AMES, Iowa – Baylor men’s basketball (13-10, 3-8) gave a valiant effort but came up just short, losing 72-69 to No. 7 Iowa State (21-2, 8-2) on Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum.
Redshirt sophomore forward Cameron Carr led the Bears with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Obi Agbim chipped in 15 points on 3-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
Baylor kept the game within one possession until midway through the second half, when the short-handed Bears appeared to run out of gas, battling foul trouble throughout the afternoon and missing senior forward Dan Skillings for a third straight game.
Despite a 15-point deficit, the Bears miraculously made one final push in the closing minutes, cutting Iowa State’s lead to as low as three with just a second remaining, but the Cyclones were able to inbound the ball easily to hold onto the win.
Head coach Scott Drew’s squad shot 46% (26-57) from the field but was beaten decisively on the glass by the Cyclones, 35-to-27; Iowa State also scored 38 points in the paint, compared to Baylor’s 24.
Following back-to-back big wins, the Bears held their own early on the road and found themselves knotted up with the Cyclones at nine apiece at the 15:33 mark.
Baylor took advantage of Iowa State’s eight first-half miscues and was able to protect the ball, outside of senior forward Michael Rataj, who had three turnovers that led to a couple of easy Iowa State buckets.
Carr carried Baylor for a stretch midway through the first half, draining three consecutive 3-pointers from all across the court; he led the Bears with a team-high 14 points at halftime.
With a lop-sided foul margin, 9-to-5 in favor of Iowa State, Drew picked up a technical foul with five minutes left in the first half, which gave the Cyclones a boost and allowed them to close the half on a 10-4 run for a 37-33 lead going into halftime.
Despite the deficit, the Bears were able to come out of the locker room on fire and started the second half on a 9-2 run following a pair of big buckets from Agbim.
After Baylor recaptured the lead 44-43, the Cyclones started to wear down Drew’s squad and went on a 16-7 run; the Bears didn’t score for over four minutes. Iowa State held a 59-51 lead at the 8:26 mark.
Carr and freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou made things interesting late, with 11 combined points in the final minutes, cutting Iowa State’s lead to three points with a second remaining. Yessoufou finished the contest with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
The Bears will return home to Waco to face former guard Robert Wright III and No. 16 BYU (17-5, 5-4) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Foster Pavilion. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
