Iowa State at Baylor final score: Cyclones play worst game of season, fall 74-61 to Bears

Baylor ended on a 13-0 run to finish off the 16th-ranked Iowa State men’s basketball team, 74-61. It was a game that the Cyclones shouldn’t have been in at the end to have a chance to win anyway.

Mar 4, 2014; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears guard

Brady Heslip

(5) and Iowa State Cyclones forward

Melvin Ejim

(3) chase a loose ball during the second half of a mens basketball game at The Ferrell Center. Baylor won 74-61. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

DeAndre Kane was an offensive machine for the second straight time on the road, finishing with a team-high 20 points thanks to shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range. In fact, Iowa State was terrific from 3-point range thanks to Baylor’s zone defense. They made 12-of-29 from downtown.

Unfortunately, the Cyclones (22-7, 10-7) made the same amount of 3-point field goals as they made 2-point field goals. Outside of Dustin Hogue getting 12 points (and half of those came from the perimeter), no one else was able to break double digits.

Both Melvin Ejim and Georges Niang were shut down. Niang struggled with foul problems throughout the game, and finished making just 2-of-11 while bricking all four 3-pointer attempts. Ejim started off 0-of-7 from the field before finishing 3-of-7 the rest of the way. He had a better day on the boards with nine rebounds.

Statistically, both Baylor and Iowa State were even in rebounds, but the Bears (20-10, 8-9) dominated thoroughly on the offensive boards early. They were led by Cory Jefferson, who went 8-of-13 from the field and finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. He was dominant in the first half, and honestly could have had more with how much Niang and Ejim were struggling.

While he cooled off in the second half, Brady Heslip picked things up making five 3-pointers all in the second half. He went 0-of-2 from downtown in the first half.

The stats don’t justify how badly Iowa State looked in the first half, especially when adding up the horrendous start by the frontcourt and all the turnovers that the Cyclones started. The only stat that justifies the anemic offense was that Baylor was the first team to keep Iowa State from scoring 70 points in a game this season, and that was with the addition of 36 points from 3-point range.

Iowa State will try to lick their wounds from losing both games in a two-game road trip and will head back to Ames for the season finale against Oklahoma State. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 1:00 PM Central time, and it will be televised on ESPN.