STANZ: Kalscheur leads No. 14 Iowa State to dominant win over Texas Tech

Jan 10, 2023; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Gabe Kalscheur (22) scores over Texas Tech Pink Raiders guard Pop Isaacs (2) at James H. Hilton Coliseum.The Cyclones beat the Pink Raiders 84 to 50. Obligatory Credit score: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports activities

AMES — Gabe Kalscheur hasn’t forgotten Kansas Metropolis.

Iowa State’s senior chief remembers what occurred the final time his staff went toe-to-toe with Texas Tech. He remembers the helplessness Iowa State skilled in that 72-41 loss within the Large 12 Match on the T-Cell Heart final March.

By means of a run to the Candy 16 final yr, one other robust non-conference report and a 3-0 begin to Large 12 play this season, Kalscheur didn’t overlook about Kansas Metropolis.

It’s protected to say Texas Tech gained’t be forgetting about Ames anytime quickly.

The Iowa State males’s basketball staff put collectively one among its most dominant performances in current reminiscence on Tuesday when Texas Tech rolled into Hilton Coliseum, trying to find their first Large 12 win of the season.

Kalscheur and his teammates not solely despatched them residence empty, however despatched them residence in a vogue Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams hoped could be a wake-up name for his staff.

Iowa State demoralized, destroyed and humiliated Texas Tech, transferring to 4-0 in Large 12 play with an 84-50 win that felt prefer it had slightly additional behind it.

“I really feel like we owed Texas Tech,” Kalscheur mentioned. “Going on this recreation, after final yr, we needed this one unhealthy due to what they kinda did to us final yr within the Large 12 Match. We got here out with a vengeance, however understanding that we simply wanted to play collectively and simply play how we often play.”

This one was private for Kalscheur, and that was made blatantly clear from the sport’s opening moments. He was in attack-mode early and sometimes, scoring the sport’s first bucket on a floater simply 22 seconds after the opening tip. Kalscheur tallied Iowa State’s first six factors within the recreation to construct a lead going into the primary media break.

The 2 groups traded blows for a lot of the recreation’s first 10 minutes. The Pink Raiders have been in a position to shrug off early turnover troubles in an effort to reduce Iowa State’s result in 19-17 going into the under-eight timeout of the primary half.

Kalscheur knocked down his second 3-pointer of the evening with 6:50 on the clock within the first half to push Iowa State’s result in 5. The groups traded misses till Demarion Watson flew in for an offensive rebound and put again via a foul. Robert Jones obtained a simple layup on a superb seal within the submit to make it a 7-0 Iowa State run because the under-eight timeout.

Jaren Holmes added his first bucket of the evening to make it 28-17 shortly after the under-four break. Tech’s Jaylon Tyson answered with a 3-pointer roughly a minute later to provide the Pink Raiders their first basket in practically six minutes.

Texas Tech didn’t rating once more within the first half.

Tamin Lipsey knocked down a uncommon 3-pointer to push the Cyclones’ lead again to double digits, Caleb Grill made two of three free throws then Kalscheur delivered the half’s closing knockout punch with a nook 3-pointer as the primary half horn sounded.

Iowa State had closed the primary half on a 20-3 run, and entered the locker room with a 19-point lead. Kalscheur scored 15 of his game-high 25 factors through the first half. Texas Tech turned the ball over 13 instances within the first 20 minutes.

This had formally changing into an ass whooping.

“It’s important to to provide a number of credit score to the best way that Iowa State performed,” Adams mentioned. “They have been actually, actually good on each ends of the ground. Very, very aggressive. We knew it was gonna be a bodily recreation. We didn’t match their depth.”

Texas Tech did reduce the Iowa State lead down to fifteen factors at a number of totally different factors within the second half, nevertheless it by no means actually mattered. The Cyclones held full and whole management of this contest for practically 30 full minutes.

Kalscheur deserves a substantial quantity of credit score for Iowa State’s dominance, pulling down 10-of-14 pictures from the sphere, 5-of-6 from 3-point vary and including a team-high seven rebounds together with his 25 factors.

In 4 Large 12 video games, Kalscheur is 12-of-25 from 3-point vary at a 48 % clip. He’s posted one of many league’s highest offensive scores in convention and has performed it whereas persevering with to be one of many league’s greatest defenders.

Sustaining such a manufacturing is likely to be unrealistic for Kalscheur when you think about the curler coaster mainly his complete school profession has been. There have been epic highs, however embarrassing lows, as effectively.

Most of these moments on each ends of the spectrum haven’t been way more than blips. No efficiency is a sign of what the subsequent one would possibly maintain. That’s till this final 4 video games stretch when Kalscheur has helped push Iowa State’s adjusted offensive effectivity into the top-75 nationally and he’s performed his means into All-Large 12 consideration.

Very similar to his former teammate Izaiah Brockington did a yr in the past, Kalscheur has discovered his greatest basketball simply when he, and his staff, wanted it most.

“Once you work how (Kalscheur) works, it comes round for you,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger mentioned. “He’s incomes that confidence. He’s put the hours in, he places the time in, he places it in each day. His teammates see him put it in. He leads us that means.”

Couple one other large evening from Kalscheur with 15 factors from Jaren Holmes and 14 from Caleb Grill, and also you’ve obtained one other method that may make Iowa State’s staff able to taking part in with anybody within the nation.

This staff will not be going to lose if it shoots higher than 50 % from 3-point vary prefer it did towards Texas Tech, connecting on 12-of-22 pictures from deep. This staff will not be going to lose fairly often when it is ready to common 1.217 factors per possession.

By comparability, the Pink Raiders averaged 0.746.

How good is Iowa State taking part in proper now? They’re taking part in so effectively they practically simply averaged greater than half a degree extra per possession than a staff that was ranked within the AP Ballot earlier this season.

They’re taking part in so effectively they’ve mainly climbed 50 spots in KenPom’s adjusted offensive effectivity in two weeks. Over the past 4 video games, the Cyclones have posted an averaged adjusted offensive effectivity of 119.1.

That might rank top-five nationally if stretched throughout your entire season, and that’s on high of already possessing what’s arguably one of many sport’s top-five defenses.

We’re going to seek out out simply how sustainable this whole operation is once they put their undefeated convention report on the road on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Higher Iowa State groups than this one have entered the Phog and left humbled.

“Each one among these video games is difficult,” Otzelberger mentioned. “We’ve obtained to maintain working and incomes every part each day, as a result of we all know that everyone that we play, residence or highway, they’re going to be at their greatest, and we’ve obtained to be at our greatest.”

I don’t know the way lengthy this can final or how far Kalscheur, Grill, Holmes and the remainder of this crew can carry this staff, however there isn’t a doubt how a lot development this program has made in only one yr’s time since its breakout marketing campaign.

This program isn’t a one-trick pony anymore. Texas Tech discovered that out the laborious means on Tuesday at Hilton Coliseum. This system in Ames seems extra just like the outdated groups from Lubbock than the staff in Lubbock does proper now.

Kalscheur did his greatest to verify they gained’t overlook it.

“It’s encouraging to see a staff like Iowa State,” Adams mentioned. “They play like we did final yr so I definitely commend them for his or her effort. I’ve a number of respect for these guys.”