Cyclone men come up just short

WACO, Texas (AP) — Jayden Nunn made the go-ahead layup with 2 seconds remaining and 18th-ranked Baylor overcame coach Scott Drew’s first career ejection to beat No. 12 Iowa State 70-68 on Saturday night.

The Bears hung on for the victory when Milan Momcilovic’s banked 3-pointer by the Cyclones was ruled to be shot after the final buzzer.

Nunn finished with 16 points and RayJ Dennis had 18 points and seven rebounds for Baylor (16-5, 5-3 Big 12), which was back at home a week after a triple-overtime loss to TCU. Dennis made four 3-pointers, as did Jalen Bridges, who scored 14 points.

Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades was critical of the officiating after the game. He said he planned to contact the Big 12 office.

“This was an embarrassment for this league,” Rhoades said. “Scott (Drew) said it, we have the best basketball league in the country. And the officiating tonight did not match that. Period, end of story. This league needs to get better when we think about our officiating. And we have some great, great officials.

“But this particular crew tonight did not match the level of this game, and that shouldn’t happen in this league.”

Drew, in his 21st season with Baylor, was assessed his second technical foul with 11 1/2 minutes left. That tech was for apparently leaving the bench area, the same as his technical foul midway through the first half.

“You pour so much into it, and if you’re the reason you lose, there’s no worse feeling,” Drew said. “And I thank God he didn’t make me feel that tonight, because I know if we’d have lost, and those technicals, those points, they add up. I’ve got to do better.

“We’ll send in the tape and see if the officials have to do better. And then go from there.”

Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points to lead Iowa State (16-5, 5-3)

With the game tied at 68, Nunn was fouled while driving for his go-ahead basket. When he missed the free throw, the clock started and ran out, but officials reviewed it and determined the clock had started early.

After 1.2 seconds were put back on the clock, Iowa State inbounded from just beyond midcourt. Tamin Lipsey threw the ball into Tre King, who handed it back to Momcilovic. The 6-foot-8 freshman’s shot from about 35 feet banked through the rim, but another review showed the ball was still on his fingers when time ran out.

“I thought we had time, you know, obviously, it’s a bang-bang play,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “You don’t know if the clock started at the right time or whatever, but it seemed like everything lined up and we were just a tenth of a second, or whatever it was, late.”

Nunn had missed a pair of free throws with 19.7 seconds remaining and Lipsey tied it with a layup with 10 seconds left for the Cyclones. Baylor then kept playing without calling a timeout.

Soon after Drew was ejected, Baylor’s bench drew another technical foul.

In all, Iowa State made eight free throws off those quick technical fouls and a personal foul in that 21-second stretch. All came in a 20-0 run by the Cyclones that put them up 61-54 with 7:56 left.

Baylor closed strong down the stretch as Nunn gave the Bears a 65-64 lead with a pair of free throws with 2:55 remaining. Dennis drained a 3-pointer to open up a 68-64 edge with 2:13 left.

BIG PICTURE

Baylor entered leading the Big 12 by shooting 40.2% overall from 3-point range, but shot just 31.3% in its first seven Big 12 games.

The Bears regained their long-range form against the Cyclones as they hit 12 of 23 3-pointers, marking the first time they hit over 50% in conference play.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: Continues its two-game road swing at Texas on Tuesday night.

Baylor: Completes a two-game homestand against No. 15 Texas Tech on Tuesday night.