Tamin Lipsey's second-half surge helps No. 3 ISU men beat Baylor in Waco

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was written in Iowa

Iowa State’s record-breaking point guard Tamin Lipsey famously played quarterback at Ames High School before hanging up his cleats to focus on basketball.

But that’s not all Lipsey did on the gridiron.

“I played a little bit of receiver, as well,” Lipsey said on the Cyclone Radio Network after scoring 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half of Wednesday’s 70-60 win over Baylor in Waco.

It showed — especially as he gathered in a late deep ball from Nate Heise and hit a layup that helped the No. 3 Cyclones (15-0, 2-0) finish off the Bears (10-4, 0-2).

That baseline-to-baseline play officially ended in a rare Lipsey dunk on the stat sheet. It also came with 52 seconds left and restored a three-possession lead.

“I felt comfortable under that ball and he was able to put it in a perfect spot for me,” Lipsey added.

ISU trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but Lipsey’s second basket of the game cut Baylor’s lead to one, at 23-22, with 2:38 left in the first half.

Star forward Joshua Jefferson then drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Cyclones their first lead, 25-24, at the break. The 6-9 senior from Las Vegas scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds while keeping his team afloat offensively in the opening 20 minutes.

“There (are) so many things we count on Joshua for, and he does it all in 38 minutes of play,” ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “(He) just continues to produce and make play after play. He’s an absolute warrior.”

Foul trouble limited Lipsey to just 11 minutes of playing time in the first half — but he wasn’t alone in facing whistle-based problems. Four Cyclones finished the game with four fouls apiece as the Bears attempted 29 free throws to ISU’s 20.

Freshman guard Killyan Toure added 12 points and a trademark steal and dunk for the Cyclones, who also saw Heise shine on both ends of the floor with a pair of big second-half 3-pointers and lockdown defense.

“It doesn’t matter what I do, or anyone else does, let’s just win these guys, because (they’re) hard to come by on the road,” Heise said.

ISU outscored Baylor 20-to-6 in points off turnovers despite forcing just two more turnovers (14) than it committed (12). The Cyclones also limited the Bears to frigid 30.2 percent field goal shooting as they won for just the fourth-time ever and second time under Otzelberger in Waco. ISU also notched its 1,500th win in program history and will try to stay hot in advance of Saturday’s 3 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma State (13-2, 1-1) at Hilton Coliseum.

“They have a physical toughness to how they play and offensively they can really score the ball,” Otzelberger said of the Steve Lutz-led Cowboys. “We know it’s gonna be a huge challenge and it’s a fairly quick turnaround. We get back tonight, so it’s gonna take tremendous focus to get locked back into our routine and do what we need to do to come out and be our best.”

Lipsey was certainly at his best when his team needed him the most on Wednesday, brushing off those wide receiver skills for that game-sealing touchdown pass-turned-“dunk.”

“We just came together as a team to get stops, create turnovers, and just stay together the whole time,” he said.

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