ISU tops Baylor, lands in Big 12 title game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Curtis Jones’ deep 3-pointer found the bottom of the net to put Iowa State up 22 points, how the next 14 or so minutes unfolded suddenly became rather uninteresting.
Instead, the absolute cage fight awaiting the Cyclones – and college basketball – became much more intriguing to consider.
Eighth-ranked Iowa State, the 2seed in the Big 12 Tournament, steamrolled No. 13 Baylor, 76-62, in the semifinals Friday to set up a monumental final at T-Mobile Center.
The Cyclones were set to meet topranked Houston on Saturday night to determine both a season series winner between the two top-10 teams and the Big 12 Tournament champion.
It was the best and most complete performance for the Cyclones (26-7) in weeks, displaying the combination of elite defense and an offense capable of landing knockout blows when locked in.
“It felt like we were firing on all cylinders,” Iowa State senior Tre King said.
Iowa State shot 45% from the floor while going 10 of 20 from 3-point range and turning it over just six times.
Keshon Gilbert had 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to lead the Cyclones. Tamin Lipsey added 10 points, five rebounds and six assists. Curtis Jones had 13 points and Milan Momcilovic tallied 11.
Baylor shot 39% from the floor and turned it over 13 times.
The Cyclones began the weekend straddling the No. 2 and No. 3 seed lines in most NCAA Tournament projections, but by beating Kansas State and dismantling the Bears (23-10), Iowa State has put its best foot forward in landing the higher seed.
Knocking off Houston, presumably a lock as a No. 1 seed, would make the Cyclones’ standing to get a 2-seed even stronger.
However Saturday unfolds, though, the Cyclones look to have worked through whatever minor lull they experienced in the final weeks of the regular season when they showed signs of regression, especially offensively.
After two games in the building appropriately dubbed `Hilton South’ by the Iowa State fans that regularly invade it, the Cyclones have the look of a real Final Four threat.`
“We knew our best basketball was ahead of us and we know what we needed to do to get to our basketball,” King said. “We knew also at the same time, we don’t want to peak early. We don’t want to be that team to hit our ceiling in January. We want to hit our ceiling in late February, early March.
“We did a great job focusing on the stuff we needed to work on. We’re really starting to hit our stride now.”
Demarion Watson sits
Iowa State was without Demarion
Watson for the second-straight game as he remains in the concussion protocol.
His status remains day-to-day after receiving a blow to the head in Iowa State’s game last weekend at Kansas State.