Baylor Falls At Iowa State
via The Sports Xchange
The Iowa State Cyclones continued their late-season charge by knocking off No. 9 Baylor 72-69 on Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
The Cyclones (19-9, 11-5 Big 12) took control of momentum midway through the second half to notch their fifth straight victory and second win over a top-10 opponent this month.
Guard Deonte Burton made the big shots Iowa State needed as he finished with 22 points. Guard Monte Morris added 17 points and seven assists.
Forward Johnathan Motley scored 27 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Baylor. Guard Al Freeman added 14, playing extended minutes with guard Manu Lecomte on the bench for much of the game with an ankle injury, and guard Ishmail Wainright also had 14.
Baylor (23-6, 10-6) dominated the boards 37-17 and scored 26 second-chance points.
But the Cyclones did what they do best by making shots. Iowa State shot 58 percent from the field and made 13 of 16 free throws.
Iowa State mounted the first significant run of the contest midway through the second half when guard Naz Mitrou-Long went into the lane for a basket, Morris hit a jumper and guard Donovan Jackson nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to cap a 7-0 surge.
As had been the trend to that point, Baylor quickly answered when Freeman hit a trey from the left corner to cut Iowa State’s lead to 53-51 with 7:48 left.
But Iowa State kept firing as Morris nailed a deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc and forward Solomon Young had a tip-in that extended the Cyclones’ largest lead to 58-51 with 6:22 remaining.
Iowa State led by eight with 22 seconds left before Wainright and guard King McClure nailed 3-pointers to close the gap.
McClure had a shot to tie it as time expired, but the desperation heave came up short.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half as both Baylor and Iowa State played efficient offensive basketball.
The Cyclones shot 58 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes while Baylor was close behind at 52 percent.
The first half featured nine ties and seven lead changes as the Bears and Cyclones jockeyed for position.
Burton led the way for Iowa State in the first half as he scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Cyclones ahead 26-23 with 9:23 left before the break.
But Baylor consistently countered with Motley, who had 12 points in the first half. He hit a 15-foot jumper that tied it at 36 with 51 seconds left in the first half and that was the score at halftime.
