Iowa State vs Texas Tech Prediction 3/12/2026 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Iowa State Cyclones and the Texas Tech Red Raiders meet Thursday in Big 12 Tournament college basketball action from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Here’s an Iowa State vs Texas Tech prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Iowa State vs Texas Tech pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.

Iowa State Cyclones Betting Preview

The Cyclones started out the season on a great run, winning 16 straight games out of the gate. Iowa State lost to Kansas and Cincinnati before getting a five-game win streak in January/February from there. The next seven games were a 3-4 run that featured losses to TCU, BYU, Texas Tech and Arizona. Since then it’s been a pair of wins over Arizona State for a 26-6 run.

On Wednesday versus Arizona State in the tournament rematch the Cyclones came out of the break with a commanding lead 45-16. Iowa State cruised from there on a 46-26 advantage and ended up powering out the blowout victory 91-42 as the game came to a close. Milan Momcilovic was tops on 21 points with two boards and Joshua Jefferson added 20 points with 12 rebounds and four assists in the win.

Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Preview

Over on the Raiders’ side, they started the year on an 11-4 run, then hit a nice five-game winning streak in January. After losses to UCF and Kansas, the Raiders won six of the next seven games versus West Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas State, Cincinnati and Iowa State. After that came a pair of losses versus TCU and BYU, which gives Texas Tech a 22-9 overall record this year so far.

In last Saturday’s BYU game, the Raiders were sitting in the locker room looking up at a 46-38 advantage on the scoreboard. Texas Tech was outscored 44-30 the rest of the way however, eventually falling 82-76 in a road matchup. The Raiders were led by Donovan Atwell (six rebounds; two assists) and Christian Anderson (four rebounds; nine assists), each with 23 points.

Iowa State vs Texas Tech Prediction

I’ll lean toward Iowa State but you could call it either way. The Cyclones absolutely demolished Arizona State in their tournament game on Wednesday, hitting 50.8 percent from the field while holding the Sun Devils to just 31.9 percent on the other side along with 5.3 percent (1-of-19) from 3-point range. Iowa State added 24 points off 22 Arizona State turnovers and 38 points in the paint. The Cyclones are still just 3-3 in their last six games though, with two of those wins coming over the Sun Devils.

These teams last saw each other quite recently, in an 82-73 home loss for the Cyclones on February 28. In that one Iowa State didn’t shoot well (39 percent); Texas Tech did (58.5 percent). The Cyclones were also outmuscled on the boards 34-26 and outscored in the paint 30-24. Texas Tech is going to be a tough customer in the rematch, but if Iowa State plays to their capabilities I think they’ll be competitive.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Iowa State Cyclones -4.5