AMES — The No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Baylor Bears 72-69 in a white-out game at Hilton Coliseum.
Junior forward Milan Momcilovic led the Cyclones with 21 points, while making two 3-pointers. The nation’s best shooter provided scoring on multiple levels, including at the rim, mid-range and being perfect from the charity stripe (7-7).
“[Momcilovic is] way more than a shooter. He got the whole offensive bag,” senior guard Tamin Lipsey said.
Lipsey added 14 points and led the team with nine rebounds.
The Cyclones will now depart for a Tuesday matchup with TCU. The 8 p.m. start from Fort Worth will be on FS1.
Hilton helps out
Baylor would not allow the sold-out Hilton Coliseum crowd to make a difference. The Bears and the Cyclones traded baskets in the first half.
At moments, the two Big 12 foes traded threes for the lead. The tradeoffs led to the fans standing up and immediately sitting down.
Baylor sophomore guard Cameron Carr regained the lead for the Bears multiple times, often taunting the home crowd after a successful attempt.
Carr finished with 24 points, playing all 40 minutes.
With three members of the Baylor team playing the entire game, it highlighted how everybody in the Big 12 was exhausted and beat up.
Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger discussed the fatigue of the league, noting that rankings like KenPom may hold less significance in the back half of the season.
The crowd being into the game gave Otzelberger even more confidence to have freshmen guards Jamarion Batemon and Killyan Toure in the game during the closing moments.
The fans in attendance received one last scare as Baylor managed to cut the deficit to three in the two seconds. The clock would be the limiting factor as the Bears would simply run out of time.
No ‘I’ in team
The Cyclones’ offense saw production from the majority of the rotation. While Momcilovic and senior forward Joshua Jefferson lead the way, momentum-swinging buckets came from others.
Junior forward Blake Buchanan energized the crowd with a two-handed put-back slam. Along with putting a member of the opposition on a poster, the score energized the crowd.
“Blake’s [Buchanan] play on the glass was a huge energy and effort play that we needed,” Otzelberger said.
Redshirt senior Nate Heise would also be an efficient shooter. Heise shot 2-4 from beyond the arc, often allowing Cyclone Nation to rise to their feet with a successful attempt.
Heise has been praised by his head coach as of late, becoming the team’s first man off the bench.
With Heise playing more minutes off the bench than starter Toure, a change in the starting five could be a possibility.
While Batemon only recorded three points on a single made field goal, he was incredibly efficient.
“Those are huge threes in the game, so I think those guys hit big shots and we really need them,” Momcilovic said.
Tough stretch ahead
This contest against Baylor kicked off the final stretch of games in the Big 12 schedule. The Cyclones will travel to Texas Christian University before coming back home.
Iowa State will then face three straight ranked teams.
The first two games will be played at home within 72 hours of each other. First, the No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks on Valentine’s Day, followed by the No. 7 Houston Cougars on Monday.
Both of those top-11 matchups will be on the ESPN family of networks from Ames.
Following the homestand, the Cyclones will travel to face No. 16 BYU and freshman forward AJ Dybantsa.
That contest will also be on ESPN, starting at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 21.
