By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Talen Horton-Tucker is on, he's really on. And when he's off, he's way off. 
            Baylor happened to catch the Iowa State freshman guard when he was really on. 
With Horton-Tucker knocking down four first-half 3-pointers and leading the way with 21 points, the fifth-seeded Cyclones knocked the Bears out of the Big 12 Championship with an 83-66 loss in Thursday's early quarterfinal at the Sprint Center. 
"Once Tucker got going and got hot, I thought that really opened up things and really gave them confidence," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team fell to 19-13 with its fourth straight loss after sweeping the season series from the Cyclones (21-11). 
            "In the first two games, we had done a great job at keeping him at bay. He's had games where he's gotten hot like that, K-State for example. And when he does that, their team goes to another level. We had some breakdowns, which gave them some good looks. But once they got that confidence, give them credit for making a lot of tough shots. They're a very tough team to guard when they're making contested shots, because they're very good drivers as well."
            Iowa State, which had hit just 15-of-41 combined in the two regular-season games against Baylor, drained 13-of-25 from 3-point range and shot 51.7 percent overall from the floor. Marial Shayok hit three second-half 3-pointers and added 18 points, while Lindell Wigginton and Tyrese Haliburton had 16 and 13 points, respectively. 
            "They're a confidence team, and we let them get confidence," said senior guard King McClure, one of just two Baylor players who had ever played in the Big 12 tournament before this year. "We let them see one or two go in. They've got good players, and they start getting really confident. They were feeding off each other. Before you know it, they're making everything."
            The Bears started out that way, with Makai Mason hitting three 3-pointers in the first 6 ½ minutes and going up 18-14 on a Mario Kegler put-back with 11:30 left in the first half. Even at the five-minute mark, it was a tie game at 26-all when Mason fed Mark Vital for a dunk. 
            But, starting with a three-shot foul on freshman Jared Butler, the Cyclones closed the half on a 12-3 run and went into the break up 38-29. 
            "That's tough anytime you're going into the half with some momentum," said Mason, who had 14 points and five assists after missing the last game with a bruised toe that has limited him for the last third of the season. "That's definitely tough. But, like Coach said, they're an explosive team. When they're on, it's really tough to beat them. They're super-talented. They just kind of clicked today."
            Halliburton hit two quick 3-pointers in a 12-5 run at the start of the second half to stretch the Cyclones' lead to 50-34, and the Bears never got back within single digits the rest of the way. 
            "When you make shots, life is a lot better," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "That's just the reality of it. . . . When this team is making shots and competing the right way defensively, it's a very good basketball team. When you get really those three guys – Talen and Tyrese and Marial – going 12-of-23 (from 3-point range), we're going to be tough to beat."
            Drew said he "probably underestimated" the impact of having just two players with any Big 12 Championship experience – McClure and Vital. Butler was 2-of-9 from the floor, 0-for-4 from outside the arc and finished with just four points, three rebounds, and two assists in 25 minutes. 
            "The best thing the Big 12 does is run it just like the NCAA Tournament, everything from the police escort, to the time, to the routine," Drew said. "And hopefully, that will allow us to have a better chance to be successful in the next tournament. So, if that happens, then this has been definitely well worth it. Otherwise, everybody hates going home after one game."
            Like Iowa State, Baylor had four players score in double figures, led by Kegler with 16 points and seven rebounds. Devonte Bandoo added 11 points, while Vital had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. 
            "They beat us at our own game," Vital said. "Credit to them, they did a good job boxing out and hitting shots. Those are two things we love to do, and they beat us at our own game. And they were tough. Tip your hat to them, they were hitting everything. We had to try to adjust. We just couldn't do it. They were already hot."
            Iowa State advances to the tournament semifinals to face top-seeded Kansas State (25-7), which overcame an early 12-point deficit to defeat eighth-seeded TCU, 70-61. 
            Projected as a No. 8 or 9 seed going into Thursday's game, Baylor will now await the NCAA Tournament selections that will be announced at 5 p.m. Sunday on CBS. The Bears will have at least a week before the opening round of the tournament. 
            "I think everyone would prefer to win the championship and have tired legs," Drew said. "But, the flip side is we can get a couple guys healthy now that have been banged-up, and hopefully we spend a little extra time working on our execution now that we're getting King back to normal and MakaI was able to do a little in practice. I thought he really started off well. But, if we can everybody back to that rhythm and routine, it's really hard to just get that in the game. You need to have it in practice."
            McClure, who will make his third NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth postseason trip overall, said it's "like a dream come true."
            "It's a great feeling to be a part of something like that," he said. "You most definitely look forward to seeing new faces. We just have to go out there and play the way we play, and I think we'll be OK."
            Mason will be playing in his first NCAA Tournament since 2016, when he had a then career-high 31 points in Yale's 79-75 upset of fifth-seeded Baylor. This is the grad transfer's only season with the Bears. 
            "It's been a pretty long road, so just to get that chance to compete on that stage again, it's what you dream for as a kid," he said. "And that's what you're working for pretty much your whole basketball life to this point. So, just to get that moment, especially with this team, we've kind of been doubted the whole year, it's going to be a special moment."