Iowa State was able to make a late comeback to defeat Baylor 74-65 and win their second Big 12 Tournament Championship in school history guaranteeing them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor controlled the majority of the game and seemed like they were on the verge of becoming the lowest seed to ever win the championship. But the Cyclones went on a ferocious run to pull within three points and Melvin Egim gave them their first lead of the game when he nailed a three pointer at the 5:48 mark.
From that point on Iowa State controlled the game closing it out on a 21-12 run. DeAndre Kane led the Clones with 17 points and 7 assists; he was also named Tournament MVP.
After the game, Royce O’Neal who finished with 10 points for the Baylor Bears discussed whether or not he feels his team did enough to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.
“We’re already in, it just depends on how much higher we’re going to go. I feel like we put ourselves in a good place to get a high seed.”
The Bears who finished at 9-9 in conference thanks to a dismal 2-8 start, had to beat Oklahoma and Texas — two teams that will without a doubt receive invitations to the NCAA tournament — to get into the Championship game. The selection committee should take that into consideration and Baylor should get an at large bid.
With this win Iowa State improves to 26-7 and should be a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Both of these teams are lethal and at times look like they can beat any team in the country. Depending on where they get placed, I can see Iowa State and Baylor both making deep runs in the Big Dance.