No. 18 Texas Tech downs No. 15 Iowa State at home

He may not be shooting the ball to his liking, but Kevin Obanor is still finding ways to fill up the stat sheet.

The 6-foot-8, 235-pound transfer forward used all of his frame to ensure he nabbed rebounds, several on the offensive end that led to second-chance points.

Obanor made his way underneath the basket and was not denied as he finished with 15 points and eight rebounds to help the No. 18 Red Raiders down No. 15 Iowa State 72-60 to split the Big 12 Conference series.

With the victory, Texas Tech (14-4, 4-2) bounced back following a road loss to Kansas State — which secured a 66-65 win over No. 23 Texas in Austin — while also making good on a road loss to the Cyclones (14-4, 2-4) earlier in the year.

"He's going out there and doing what he do," said Texas Tech forward Bryson Williams, who ended the night 16 points and three rebounds, of Obanor. "He's always been a very productive player. We've seen that at Oral Roberts and we've seen that in games here. We just have ultimate belief in him and we knew that he's a ticking time bomb.

"He can fill up points in a hurry. Not surprised at all."

Texas Tech coach Mark Adams wasn't shocked, either.

"Kevin Obanor was amazing on the offensive end," he said. "I thought he was a big, big reason why we won, because of how he — not only getting rebounds, but he finished. His three-point shot wasn't really falling but he found other ways to help us."

In the first meeting, Texas Tech competed with seven total players due to health and safety protocols before dropping the contest 51-47. McCullar and Shannon missed the first meeting with injuries while others were out because of COVID-19 protocols in the game.

Davion Warren finished with 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers, while McCullar and Shannon chipped n seven and four points, respectively.

"It was very big for us," Williams said of getting the season split over the Cyclones. "Especially with them being ranked No. 15 in the AP poll. ... We were really excited to get that rematch. That's a really well-coached and talented team. So it's always good to get a win on a team like that."

The final score wasn't in doubt Tuesday, though.

Obanor made sure of it as he grabbed one of his eight rebounds before putting back in the bucket, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play to provide the Red Raiders with a 40-30 lead with 13:15 left in the second half.

"Of course it helps, it just helps build momentum and it also builds the momentum of our teammates to keep us going and keep the energy alive," Obanor said what seeing the ball go in the basket does for a shooter. "Winning plays like that, it makes players like us thrive."

The teams traded buckets for the next minute or so before Texas Tech engineered a 9-0 run which was capped off by a pair of Obanor free throws to put the lead at 53-37 with less than 10 minutes to play.

Three minutes later, the crowd reached a fever pitch.

McCullar made a no-look pass from the right side of the key to Shannon., who slammed the ball down with two hands to push the lead 20 points (60-40) before the Red Raiders salted away their 11th home victory.

Shannon, who has been dealing with nagging back issues, was making his first start since Dec. 14, 2021.

Iowa State had three post players foul out, while the Red Raiders adjusted to a more aggressive offense that resulted in 29 mad free throws — making 25 in the second half.

"We got outrebounded and then they got in the double bonus with 10, 11 minutes left (in the second half)," Iowa State's Izaiah Brockington said of what occurred in the second half. "And then they outrebounded us some more. They came out being physical, they made layups and they made free throws. We can't have that."

What's next?

No. 18 Texas Tech is scheduled to host West Virginia at 11 a.m. Saturday with the game set to be broadcast on ESPN2.

No. 15 Iowa State is slated to host TCU in a 3 p.m. Saturday contest set to be broadcast on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

NO. 18 TEXAS TECH 72, IOWA STATE 60

IOWA ST. (14-4, 2-4)

Conditt 2-2 0-0 4, Brockington 5-14 2-2 12, Hunter 2-7 0-0 4, Kalscheur 3-11 0-1 7, Enaruna 3-9 0-2 6, Grill 6-10 1-1 17, Jackson 0-4 0-0 0, Jones 0-2 2-4 2, Kunc 0-2 0-0 0, Walker 2-2 4-5 8, Boothe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 9-15 60.

TEXAS TECH (14-4, 4-2)

Obanor 6-9 3-5 15, Williams 4-10 7-8 16, McCullar 2-9 3-4 7, Shannon 2-6 0-0 4, Warren 2-4 6-8 11, Arms 2-4 4-4 9, Santos-Silva 1-1 2-4 4, Nadolny 0-2 2-2 2, Batcho 0-0 2-3 2, Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, Agbo 0-0 0-0 0, Timperman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 29-38 72.

Halftime_Texas Tech 26-23. 3-Point Goals_Iowa St. 5-26 (Grill 4-8, Kalscheur 1-6, Brockington 0-2, Enaruna 0-2, Kunc 0-2, Hunter 0-3, Jackson 0-3), Texas Tech 3-16 (Warren 1-1, Arms 1-3, Williams 1-3, Nadolny 0-1, McCullar 0-2, Obanor 0-3, Shannon 0-3). Fouled Out_Conditt, Jones, Kunc. Rebounds_Iowa St. 31 (Brockington 9), Texas Tech 36 (Obanor 8). Assists_Iowa St. 6 (Conditt, Hunter 2), Texas Tech 7 (McCullar 3). Total Fouls_Iowa St. 28, Texas Tech 18. A_15,098 (15,098).

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: No. 18 Texas Tech downs No. 15 Iowa State at home