By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
For as much as the first half against Iowa State looked like Baylor was going to vanquish the Cyclone demons, the second half became a reminder that this is just a bad matchup for the Bears.
Baylor had the tempo it wanted through the first half and opening moments of the second half. It was faster and the transition game looked better. However, the Cyclones used a key 26-9 run that turned a 50-42 deficit into a 78-72 victory in Thursday's Big 12 tournament quarterfinal in Kansas City's T-Mobile Arena. Iowa State won all three meetings from Baylor this season. This is also the second straight year the Bears have been eliminated on the tournament's opening night.
The No. 10 Bears return home to Waco and will await their seed in next week's NCAA tournament when it is announced on Sunday. The Bears have been projected to be a No. 2 seed in the latest bracketology forecasts. However, they have lost four of their last six.
It was indeed a tale of two halves. The Bears were red hot in the first half shooting 56.5 percent and 7-13 from deep. An Adam Flagler 3-pointer that beat the buzzer sent the Bears into the locker room leading, 41-38. It looked even better when they extended it to that 8-point lead thanks to a couple threes from Jalen Bridges, who finished with a career-high 28.
After that, the Cyclones locked down, crushed Baylor on the boards - 44-17 - and held the Bears to 35.7 shooting in the second half. Baylor led 53-46 when the Cyclones ran off eight straight to take a 54-53 lead with 11:11 to play. After a back-and-forth sequence over the next four-plus minutes, the Cyclones took the lead for good, 62-59 on Gabe Kalscheur 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining. Kalscheur was a tough stop with 24 points including 6-11 from the arc. Iowa State led by as many as 12 and shot 49 percent for the game.
It wasn't the glass that not only hurt the Bears but they're inability to keep the Cyclones out of the paint. For the second straight meeting, the Cyclones outscored the Bears in the block, 36-14. They also beat the Bears in second chance points, 22-11. The Bears were really good the arc throughout this one. They were 14-29. But this was about Iowa State getting more 2s than Baylor's 3s.
Baylor did not have guard Langston Love (cornea abrasion) for the second straight game. Scott Drew declared him out for the Big 12 tournament. The program is hoping Love can play in the NCAA tournament. One-and-done Keyonte George looked better in his second game coming off the sprained ankle he suffered Feb. 25 against Texas. But he fouled out and struggled shooting (3-10, 3-9 from the arc). Flagler finished with 14. L.J Cryer had 10.
Postgame Notes
Publisher
For as much as the first half against Iowa State looked like Baylor was going to vanquish the Cyclone demons, the second half became a reminder that this is just a bad matchup for the Bears.
Baylor had the tempo it wanted through the first half and opening moments of the second half. It was faster and the transition game looked better. However, the Cyclones used a key 26-9 run that turned a 50-42 deficit into a 78-72 victory in Thursday's Big 12 tournament quarterfinal in Kansas City's T-Mobile Arena. Iowa State won all three meetings from Baylor this season. This is also the second straight year the Bears have been eliminated on the tournament's opening night.
The No. 10 Bears return home to Waco and will await their seed in next week's NCAA tournament when it is announced on Sunday. The Bears have been projected to be a No. 2 seed in the latest bracketology forecasts. However, they have lost four of their last six.
It was indeed a tale of two halves. The Bears were red hot in the first half shooting 56.5 percent and 7-13 from deep. An Adam Flagler 3-pointer that beat the buzzer sent the Bears into the locker room leading, 41-38. It looked even better when they extended it to that 8-point lead thanks to a couple threes from Jalen Bridges, who finished with a career-high 28.
After that, the Cyclones locked down, crushed Baylor on the boards - 44-17 - and held the Bears to 35.7 shooting in the second half. Baylor led 53-46 when the Cyclones ran off eight straight to take a 54-53 lead with 11:11 to play. After a back-and-forth sequence over the next four-plus minutes, the Cyclones took the lead for good, 62-59 on Gabe Kalscheur 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining. Kalscheur was a tough stop with 24 points including 6-11 from the arc. Iowa State led by as many as 12 and shot 49 percent for the game.
It wasn't the glass that not only hurt the Bears but they're inability to keep the Cyclones out of the paint. For the second straight meeting, the Cyclones outscored the Bears in the block, 36-14. They also beat the Bears in second chance points, 22-11. The Bears were really good the arc throughout this one. They were 14-29. But this was about Iowa State getting more 2s than Baylor's 3s.
Baylor did not have guard Langston Love (cornea abrasion) for the second straight game. Scott Drew declared him out for the Big 12 tournament. The program is hoping Love can play in the NCAA tournament. One-and-done Keyonte George looked better in his second game coming off the sprained ankle he suffered Feb. 25 against Texas. But he fouled out and struggled shooting (3-10, 3-9 from the arc). Flagler finished with 14. L.J Cryer had 10.
Postgame Notes
- BU is 24-23 all time against the Cyclones.
- Baylor is 1-5 all time against the Cyclones in the Big 12 Tournament.
- Iowa State is just the sixth team in the Drew Era to beat the Bears three times in a season.
- BU is 8-9 all time in the Big 12 Quarterfinals.
- The Bears are 1-2 in the Drew Era when seeing a team to end the regular season and open the Big 12 Tournament.
- The Bears shot 56.5% in the first half, the highest first-half percentage of the season.
- Baylor’s 14 made three-pointers are its most in a Big 12 Tournament game in program history.
- Jalen Bridges set a new career high with 28 points.
- Bridges set a career high in three-pointers attempted (8) and made (7).
- Bridges .875 three-point field goal percentage is a new Big 12 Tournament record.
- Bridges set a program record for three-pointers made in a Big 12 Tournament game (7).
- Bridges shot .909 the highest in a Big 12 Tournament game in program history.
- Bridges is the 10th different player in program history with 8+ made threes in a game.
- With three made three-pointers,Keyonte George now has 76 on the season, the most by a freshman in program history.
- Adam Flagler’s eclipsed the double-figure scoring mark for a 27th time this season.
- Flagler led the team in assists (4) for a 21st time this season.
- George, LJ Cryer and Caleb Lohnerall made their Big 12 Tournament debuts.
