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Cyclones upend Baylor to claim Big 12's No. 3 seed

Mar 4, 2012 - 4:40 AM Ames, IA (Sports Network) - Scott Christopherson had 23 points and six assists as Iowa State secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament with an 80-72 win over ninth-ranked Baylor.

Melvin Ejim scored 15 points with six rebounds for the Cyclones (22-9, 12-6 Big 12), who won four of five to close out their regular season. Royce White had 11 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Allen added 11 points in the win.

"We just wanted to make sure we took advantage when we made some stops," said Christopherson. "I thought our defense did really good and holding them and that allowed us to get some flow back the other way. This game was a huge accomplishment for us."

Pierre Jackson had 35 points and five rebounds while Perry Jones III added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Bears (25-6, 12-6), who had won three straight coming in.

Jackson's three-pointer 4 1/2 minutes into the second half pushed Baylor's lead to 51-43, but Iowa State cut the margin to one with a 9-2 run that was capped on Chris Babb's layup with nearly 12 minutes left.

A Jones layup a bit later gave the Bears a 58-54 advantage, but the Cyclones went on another run with a Babb hitting a three and Christopherson, following an Anthony Jones layup, burying a jumper and a three-pointer for a 62-60 advantage.

Jackson followed with one from the line, but Ejim answered with two free throws with six minutes to play.

The offenses went cold for the next three minutes until Christopherson hit a jumper with about three minutes left.

Quincy Acy's three-point play on a layup and free throw against made it a two- point game, but Tyrus McGee hit a three-pointer and, following a turnover, made two free throws. Another turnover resulted in two free throws from Christopherson for a nine-point edge with under a minute to play and Iowa State made its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

The game was close early in the first half, but Jackson's two free throws just over five minutes in gave the Bears a lead they held for much of the first half.

A Christopherson jumper with three minutes to play tied the game at 27, but Baylor closed the half with a 10-3 run to take a 37-30 lead into the break.

Game Notes

Baylor is 0-10 all-time in Ames and the Cyclones hold a 13-9 lead in the series...Iowa State shot 45.6 percent from the floor and went 9-for-25 from long range. Baylor hit 41.5 percent of its shots, but just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc.