The following is a press release sent out by Iowa State athletics communications.
WACO, Texas – The Iowa State men’s basketball team (18-8 overall, 8-5 Big 12) defeated Baylor (16-10 overall, 7-6 Big 12) by a score of 87-82 on Wednesday night to score a key road victory in conference play. The Cyclones got a 22-point effort from senior Tyrus McGee, tying his career high, set earlier this season in a game against Cincinnati.
The Cyclones had a total of four players in double figures, led by McGee and Melvin Ejim, who had 20 points. The duo combined to shoot 16 of 23 from the field. Ejim also added another double-double to his resume as he grabbed 12 rebounds. Ejim leads the Big 12 with 11 double-doubles on the year.
McGee and freshman Georges Niang paced the Cyclones in the first half as they each scored 11 points in a back and forth opening period. Ejim added six points and seven rebounds as the Cyclones went into the half with a 41-36 lead, despite 15 first-half points from Baylor’s Pierre Jackson.
The second half was a series of runs, with the Cyclones striking first and taking a 45-36 lead early in the period on a Niang layup. Baylor then went on a 10-2 run to make the score 47-46 on a Jackson trey.
Iowa State soon answered with a 12-3 run of their own sparked by back-to-back treys from Ejim and point guard Korie Lucious. Iowa State took their biggest lead of the game at 64-53 on an Ejim drive for a layup.
Baylor would not go away quietly, scoring on three consecutive possessions before McGee and Babb closed the door on the Bears’ comeback with back-to-back three pointers stretch the Iowa State lead to 70-59 with 6:23 left in the game.
Following McGee and Ejim, Niang (16) and Lucious (15) were the other Cyclones in double figures. Jackson had a game-high 30 points for the Bears on 13 of 19 shooting from the field.
The Cyclones will be back in action on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum to take on Texas Tech at 12:45 p.m. CST.
