Cyclones enter Senior Night looking to get even with Baylor

AMES - For Scott Christopherson it's been a marathon.

For Chris Allen, a sprint.

The two Iowa State transfer guards now eye their Hilton Coliseum finish line - senior night - in Saturday's 6 p.m. Big 12 game against No. 9 Baylor.

“There will be a lot of emotions, probably,” said Christopherson, who transferred from Marquette three years ago. “It's just important to do as much as you can to make it feel like a normal game and go out and play it like you normally do.”

There's a new normal in Ames, thanks in part to the long-range and short-term contributions of Christopherson and Allen.

“Home is where you make it,” said Allen, a veteran of two Final Fours with Michigan State. “It's gone by super fast.”

The Cyclones (21-9, 11-6) could earn the No. 3 seed in next week's Big 12 tournament with a win over the Bears (25-5, 12-5).

And, according to Vice President Joe Biden - who warmed up an Ames crowd Thursday with hoops talk, ISU is headed for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.

Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg won't speak of locks, but played along when told of the VP's proclamation.

“How about that?” Hoiberg said with a smile. “Is he on the committee?”

No - and he likely hasn't seen Baylor play much, either.

The Bears handed ISU its only double-digit loss in conference play three weeks ago, a 79-64 setback at Waco, Texas.

“That was about as disappointed as I've been in our guys,” said Hoiberg, whose team allowed Baylor to shoot 72 percent in the second half. “I'm excited about the opportunity to play them again and I know our players are, too.”

True statement.

“I can't wait,” said Allen, who's drained a team-high 69 3-pointers this season. “I felt like we could have played a lot better down there. ... It's going to be a different story (Saturday).”

Christopherson, the Cyclones' all-time leader in 3-point percentage, has knocked down at least three 3s in each of the past four games.

He hit two in the loss to the long, lean Bears, while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists.

“I think we grew from that experience,” Christopherson said. “That's probably about as bad as we've played since Christmas break. (Baylor) came out and played extremely well, but we were really disappointed.”

Pride's boxed out discontent most of this breakthrough season.

Biden's not the only one penciling ISU into the tournament field.

All the prominent bracketologists now have the Cyclones in.

“It obviously means a lot to me,” Christopherson said of the way he's going out. “But I don't think I'll truly have it put in perspective until I'm probably done here.”