Texas Tech vs Iowa State 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Iowa State Cyclones & 14-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders will square off at the T-Mobile Center this Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.

The Iowa State Cyclones finished their regular season with an overall record of 20-11 and earned the 6-seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after finishing conference play with a 7-11 conference record. Iowa State finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 13-0 record with their best wins coming against Xavier, Memphis, & Iowa. Iowa State struggled to start Big-12 play as the Cyclones lost 9 of their last 12 games, however, the Cyclones played better down the stretch, winning 4 of their last 6 games with a solid road victory at TCU.

On the season, Iowa State is averaging 67.3 ppg on 44.2% shooting from the field. The Cyclones are averaging 6.8 three-pointers per game on 32.6% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Iowa State has been led by Izaiah Brockington (17.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.3 spg), Tyrese Hunter (10.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.9 spg), Gabe Kalscheur (9.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 spg), & Caleb Grill (6.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.0 spg).

Defensively, Iowa State is holding their opponents to an average of 62.7 ppg on 42.6% shooting from the field. The Cyclones have a rebound margin of -0.5 and a turnover margin of 3.1.

The Texas Tech Raiders finished their regular season with an overall record of 23-8 and earned the 3-seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after finishing conference play with a 12-6 conference record. Texas Tech finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 11-2 record with their best win coming against Tennessee. Texas Tech lost to Oklahoma State in their regular season finale, however, the Red Raiders were solid throughout conference play and picked up solid victories over Kansas, Baylor (twice), & Texas (twice).

On the season, Texas Tech is averaging 72.4 ppg on 47.0% shooting from the field. The Red Raiders are averaging 6.0 three-pointers per game on 31.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Texas Tech has been led by Bryson Williams (14.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.0 apg), Terrence Shannon Jr. (10.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.1 apg), Davion Warren (10.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg), & Kevin McCullar (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg).

Defensively, Texas Tech is holding their opponents to an average of 60.7 ppg on 38.5% shooting from the field. The Red Raiders have a rebound margin of 6.5 and a turnover margin of 2.3.

The Cyclones are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games & 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record. The Red Raiders are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up loss & 14-5 ATS in their last 19 games overall.

Iowa State & Texas Tech split their regular season series as the Cyclones defeated the Red Raiders by a 51-47 margin at home in early January while Texas Tech defeated Iowa State by a 72-60 margin in mid-January.

Iowa State has been led by their defense which ranks 24^th ins coring defense & 29^th in turnover margin, however, the Cyclones have struggle at times on the offensive end as they come into this matchup ranked just 268^th in scoring offense. Texas Tech has also been led by their defense which ranks 13^th in scoring defense & 9^th in defensive FG%, while their offense has also been decent, ranking 146^th in scoring offense & 40^th in FG%. This is a pretty big spread for a Texas Tech offense that can struggle offensively to cover, however, as we recently saw Iowa State only put up 36 points at home against Oklahoma State, I think the Red Raiders defense keeps Iowa State around 50-55 points and that their offense does enough cover this large spread. Good Luck!