Christopherson, Cyclones beat No. 9 Baylor on Senior Night

AMES - Scott Christopherson stopped, knelt and basked in the ear-splitting cheers.

Then, with Saturday's comeback win in hand, Iowa State's most accurate 3-point shooter in school history pressed his lips to the logo at midcourt.

The final score: Cyclones 80, No. 9 Baylor 72.

The unscripted scene as he came off the court at a sold-out Hilton Coliseum for the last time: Kiss-the-floor sublime.

“Spur of the moment,” said Christopherson, who scored 14 of his team-high 23 points as ISU secured the No. 3 seed at next week's Big 12 Conference tournament. “Hilton's been good to me. Just like in real life, any time a girl's good to you you know you've got to let her know. I was just telling her thanks.”

The feeling was audibly mutual.

Christopherson's offensive rebound and putback with 3:16 left gave the Cyclones (22-9 12-6) a 66-61 lead and capped a 23-10 run.

An assist wasn't awarded on the play, but Christopherson credited super-sub Tyrus McGee, who soared for one of his five rebounds to keep the possession alive.

“That all came from Tyrus coming out of nowhere like he does all the time,” said Christopherson, who sprinkled in a career high-tying six assists.

Just like the Cyclones, who trailed Baylor (25-6, 12-6) by nine points with one minute left in the first half and had gone dormant offensively.

Then Anthony Booker denied Quincy Miller a dunk with seconds remaining, setting up a last-second runner from Christopherson to make the score 37-30 at half.

“We only go down seven,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg, whose team earned the No. 3 seed by tiebreaker because of its win over Kansas. “That gives us a chance.”

So did Chris Babb's defense.

After the Bears' Pierre Jackson lit up the scoreboard for 28 points in 27 minutes, Hoiberg switched Babb on him.

Jackson notched seven points after that - with five coming in the final 42 seconds and ISU leading by two possessions.

“He's way faster than me; he's way quick and a lot smaller than me,” said Babb, who also scored 10 points while compiling two blocks and two steals. “I tried to give him as much space as I could without allowing him to pull up.”

Melvin Ejim added 15 points - all in the second half - for the Cyclones, which beat two top 10-ranked teams for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Royce White notched his ninth double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

ISU was down by as many as nine on the boards, but ended up plus-three in the final analysis.

“It was everybody,” Hoiberg said. “Everybody who got on the floor chipped in.”

Christopherson left it with panache and 14,376 fans amped up the decibel level.

“That's Hilton Magic,” Hoiberg said. “That was as loud as I've heard this building in a long time.”

Any hint of doubt ISU would make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 dissipated.

Hugs and kisses all around.

Except for the visitors.

“Senior night ended like it's supposed to end,” said Bears coach Scott Drew, whose team fell to 0-10 all-time at Hilton. “For them.”

BAYLOR (25-6)

Jones III 5-11 0-0 10, Acy 2-3 1-1 5, Heslip 3-9 0-0 6, Miller 3-9 0-0 6, Jackson 11-19 8-9 35, Franklin 1-6 0-0 3, Bello 0-0 0-0 0, Walton 0-3 0-0 0, Jefferson 1-2 3-4 5, Jones 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-65 12-14 72.

IOWA ST. (22-9)

Babb 3-7 2-2 10, Ejim 5-6 5-6 15, Allen 4-11 0-0 11, Christopherson 8-16 5-6 23, White 3-8 5-10 11, Palo 0-0 0-0 0, Sledge 0-0 0-0 0, Booker 1-1 0-0 3, Gibson 1-2 0-2 2, McGee 1-6 2-2 5. Totals 26-57 19-28 80.

Halftime_Baylor 37-30. 3-Point Goals_Baylor 6-24 (Jackson 5-10, Franklin 1-5, Jones 0-1, Miller 0-1, Walton 0-2, Heslip 0-5), Iowa St. 9-25 (Allen 3-8, Babb 2-5, Christopherson 2-8, Booker 1-1, McGee 1-3). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Baylor 35 (Jones III 12), Iowa St. 38 (White 11). Assists_Baylor 9 (Franklin, Jackson 3), Iowa St. 17 (Christopherson 6). Total Fouls_Baylor 23, Iowa St. 15. Technical_Walton. A_14,376.

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