March 11, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Andrija Grbovic (14) leaves the second half of the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Image Iowa State dominated Arizona State by a Big 12 tournament record 49 points on Wednesday.
That reward? A well-rested date with Texas Tech.
The fifth-seeded Cyclones lost at home to the fourth-seeded Red Raiders on the final day of last month and now get another chance against Texas Tech in Thursday’s quarterfinals of a fearsome tournament in Kansas City.
There is no easy road to the Big 12 Tournament. The seventh-ranked Cyclones (26-6) played Wednesday, while the 16th-ranked Red Raiders (22-9) were off a game due to Texas Tech’s recent 82-73 win at Iowa State.
“They have an unbelievable team this year and they continue to do a great job,” Cyclones coach TJ Otzelberger said of the Red Raiders. “So we know what a tough challenge it will be and we know what a great team they are, so we will do our best to do our best.”
Iowa State played at a high level in a 91-42 win Wednesday in what turned out to be Bobby Hurley’s final game as coach of the Sun Devils. The Cyclones also ended a two-game slide by defeating Arizona State 86-65 in the regular season finale last Saturday.
Milan Momcilovic scored 21 points and hit four 3-pointers in Wednesday’s second-round rout, and Joshua Jefferson added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Cyclones. Blake Buchanan also excelled with 17 points.
“I think our guys came out with a tremendous level of energy and intensity right from the start,” Otzelberger said. “We knew it was important to get the pace up and score on defense and our guys did a great job there.
“We always do our best when we do that.”
Meanwhile, Texas Tech is eager to begin its own postseason under very tough circumstances.
“This is the best time of the year and it’s not over yet. It’s a blessing to have postseason basketball in March,” Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland said. “The Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City is amazing. It’s a great opportunity for our team to take advantage of. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to play in the best college basketball tournament outside of the NCAA Tournament.”
Texas Tech will be playing in its sixth game since losing star big man JT Toppin to an ACL injury Feb. 17 against Arizona State.
The Red Raiders are 3-2 without stars, including Donovan Atwell’s 18 points on six 3-pointers and Christian Anderson’s takedown for the Cyclones, who added 14 points and seven assists.
However, after beating Iowa State, the Red Raiders lost 73-65 to visiting TCU and 82-76 at BYU to end the regular season. But McCasland said he wasn’t nervous about the possibility of a third straight failure.
“I know people love to talk about winning streaks and stuff like that,” McCasland said. “Honestly, I don’t really care. As a coach, I think, ‘What do we need to improve to give us a chance to win the next game? Do we want to win? 100%.’”
Atwell has made a Texas Tech record 121 3-pointers this season, while Anderson (103) also passed the previous school record.
Momcilovic set a new Iowa State record with 118 treys. He ranks second in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game this season, behind Atwell.
–Field level media
