By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
           
This was the Makai Mason that Scott Drew remembers seeing light up Baylor for 31 points in an NCAA Tournament game three years ago.
           
In his best game since leading Yale to a 79-75 upset of the Bears in that first-round tournament game, the grad transfer scored a game-high and season-high 25 points and hit five free throws in the last 38 seconds to help Baylor post a 73-70 upset of 20^th-ranked Iowa State Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
           
"I tried to be a little more aggressive from the start," said Mason, who was 8-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-9 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the line. "We've been getting off to slow starts, and I felt like that was kind of on me, just not getting us going energy-wise and just being aggressive. I felt that was something I was definitely focusing on a little bit, and it was able to work out for us."
           
Bouncing back from a conference-opening loss on the road at TCU, the Bears (9-5, 1-1) did just enough to hold off a hot-shooting Iowa State team (12-3, 2-1) that hit its first six shots in the second half and shot 55 percent (17-of-31) over the last 20 minutes.
           
"Another Big 12 game. We've played two of them, and both have come down to the last possession," said Drew, whose team has won six straight against Iowa State at home and seven of the last nine overall in the series. "That's what the best league in the country gives you, no off nights. If you compete really, really hard, it gives you a chance to be in those positions. I thought our guys really competed hard."
           
Falling behind by as many as seven in the first half, the Bears closed with a 22-7 run to go up 38-30 at the break. Juco transfer Devonte Bandoo, who hadn't scored in double figures since the first three games when Mason was still out, hit a pair of 3-pointers and a jumper in that end-of-the-half run and finished with 13 points.
           
"The way they closed the last eight minutes the first half, that was really the big key," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "We were up seven and really kind of fell apart."
           
Energized coming out of the break, the Cyclones drained their first six shots to get right back in it and took a 52-51 lead with 10:53 left when Nick Weiler-Babb drove in for a bucket over 6-foot-9 sophomore center Tristan Clark.
           
Mason came to the rescue, draining back-to-back 3-pointers and an off-balance jumper to put Baylor back on top, 59-52.
           
Iowa State didn't go away, though, reeling off six straight points and pulling within one again before a big offensive rebound, putback and follow free throw by King McClure gave the Bears at least a little breathing room.
           
"King had a couple really key offensive rebounds," Drew said. "The energy level and effort were tremendous."
           
Baylor's lead evaporated when freshman Talen Horton-Tucker drained back-to-back 3-pointers before Mason tied it at 66-66 on a tough shot in heavy traffic in the lane.
           
"The road ones that you put yourself in position to win, you've got to finish. We all didn't help in that matter," Prohm said. "We were up two, we needed one bucket and one stop to kind of put it away. And we didn't execute offensively, and then Mason made that tough shot to tie it at 66."
           
Down the stretch, Baylor made its free throws – 7-of-8 over the last 38 seconds – and came up with a couple big defensive plays to help seal this one.
           
With a chance to regain the lead, Iowa State's Marial Shayok was stripped from behind by freshman guard Jared Butler on a play where Clark was credited with the steal. And then, after Mason missed a 3-pointer, Mario Kegler reached in to tie up Shayok after the rebound and give the Bears the ball back with 47 seconds left.
           
Mason hit five free throws in a 23-second stretch, then Bandoo calmly sank a pair with 5.0 seconds left that gave the Bears a 73-70 lead.
           
"I was definitely confident," Bandoo said. "I just wanted to clear my head and just stay positive when I went to the line because I knew it was two big free throws. But, I knew I had been down this stretch before, and I knew I could knock it down."
           
Out of time outs, Weiler-Babb missed a desperation heave from about 30 feet with Mason on his hip.
           
Asked if he thought Weiler-Babb was fouled, Prohm said, "I don't know. I couldn't see. There were some tough plays, but we all need to be better."
           
Clark scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and 11^th time this season with 13 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor and scoring 16 points. Shayok led the Cyclones with 19, while Michael Jacobson and Lindell Wigginton each scored 11.
           
Baylor finishes off a two-game home stand with a matchup against No. 7/9 Kansas (12-2, 1-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center. The Jayhawks were handed a 77-60 beating by Iowa State last Saturday and will host 25^th-ranked TCU Wednesday night before traveling to Waco.
           
"We had a huge win at Arizona and came back and we saw that if you're not ready to play the next game, you're not going to win," Drew said. "And in the Big 12, it doesn't matter what you did in your last game, you've got to be ready for the game that you have. . . . You've got to win your home games in the Big 12."