AMES, Iowa – Through the first month of the season, second-ranked Baylor had won its first eight games by a national-best 32.8 points without having to sweat one out.
Iowa State made the Bears sweat on Saturday, holding them without a 3-pointer in a half for the first time all year and hanging within single digits until the last two minutes at a near-empty Hilton Coliseum.
But, Jared Butler scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and hit the dagger with a 3-pointer from the left wing with just over a minute left as Baylor (9-0, 2-0) escaped with a 76-65 win to move into a first-place tie in the Big 12 standings with eighth-ranked Texas (8-1, 2-0).
"Credit Iowa State for forcing us into some things that we haven't been doing as much of as far as forcing plays and as much one-on-one," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "But, at the end of the day, that's the Big 12. Anytime you get a win, you've got to be excited, especially on the road in the Big 12. . . . There are no gimmees, there are no easy places to play, and there are no easy wins."
The Cyclones (2-5, 0-3) made it tough on the Bears all day, scoring 20 points off their 17 turnovers, holding the nation's best 3-point-shooting team to zero treys in the first half and a dismal 21 percent for the game (4-of-19) and limiting Baylor's talented bench to a season-low 13 points.
"It's been a long time since we played some stiff competition," said Butler, who ended Baylor's longest 3-point drought of the season just 34 seconds into the second half. "We said in the locker room, these are the games that make basketball fun, not the blowout wins. It was good for us to get a rubber-meets-the-road type of game. That's what happened tonight."
Other than Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who had seven points 10 rebounds and two blocks, Baylor's only other bench contribution came from Matthew Mayer with six points, four boards and two steals. Sophomore transfer Adam Flagler was scoreless in 26 minutes, going 0-for-3 from the floor and ending a streak of 42 consecutive games with a made 3-pointer, the nation's fourth-longest active streak.
But Baylor's starters scored 63 points on their own, getting 13 points apiece from Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague and 10 points in 13 minutes from Flo Thamba.
"Most people just know us a team that showboats and makes a lot of 3's," said Thamba, who was 3-of-3 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line. "But, we have the grind, we have the grit, we have the mentality of going 1-0, just being persistent and fighting through adversity. That's in our DNA, and it showed out there on the court."
Despite falling behind 8-2 in the first two minutes, Iowa State kept it close by consistently feeding the ball inside to Solomon Young, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half. The Cyclones took their first lead of the game on a short jumper by Javan Johnson, followed by a fast-break layup by George Conditt to make it 23-20.
Starting with a three-point play by Thamba, Baylor went on a 7-0 run to go back on top and went into the break with a 36-32 lead despite going 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
"They did a great job of scouting us and being on time and not giving us catch-and-shoot 3's, which is what our bread and butter is. We didn't have too many of those," said Butler, who knocked down three 3-pointers in the second half after missing his only two attempts in the first half. "We had a lot of off-the-bounce ones. That's what hurt us. You're not going to shoot it well all the time in the Big 12. I'm just glad we found a way to win."
Butler and Teague set the tone and created separation with back-to-back 3-pointers in a stretch of 29 seconds, then Butler made his first collegiate dunk off an outlet from Mark Vital that gave the Bears a 10-point lead, 44-34, with 18:32 left in the game.
"I've been waiting on it," said Butler, who had his 12th career 20-point game and second of the season. "Everybody on the team has been dogging on me. I dunk a lot in practice, and I finally got one in the game. It felt really good. I worked so hard over the summer and over quarantine just to get my bounce right."
Fighting back from a pair of 10-point deficits, Iowa State went on a 13-2 run and went back ahead, 51-50, on an offensive rebound and putback by Rasir Bolton, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
Trailing 55-53 after a 3-pointer by Johnson, Baylor took the lead for good on another three-point play by Thamba, who grabbed an offensive rebound off a Butler miss and scored on a layup and follow free throw after getting fouled by Conditt.
"Coach (Jerome) Tang always teaches us that when we grab the board to go right back up," Thamba said. "That's basically just the work and the thought of repeatedly doing it in practice. It's just a habit, and it took over and I did it."
Butler hit another 3-pointer and a jumper to cap off a 13-0 run that pushed the lead back to double digits, 66-55, with 5:16 remaining. And then when the Cyclones got it back within five, the junior guard hit three free throws and drained a 3-pointer at the 1:03 mark to help the Bears secure the road victory.
"You're still in Ames, it's still 15 degrees and freezing," Drew said of having an announced crowd of 1,318 in a nearly 15,000-seat arena. "The fans they have are loud, it's a different gym and the ball they have is different. So, that does affect you."
Baylor set a school record with its ninth-consecutive double-digit win, surpassing the eight-game streak to open the 2011-12 season. The Bears also improved to 9-0 for the first time since a 15-0 start in 2016-17 en route to their first-ever No. 1 ranking.
Returning home for its first conference game at the Ferrell Center this season, Baylor will host Oklahoma (6-2, 2-1) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a game that will be televised by ESPN2. The Sooners are coming off a 75-71 upset of No. 9/8 West Virginia.