RE: Your post is basically a big anecdote. You have no way of knowing how good Carson was going to do, and thus can’t claim that Carson’s numbers were not hurt by Cruz and hurt enough so that he could get a win over Trump.
Here’s the fact — the RCP poll AVERAGE had Carson at 7.7 percent. He got 9 percent of the votes in the caucus. He clearly did BETTER than expected.
You did nothing to alleviate the critique. How do you know Carson didn't do well enough for 14 percent, or 13 percent? Why is testimony from people saying an entire caucus of Carson people went to Cruz because of his lies useless, but your empty point should be taken seriously?