No. 4 Iowa State hasn’t lost a home game at Hilton Coliseum all season, and No. 16 Texas Tech is walking in without its best player.
No. 4 Iowa State (24-4, 11-4 Big 12) hosts No. 16 Texas Tech (21-7, 11-4) on Saturday afternoon in a matchup that looks lopsided on paper but carries genuine weight in the Big 12 title race. The Red Raiders are part of a four-way logjam at 11-4 alongside Iowa State, Kansas, and Houston, and they’re doing it without JT Toppin, who suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 17. The Cyclones, meanwhile, are 15-0 at home and aren’t slowing down.
Iowa State vs. Texas Tech Game Details: Time, TV, and How to Stream
| Date | Saturday, February 28, 2026 |
| Time | 4 p.m. ET |
| Location | Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa |
| TV Channel | CBS |
| Streaming | FuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Broadcasters | Spero Dedes (play-by-play) • Jim Spanarkel (analyst) |
| Iowa State Radio | Cyclone Radio Network – John Walters (PxP) & Eric Heft (analyst) |
What’s at Stake in Ames for Iowa State and Texas Tech
Texas Tech isn’t here to play out the string. Christian Anderson has stepped into the lead role with Toppin sidelined, averaging 19.6 points, 7.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 49.0/43.9/79.2 shooting splits. The Red Raiders have won two straight, lead the Big 12 in made 3-pointers at 11.4 per game, and are fifth nationally in effective field goal percentage. Grant McCasland’s team punched Arizona in the mouth to beat the then-No. 1 Wildcats on the road earlier this month. They know how to win on the road in big spots.
Still, Ames is a different assignment. Iowa State has been a top-15 defensive unit in the country in each of T.J. Otzelberger’s five seasons, according to KenPom’s defensive efficiency ratings, and 2025-26 is no exception.
The Cyclones hold opponents to 31.8% on 3-pointers, which is a direct problem for a Texas Tech team that lives beyond the arc. Milan Momcilovic leads the nation in 3-point percentage this season, per Iowa State Athletics, and Joshua Jefferson has recorded two triple-doubles, the most in the country and a program record.
Iowa State has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 48 consecutive weeks, the fifth-longest active streak in the country. The Cyclones are No. 8 in the NET and No. 8 in the KenPom rankings entering Saturday. Texas Tech checks in at No. 15 in the NET and No. 16 in KenPom. The gap in the metrics is real, but so is Tech’s ability to shoot its way back into any game.
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Iowa State leads the all-time series 24-22 and is 16-6 against the Red Raiders at home. Tech’s last win at Hilton Coliseum came in January 2021. The Red Raiders have dropped three straight in Ames, and McCasland is 0-2 against Otzelberger. This is the 47th meeting between these programs.
The Big 12 race doesn’t resolve Saturday regardless of outcome, but the picture gets a lot clearer. Iowa State controls its own destiny with three games left. Texas Tech needs help either way. A Cyclone win keeps the pressure squarely on Kansas and Houston, and starts to separate Iowa State from the pack. A Tech upset reshuffles everything heading into the final week.
Hilton hasn’t blinked yet this season. Texas Tech is betting it does.
