Associated Press
By Greg DeVries
Sports Writer
No. 11 Baylor basketball wrapped up its regular season Saturday with an 80-72 loss at Iowa State, making the Bears the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
The Bears led at half 37-30. Junior Pierre Jackson headed Baylor’s attack with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting in the first half. As a team, the Bears shot nearly 44 percent from the floor and held the Cyclones to less than 38 percent shooting. More importantly, Iowa State was just 2 of 13 from 3-point range.
In the second half, the Cyclones came out firing. Cyclone guard Scott Christopherson, who had just two points in the first half, scored 21 points in the second. Every starter for Iowa State finished in double figure scoring.
“Some of [the 3-pointers] were contested. We can live with that. Some were scouting report errors. We made mistakes on how we wanted to guard or cover certain plays or individuals,” head coach Scott Drew said. “They had timely second-chance opportunities.”
Cyclone forward Royce White finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. As a team, Iowa State shot over 53 percent from the floor and over 58 percent from 3-point range in the second half.
“Because we couldn’t get stops, it affected our offense,” Drew said. “In the first half we were able to get some transition buckets and [we] were able to get some easies that we didn’t get in the second half.”
The Bears, meanwhile, shot 4 of 15 from the arc and less than 40 percent from the field. Foul trouble hindered the Bears from the start of the game.
Baylor was whistled for 23 fouls, including four on Jackson, who finished with a game-high 35 points, and four on freshman Quincy Miller. Every Baylor player that stepped on the floor was whistled for at least one foul.
Iowa State earned the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 tournament. The Bears, as the No. 4 seed, will play No.5 seed Kansas State at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
“[Kansas State] is a great offensive rebounding team, and they just pride themselves on being tough,” senior Quincy Acy said. “We just need to match their intensity.”
Four players from Baylor earned 2012 Big 12 postseason honors. Miller was named the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the year alongside Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash. Miller also received All-Big 12 honorable mention and Big 12 All-Rookie Team.
“[Miller] was already skilled [when he arrived],” Acy said. “Freshmen run into walls and learning curves and stuff like that. The main thing with him is keeping him positive, never let him get down on himself. You might see sometimes he might miss a couple shots and gets down on himself. I just tell him to keep playing and keep shooting … just making sure he stays positive and help him on and off the court.”
Acy was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and All-Big 12 second team with teammate Pierre Jackson.
Jackson also made the Big 12 All-Rookie Team by unanimous selection and the Kansas City Star’s All-Big 12 first team.
Sophomore Perry Jones III was named to the Kansas City Star’s All-Big 12 second team and the All-Big 12 third team.