Tamin Lipsey scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 3 Iowa State is 15-0 for the first time in school history after notching a 70-60 victory over Baylor on Wednesday night in Big 12 play at Waco, Texas.
Joshua Jefferson recorded 19 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and added three steals for Iowa State, which is 2-0 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones took control with a 26-4 burst bridging both halves.
Cameron Carr scored 17 points and Caden Powell had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Baylor (10-4, 0-2), which set a season low for points while losing its second straight game. The Bears shot 30.6% from the field and a woeful 5 of 27 from 3-point range.
The 2013-14 Cyclones, coached by Fred Hoiberg, opened the season with 14 straight wins.
Tounde Yessoufou added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bears.
Former NBA draft pick James Nnaji had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for Baylor. It was Nnaji’s second appearance since his controversial addition to the team by Bears coach Scott Drew.
The Cyclones connected on 40.6% of their shots, including 6 of 19 from 3-point range. Killyan Toure added 12 points for Iowa State.
Iowa State trailed by eight in the first half but later scored the final three and the first seven points of the second to hold a 32-24 lead on Lipsey’s 3-pointer.
Yessoufou split two free throws with 17:36 left for Baylor before the Cyclones scored seven more in a row. Jefferson’s steal and dunk capped the 26-4 burst and gave Iowa State a 39-25 lead with 15:19 left.
Isaac Williams IV hit a tough shot with 15:07 remaining to end a Baylor field-goal drought of over 11 minutes.
A short time later, Powell scored six straight points to start a 12-4 run that allowed the Bears to creep within 46-41. Obi Agbim hit a trey to end the burst with 8:34 remaining.
Lipsey canned a trey to give the Cyclones a 58-49 lead with 2:49 left. Baylor couldn’t get closer than seven down the stretch.
Iowa State never led until Jefferson buried a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left to give the Cyclones a 25-24 halftime lead.
Jefferson had 12 points and 11 rebounds over the first 20 minutes, while Carr had 12 first-half points for the Bears. Carr drained back-to-back treys to give Baylor a 21-13 lead with 6:26 remaining in the half before Iowa State’s game-changing surge.
Baylor then missed its last nine first-half shots as the Cyclones rallied to take the one-point halftime lead.
