Waco, TX – The tie for third place in the Big 12 Conference Standings will be broken tonight, as the Iowa State Cyclones square off with the Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Cyclones have played Baylor 20 times leading up to tonight's clash, and Iowa State leads the all-time series 12-8. As mentioned, the Cyclones and Bears are tied for third place in the Big 12 standings with identical 8-4 league ledgers, two games behind both Kansas and Missouri.
Iowa State won its fourth game in five tries on Saturday as it handled Texas A&M on its home floor, 69-46. The decision improved ISU's overall record to 18-7. The Cyclones were able to knock down 10 three-pointers in the contest, which put them in a tie for seventh in the nation in three-pointers made per game (8.9). Head coach Fred Hoiberg had to be pleased with his squad's dominant 38-22 rebounding advantage. Iowa State has the fifth-best scoring offense in the Big 12 (73.8 ppg), and the seventh-best scoring defense (66.0 ppg).
Royce White is the go-to-guy for Iowa State, and he is the only player in the country to lead his team in points (13.2 ppg), rebounds (9.4 rpg), assists (4.8 apg), steals (1.2 spg), and blocks (1.1 bpg). Chris Allen is ISU's second-leading scorer with 12.7 ppg, and he has been deadly from three-point range, going 17-of-29 from downtown in his last four games. Scott Christopherson and Chris Babb both produce for the Cyclones as well, and both demand extra attention when out on the perimeter.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew can't be criticized too harshly for his team's current two-game slide, as it went up against the talented Kansas Jayhawks prior to suffering a 72-57 loss to the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Baylor lost to Kansas and Missouri in consecutive games earlier this season as well, which has contributed all of the losses to its 21-4 overall record. BU shot the ball poorly against Mizzou, as it connected on only 36.2 percent of its field goal attempts, which included a dismal 4-of-17 showing from three-point range, while the Tigers were able to hit 14-of-28 from beyond the arc to run away with the victory. Baylor is third in the Big 12 in scoring margin (+11.4).
Baylor has a deep attack as five players average double figures in the scoring column. The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, Perry Jones III leads the team with 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Quincy Miller was excellent in the recent loss to Missouri, as he poured in a 20 points. Quincy Acy and Pierre Jackson are both contributing just under 13.0 ppg. Acy is an exciting high-flyer who leads the team with 53 blocks. Brady Heslip is a serious threat from long range as he has knocked down 43.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc coming into this contest.
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