-3 on 3-pointers and had six of his nine rebounds. Bryan made back-to-back 3s in the second half, putting the Red Raiders up 55-37 before Petty's second pushed the score to 58-41. LeJuan Watts, who finished with seven rebounds, four assists and five points, hit his only 3 of the game to give Tech a 65-49 advantage.
Up as many as 20 in the game, it was in single digits when Iowa State went on a run that included a Joshua Jefferson and-one. The Cyclones had a 10-0 run going before Petty drilled his third 3 of the game and then a jumper for a 70-59 lead. Atwell's sixth 3 was followed by a Byran layup for a 75-59 advantage. ISU was able to get it to a six-point game after a Jefferson layup and Milan Momcilovic 3-pointer with 42 seconds remaining but free throws from Petty and Anderson and two missed 3s from the Cyclones closed it. Tech finished the game with a 35-29 rebounding advantage and had a 30-24 scoring advantage in the paint despite playing without all-American JT Toppin for the third game this season. The Red Raiders are now 3-0 after Toppin's season-ending injury and got rebounds seven different players in the win.
"You just love that you get to do this as a team," said McCasland, who has now coached 100 games as the Red Raider head coach and is 73-27. "It's not about just one guy. People want to make it about that, but that's not what we're playing. It's a team sport and it's so much fun to see the competitiveness of this group and how well our guards and team are rebounding together.
Tech came into the game with wins over No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Houston already on its resume before earning its fourth to drop Iowa State to 14-1 on its home court. As a program, the Red Raiders had three top 10 wins in 2006-07 after knocking off No. 5 Kansas and beating Texas A&M twice with the Aggies ranked No. 6 in both games.
Texas Tech took a 45-29 lead into halftime with Atwell hitting five 3-pointers and going to the break with 15 points while Anderson had eight points and four assists. The Red Raiders went into halftime shooting 8-for-18 on 3-point attempts while Iowa State was only 2-of-9. Bamgboye had nine points and two rebounds and Moseley scored six points and grabbed five rebounds. Tech had a 16-14 rebounding advantage at halftime and an 18-10 scoring advantage in the paint. Atwell struck early and often in the first half, making his first for a 4-0 lead and his fifth for a 45-25 lead – the largest of the half. Tech went on a 9-0 run with Bamgboye scoring back-to-back baskets with a dunk and then getting an assist from Anderson for an inside bucket. The next run would be an 11-0 streak with Anderson hitting two 3s and capping the run with a floater for a 33-16 lead. Iowa State was limited to just 35.7% shooting overall from the field and was led by Jefferson who had nine points at the break. Both teams went into halftime with five turnovers but the Red Raiders had a 9-5 scoring advantage off them to help build out the 16-point halftime lead.
Texas Tech returns to Lubbock to host its home finale in a matchup against TCU at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 14-1 on their home court this season, including a 7-1 record against conference opponents. TCU (18-10, 8-7 Big 12) plays at Kansas State tonight before making the trip.
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