The Baylor Bears fell to the Iowa State Cyclones 79-71 Saturday night in Ames, Iowa. With the loss, Baylor falls to 5-3 in the Big 12 and now has a two-game losing streak. Iowa State has won its eleventh straight conference game at home in James H. Hilton Coliseum.
The Baylor offense never found a solid rhythm. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson led the Bears in scoring with 23 points. Aside from Jackson, the Bears’ other four starters only combined to score 33 points. Junior guard Brady Heslip struggled from the field and only sank one three-pointer out of four attempts for his only points of the day. Senior guard A.J. Walton helped relieve some of the pressure from Jackson by contributing 13 points.
The Baylor post players struggled offensively to find a groove. The two starters, junior forward Cory Jefferson and freshman center Isaiah Austin shot a combined eight of 19 from the field for only 17 points.
The Baylor bench also struggled to be effective as freshman guard L.J. Rose scored only one point in 16 minutes of play.
In the first half, the Bears played solid defense and only trailed by one point at the half, 31-30. But in the second half, the Cyclones found their offensive rhythm and the Bears lost some of their defensive intensity. Cyclone senior guard Will Clyburn led all scorers in the game with 28 points. Baylor simply had no answer defensively for the 6’7″ senior guard. Iowa State also had two other players in double figures with 17 points from freshman forward Georges Niang and 10 points from backup senior guard Tyrus McGee.
The Bears are now 5-3 in the Big 12 Conference and 14-7 overall. Baylor’s next game is Wednesday on the road versus Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State should have momentum coming into the Baylor matchup after defeating the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks 85-80 at Allen Fieldhouse.
