Iowa State Cyclones vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Prediction, 3/12/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Iowa State Cyclones vs Texas Tech Red Raiders

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026

Location: T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO

TV: ESPN

The Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-9) are welcoming the Iowa State Cyclones (25-6) at T-Mobile Center on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament.

The Iowa State Cyclones faced off with Arizona State and earned the victory with a final of 86-65 in their last contest. Iowa State wrapped up the game having earned a 43.9% FG percentage (29 of 66) and converted 11 of their 29 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Cyclones buried 17 of 22 tries for a percentage of 77.3%. Pertaining to getting rebounds, they earned 29 with 9 of them being offensive. They also recorded 18 assists for this game in addition to forcing the other team into 22 turnovers and having 16 steals. With regard to the defense, Iowa State allowed their opponent to shoot 46.5% from the floor on 20 out of 43 shooting. Arizona State recorded 13 assists and had 5 steals in this contest. On top of that, Arizona State had 23 boards (3 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Arizona State walked away from this one shooting 81.8% from the charity stripe by burying 18 of their 22 tries. They converted 7 of their 23 shots from beyond the perimeter. In reference to personal fouls, the Cyclones finished with 18 while Arizona State totaled 19 personal fouls.

Joshua Jefferson is a guy who was a factor for the game. He finished 41.7% from the floor and also recorded 3 assists. He played for 30 mins and also totaled 7 boards. He finished with 16 points on 5 out of 12 shooting.

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Iowa State heads into this one with a mark of 25-6 so far this year. They are turning it over 10.3 times per game and as a team they commit 16.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Iowa State is snagging 35.5 boards per contest and has accumulated 540 dimes for the season, which is 30th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Cyclones are shooting 38.3% on shots beyond the perimeter (276 of 720) and 68.0% from the charity stripe. They average 81.8 points per contest (57th in Division 1) while shooting 48.8% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Cyclones are forcing their opponents into 15.3 turnovers every game while drawing 16.9 fouls. They are ranked 112th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 397 conceded for the year. The Cyclones are allowing a FG percentage of 42.8% (728 of 1,701) and they surrender 31.0 boards per contest as a squad. They are surrendering 32.5% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 16th in college in opponents PPG (65.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Texas Tech Red Raiders went home defeated by a final of 82-76 when they played BYU. The Red Raiders were able to snag 19 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 28 for the game. They also coughed up the ball 8 times, while earning 1 steal for the matchup. BYU earned 14 fouls in the game which took the Red Raiders to the charity stripe for 8 shots. They were able to knock down 6 of the free throws for a clip of 75.0%. With respect to three-point attempts, Texas Tech converted 16 of 35 attempts (45.7%). In all, the Red Raiders went 27 out of 58 from the field which had them sitting at 46.6%. The Red Raiders allowed BYU to convert 31 out of 70 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 44.3% in the matchup. They went 23.1% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 6 out of 26 and finished the game at 14 of 19 at the charity stripe (73.7%). When talking about team rebounding, Texas Tech allowed BYU to pull down 35 in total (18 on the offensive side).

Christian Anderson ended up being a major contributor for the Red Raiders for the contest. He converted 8 out of 19 for the contest giving him a rate of 42.1%, and had 4 rebounds. He earned 23 points in his 40 mins on the court and had 9 assists in the game.

Texas Tech has a win-loss mark of 22-9 this year. The Red Raiders commit 16.5 fouls per game and they go 71.7% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 16.0 times per game (66th in D-1) and they are turning it over 10.8 times per game. Texas Tech has totaled 2,520 points this season (81.3 per contest) and they pull down 37.2 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Red Raiders are shooting 47.1% from the field, which has them ranked 69th in the nation.

The Texas Tech defense allows 31.3% on shots from 3-point land (205 of 656) and their opponents are connecting on 69.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 10.9 dimes and 33.9 rebounds per game, which is 21st and 149th in college hoops. The Red Raiders are ranked 143rd in college in points per game surrendered with 72.5. They have forced 10.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.6% from the field (143rd in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Iowa State

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