Looking for its first conference win after 13 failed attempts, Iowa State almost beat one of the most unlikely opponents Tuesday. Instead, the Cyclones fell to No. 2 Baylor 77-72 in Waco, Texas.

Iowa State was helped by about as good a first half as it could ask for Tuesday. The Cyclones shot 51.7 percent from the field and 70.0 percent from 3-point range.

The biggest influencer on that mark was new starter Tyler Harris, who lit up the Bears with four 3s on five tries, amassing 14 points and leading all scorers in the first half.

Also helping lead the Cyclone first half onslaught was junior guard and Iowa State leading scorer on the season Rasir Bolton.

Bolton had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists on 5-9 shooting and 2-3 from distance.

Baylor’s leading scorer at the break was bench player Adam Flagler. Flagler had 12 points on 4-7 shooting in 12 minutes.

Iowa State had an early 17-point lead, but much of that lead evaporated before halftime as Iowa State went into the break up 37-32.

The second half was a back and forth battle, with both teams trading buckets. For Iowa State, it was led by Bolton and Coleman-Lands.

Baylor’s three headed monster of Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague weren’t the three leading scorers for the Bears, mostly due to the latter two of those struggling for portions of the game.

The leading scorer for Baylor was Flagler, who carried over his solid first half to the second frame, ending with 22 points.

With around four minutes left, Baylor took its first lead of the game on a couple Teague free throws and Baylor was able to build on it with another two free throws a couple possessions later from Flagler.

The Cyclones made a couple key mistakes and Baylor made its free throws down the stretch to sink Iowa State, and improve to 18-0 on the season.