National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Iowa St. 80, Baylor 72
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 3, 2012
Where: James H. Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa
Officials: # Duke Edsall, # Hal Lusk, # Terry Oglesby
Attendance: 14376

Iowa State 80, Baylor 72: Scott Christopherson scored 23 points in his final home game and the host Cyclones used a big second half to come back against the No. 10 Bears.

Iowa State (22-9, 12-6 Big 12) clinched the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament, its highest placement since 2002.

Baylor (25-6, 12-6) will be the fourth seed. The top four receive first-round byes.

Pierre Jackson scored a career-high 35 points for the Bears, but it wasn’t enough to avoid blowing a seven-point halftime lead.

Baylor closed the first half on a 10-3 spurt to take a 37-30 lead into the break, but Iowa State slowly clawed all the way back, grabbing a 62-60 lead when Royce White found Christopherson for a 3-pointer with 7:14 left.

Four minutes later, Christopherson scored on a putback to make it 66-61 with 3:15 remaining. Quincy Acy’s three-point play cut the lead to 66-64, but Iowa State’s Tyrus McGee responded with a 3-pointer from the corner to push it back to 69-64 with 1:25 left.

Christopherson, the most accurate 3-point shooter in school history, finished 2 for 8 from beyond the arc.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Iowa State won four of its last five games to close the regular season. … White posted his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cyclones. … Baylor shot only 6 for 24 from long range.
Top Game Performances
 
Baylor   Iowa St.
Pierre Jackson 35 Scoring Scott Christopherson 23
Gary Franklin 3 Assists Scott Christopherson 6
Perry Jones III 12 Rebounds Royce White 11
Pierre Jackson 8 Free Throws Made Scott Christopherson 5
Deuce Bello 1 Steals Chris Babb 2
Quincy Acy 1 Blocks Chris Babb 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Baylor 72 41.5 6-24 12-14 9 33 1 5 11
Iowa St. 80 45.6 9-25 19-28 17 38 5 6 10