For only the second time this year, the ISU men’s basketball team went on the road in the Big 12 and got a win, this time against Baylor 87-82. 

What’s more, the Cyclones (18-8, 8-5 Big 12) got their first meaningful Big 12 road win, as it moved them ahead of Baylor in the Big 12 standings and served as another signature win on the road for its NCAA tournament resume. 

Now Iowa State currently sits No. 4 in the Big 12 behind Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State while in front of Oklahoma with a tie-breaker.

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg was happy with his team, which fixed its turnover problems and competed with Baylor’s two top-five rebounders in the Big 12, Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin. 

“We had four turnovers before the first media timeout and then we only had six the rest of the game and we battled them on the boards,” Hoiberg said. “There were a few that got there at the end, but for the most part we did a good job against their length and athleticism, which they have as much as anybody in our league. Then we made just enough stops to close it out.”

Against Baylor, Iowa State did something it could not do in other road games against the likes of Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas: complete a game down the stretch. 

Ejim, who finished with a team-high 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, had eight of the Cyclones’ 11 points on a run to put Iowa State up eight and keep the game out of Baylor’s reach.

“We made big stops when we needed it down the stretch,” Ejim said. “Especially the last four minutes; we made those crucial stops that we needed, crucial rebounds and we were able to capitalize on them by scoring.

“We were definitely able to get those stops by the end of the game and that’s what was different from the other games.”

Now Iowa State prepares for two home games in three days, with Kansas on Feb. 25 after a retribution game against Texas Tech on Feb. 23.

Texas Tech is the only two-win team in the Big 12, but one of those wins came against Iowa State. In that game, the Red Raiders took them out of their element, slowing the game down and halting Iowa State’s offense to nearly 30 points beneath the team average. 

The game against Texas Tech is slated to start at 12:45 p.m. Feb. 23 at Hilton Coliseum.