Iowa State was down 25-23 with 3:21 left in the first half against Baylor. At that point, the Cyclones were 0-for-5 from the 3-point line.

They needed something to go in.

Freshman guard Lindell Wigginton, who already had eight points in the game, was standing behind the arc as Nick Weiler-Babb threw him the ball. Without hesitation, Wigginton jumped up and watched the ball go right through the net.

After a missed jumper by Baylor’s Nuni Omot the next possession, Hans Brase got the rebound and gave it to Weiler-Babb. The redshirt junior saw Wigginton open again in the corner and passed him the ball.

Wigginton went up once again and nailed the 3-pointer, making it a four-point lead for Iowa State. Once the ball went through the net, Hilton Coliseum erupted and Baylor was forced to call a timeout.

About two minutes went by and Cameron Lard grabbed a rebound, dished it off to Weiler-Babb who found Wigginton ready for another 3-pointer. The freshman guard took the shot and watched it drop into the net as the buzzer went off to end the first half.

Wigginton finished the first half with 17 points and he was only getting started.

“I thought Wigginton was a monster,” said Baylor’s coach Scott Drew. “We recruited him and we knew he was going to be really good.”

Well, Wigginton was really good tonight.

He kept the Cyclones in the game with needed points in the second half including a dagger with 1:36 left in the game.

Iowa State was up by four, but the Bears continued to keep scoring to make it a close game. After a missed 3-pointer by Solomon Young, Lard came up for the rebound, but instead of grabbing the ball, he threw the ball out to Weiler-Babb.

Once again Weiler-Babb found Wigginton in the corner and tossed him the ball. The freshman guard wanted the ball and made the 3-pointer. That shot made it a seven-point lead for the Cyclones and pretty much sealed the victory.

Wigginton finished his 30-point performance with not a three, but rather a slam dunk to get Iowa State fans out of their seats for the last few seconds of the game.

This is Wigginton’s first career 30-point game and his seventh career 20-point game. Only Marcus Fizer and Curtis Stinson have had more as freshmen in Iowa State history.

“I just felt good coming in,” Wigginton said. “I played good at Kansas, but we didn’t get the win. I’ve been staying in the gym getting my shots and feeling good.”

Wigginton shot 8-for-17 from the field, 5-for-10 from the 3-point line and 9-for-12 from the free throw line. It was Wigginton’s game.

Along with Wigginton, Iowa State saw some needed post production from a couple of needed players. Redshirt freshman Cameron Lard and sophomore Solomon Young were effective in the paint with 11 points each.

Young had 12 rebounds and recorded his second double-double of his career, while Lard was one rebound shy of a double-double.

“He competes on both ends of the floor,” said Iowa State coach Steve Prohm. “We just have to continue to work on his pace when he has the ball around the basket, so he can become more efficient around the basket.”

This win was needed for Iowa State as the Cyclones are 10-6 on the season and 1-4 in the Big 12. Both Prohm and Drew agreed that they’ve never seen this amount of close games in a conference season.

They both said that both the Cyclones and Bears could be 3-2 in the Big 12 if a couple of games fell the other way. Iowa State has a tough test next week with two big games on the road and at home.

“We went out and executed tonight,” Lard said. “We need to execute every night.”

The Cyclones start with a road trip to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on No. 16 TCU on Wednesday night and then return home next Saturday to play No. 8 Texas Tech, who just defeated No. 2 West Virginia today.

“My old boss texted me the other day, ‘without vision people perish,’” Prohm said. “You have to have great vision, especially when you go through tough times. 1-4 hopefully becomes 2-4 and if it doesn’t then you have to respond and learn.

“You have to learn from wins and losses and be humble in both ways.”