Heslip, Baylor Pull Away To Topple No. 16 Iowa State

WACO, Texas -- Brady Heslip scored 18 points, including all five of his 3-pointers after halftime, and Baylor got a much-needed boost to its NCAA tournament hopes with a 74-61 victory over No. 16 Iowa State on Tuesday night.

There were 15 lead changes and four ties before Heslip put the Bears (20-10, 8-9 Big 12) ahead with a tiebreaking 3 with 2:14 left -- the start of a game-ending 13-0 run. After a turnover by Iowa State, Kenny Chery hit a long jumper and then had another.

Iowa State (22-7, 10-7), in the mix for the No. 2 seed in next week's Big 12 tournament, lost its second road game in four days.

The Cyclones didn't score after DeAndre Kane's wide-open 3 tied the game at 61 with 4:10 left. That was their 12th 3-pointer in the game, only the second after halftime.

Cory Jefferson, like Heslip a Baylor senior playing his final home game, had 21 points and seven rebounds. Chery, a junior college transfer who took over as the Bears' point guard this season, finished with 16 points. Royce O'Neale had 11 rebounds.

Kane had 20 points for Iowa State and Dustin Hogue added 12. Melvin Ejim had only six points, 13 below his Big 12-leading average.

Iowa State, which finishes the regular season at home Saturday against Oklahoma State, was held under 70 points for the first time this season.

Heslip missed his only two shots before halftime, when his only points came on three free throws after being fouled and knocked down taking a long-range shot with 36 seconds remaining in the half. That gave the Bears a 36-35 lead.

After halftime, Heslip gave the Ferrell Center crowd one more look at his long-range shooting.

Heslip made three 3s in a span of 1:47 early in the second half, taking it from a tie game to a 46-40 Bears lead. The first two came on passes from Chery, and the third came after Gary Franklin -- the third Baylor senior -- had a steal and the assist.

The final go-ahead 3 by Heslip came after Chery got a long rebound to start a break. The pass went to Heslip on the right wing, where he made a fake-pump and a step to the left before knocking down the shot.

Ejim, playing on his 23rd birthday, missed his first eight shots before consecutive layups midway through the second half put the Cyclones up 49-48. The second layup came after a steal by Hogue. Ejim finished 3-of-14 shooting, missing all five of his 3-point attempts, and had nine rebounds.

Jefferson had a couple of quick spurts before halftime with an impact on both ends of the court.

After blocking a layup attempt by Naz Long, Jefferson had a putback basket. Just more than a minute later, Jefferson had a steal on an errant pass thrown into his hands and started a break that ended with a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Chery that got the Bears within a point.

There was also Jefferson's two-handed slam on a putback of a miss by Chery earlier in the first half.

Baylor, which plays Saturday at Kansas State, had a season-high 11 steals

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