With a chance to upend the No. 1 team in the country, Iowa State couldn’t pull off a huge upset on Wednesday, losing to Baylor 67-53.

The first half saw Iowa State hanging tough with the Bears, but the Bears controlled the tempo for much of the half still. 

MaCio Teague and Freddie Gillespie led Baylor with eight points each in the first half, while Rasir Bolton and Tyrese Haliburton led the way for the Cyclones. Iowa State’s duo put up 22 combined points — 14 from Bolton and eight from Haliburton — and accounted for all but four of the team’s points.

The second half is where Baylor pulled away from the Cyclones as the Bears strung together multiple runs in a short span to sink the Cyclones on their home court.

Iowa State’s shots — particularly from Bolton and Haliburton — stopped falling and Baylor’s physicality down low was too much for the Cyclones.

The 8-12 from the field, 4-6 from three first half for Bolton and Haliburton was followed by a 3-13 half from the field with an 0-4 mark from three.

The other Cyclones couldn’t make up for the lack of scoring and the game fell to the Bears, who improved their record to 18-1.

Iowa State will play again at 1 p.m. Saturday in Austin, Texas, against the Texas Longhorns.