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Baylor blasts Iowa for NIT title

Apr 5, 2013 - 5:19 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Pierre Jackson totaled 17 points and 10 assists to lead Baylor over Iowa, 74-54, in the National Invitation Tournament title game for the first postseason championship in school history.

Baylor also became the first Big 12 school to win the NIT by hitting 54 percent from the field and holding Iowa to 26 percent shooting.

Cory Jefferson scored a game-high 23 points, while Isaiah Austin had 15 with nine rebounds for the second-seeded Bears (23-14), who lost their only other NIT title game against Penn State in 2009.

"I'm extremely proud of the way we played tonight. It was domination," Jackson said.

Iowa (25-13), playing in its first NIT title game, was led by Mike Gesell's 13 points. Roy Devyn Marble, who averaged 24.3 points in the first four games of the tourney, shot just 3-of-12 from the field for a mere six points for the third-seeded Hawkeyes.

"We didn't do a lot of things (tonight)...but nothing will take away the fact that we won 25 games," Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery said.

Iowa's only lead came on the game's opening basket, as Baylor scored the next nine points and went into the break holding a 27-22 cushion.

The Hawkeyes clawed within one, 28-27, early in the second half, but the Bears countered with a 14-4 run that Jackson capped with a 3-pointer.

Jackson hit again from long range near the midway point for a 49-34 advantage, then fed Jefferson for a thunderous dunk to give the Bears a healthy 21-point lead that was never threatened down the stretch.