Big Second Half Boosts Red Raiders Past Cyclones, 72-52

The Cyclones entered Lubbock coming off of a loss to a top team in the nation in Baylor, and would struggle to get going early against the Red Raiders.

‘Tis the season for West Virginia to make us miss the first four minutes of our beloved Cyclones, so why change that today? Iowa State went with the starting lineup of Haliburton, Bolton, Nixon, Jacobson, and Conditt IV for the 3rd consecutive game. George Conditt IV and Michael Jacobson both picked up 2 fouls before the first media timeout, where the ‘Clones trailed 9-2 early. Despite many, many missed shots and turnovers, the next 4 minutes saw Iowa State match Taco Tech’s 2 points to make it 11-4 bad guys with 12 minutes left in the first half.

The first half concluded with some more of the same from both squads: missed shots, turnovers, fouls, pretty much anything not offensive. Despite poor play, Iowa State trailed by just 6 going into the break, 27-21. The Cyclones shot just 10-31 (31.3%) overall and 0-13 (0% for you mathematicians) from beyond the arc. Tyrese Haliburton led the way with 8 points while adding 2 boards.

What happens next is the highlight of the first half. As mysteriously as he disappeared, Vanilla Ice mysteriously appeared for the halftime show. We can only assume it was one of the more entertaining halftime shows in recent history (aside from Red Panda, of course). He walked off the court chanting “Go ninja go ninja go” to make this the most electric 6 minutes in United Supermarkets Arena history.

Back to the game of basketball that is going on.

Tre Jackson started in place of George Conditt IV in the second half to spark a quick 4 point spurt to bring Iowa State within one possession early on after the break.

After a goaltending call 3 and a half minutes into the second stanza, Steve Prohm decided he had had enough of the poor officiating and picked up a technical foul that resulted in Texas Tech building an 8 point lead. The Red Raiders continued to score while ISU struggled, getting their lead up to as much as 12. Tyrese Haliburton was finally able to knock down the Cyclones first 3 pointer after missing its first 15 from the outside.

Texas Tech held a 14 point lead heading into the under-8 timeout, and would not look back. Coming out of that timeout, the fighting tortillas blew up for a 14-0 run in just over 2 minutes. Every TTU player remembered how to shoot and that spelled trouble for Iowa State who struggled on both ends of the floor throughout the last 10 minutes. Tre Jackson yelled “Next point wins!” before draining a step back three to close the game that ended 72-52.

Iowa State just seemed out of sorts all day long in Lubbock and the score reciprocated just that. Shooting just 20-56 (35.7%) from the field and 3-22 (13.6%) from three will not win many basketball games. The Cyclones had just 7 assists to 20 turnovers. Tyrese Haliburton had 13 points to go along with 4 rebounds and a season-low 2 assists. Michael Jacobson added 10 points and 4 boards while Tre Jackson was able to score 8 and grab 5 rebounds.

The Cyclones fall to 8-9 (1-4) and will take on Oklahoma State in Hilton on Tuesday, January 21st on your favorite network, ESPN+.