Keshon Gilbert's big night leads No. 7 Iowa State past No. 14 Baylor 76-62 in Big 12 semifinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Tamin Lipsey grew up in the shadows of Iowa State, always dreaming of playing for the Cyclones, and he has vivid memories of watching his favorite team on television as it captured Big 12 Tournament championships.
Two of them under Fred Hoiberg. Two more under Steve Prohm.
Now, the Iowa native has a chance to lead Iowa State to another one under T.J. Otzelberger.
Keshon Gilbert had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Lipsey joined Curtis Jones and Hason Ward in a supporting role as the seventh-ranked Cyclones beat No. 14 Baylor 76-62 in the semifinals on Friday night.
Next up for Iowa State is No. 1 Houston, which rolled to an 82-59 victory over No. 25 Texas Tech in the first semifinal, on Saturday night as the Cyclones chase their fifth title in the last 10 completed conference tournaments.
“Surprisingly I was never able to make it down for a game. I was always watching on TV,” Lipsey said. “I grew up a fan my whole life, and now doing it in my time, it's kind of surreal. But I'm here with my teammates, having a great time, and now we're in the championship. There's so much excitement. The fans are totally behind us. It's ‘Hilton South,’ that's what we call it.”
Jones finished with 13 points and Lipsey and Ward had 10 apiece for the Cyclones (26-7), who went on a 17-3 run to start the second half and led by as many as 22 points before keeping the Bears at distance the rest of the way.
It was the second straight year that the Cyclones knocked Baylor out of a tournament it has never won.
“They really played well, really shot it well,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose own team went just 5 of 24 from beyond the 3-point arc. “Some of that is on our defense. Some of that is credit deserved to them.”
Jalen Bridges had 20 points and 12 rebounds while Yves Missi had 14 points and 11 boards for the Bears (23-10), who had won seven of their last 10 against the Cyclones. Big 12 Freshman of the Year Ja'Kobe Walter had just three points on 1-for-8 shooting.
"It’s win-or-go-home time and I don’t want to go home,” Bridges said.
Iowa State tends to take over T-Mobile Center during the Big 12 Tournament, turning it into a slightly newer, slightly glitzier version of Hilton Coliseum, and that was the case again for its semifinal against Baylor.
From the moment Milan Momcilovic drilled an opening 3-pointer, those thousands of red-clad fans rarely sat down.
The Cyclones proceeded to dominate most of the opening half, at one point going on a 13-2 run to build a comfortable lead, though Bridges did everything he could to keep Baylor in the game. He hit a trio of 3s and had 12 points at halftime, otherwise the Bears would have faced an even steeper climb than the 35-27 hole staring them down at the break.
Iowa State never gave them a chance, though.
Their brilliant ball movement kept producing easy layups. Momcilovic, Gilbert and Jones buried 3-pointers. And in a tournament filled with blowouts, the Cyclones used their big run out of the locker room to deliver yet another semifinal knockout.
It earned them a date with top-ranked Houston in the finals, too.
“We know how great they are defensively, and like we try to do, turn their defense into offense,” Otzelberger said. “We just have to keep our focus on the next play in front of us. You play great teams, you're going to have adversity. And we practice facing adversity so we can meet it head-on.”
UP NEXT
Baylor likely clinched a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament with its trip to the Big 12 tourney semifinals.
Iowa State will try to keep its perfect record intact as the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cyclones are 5-0 with the seed, including their three wins on the way to the 2005 championship.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Yves Missi vs. Keshon Gilbert (RayJ Dennis gains possession) | |||
19:31 | RayJ Dennis misses three point jump shot | |||
19:29 | Tre King defensive rebound | |||
19:20 | +3 | Milan Momcilovic makes three point jump shot (Tamin Lipsey assists) | 0-3 | |
19:00 | Jalen Bridges misses two point layup | |||
18:58 | Yves Missi offensive rebound | |||
18:58 | Milan Momcilovic shooting foul (Yves Missi draws the foul) | |||
18:58 | Yves Missi misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
18:58 | +1 | Yves Missi makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 1-3 | |
18:45 | +3 | Tamin Lipsey makes three point jump shot | 1-6 | |
18:19 | Jalen Bridges misses three point jump shot | |||
18:17 | Tamin Lipsey defensive rebound | |||
18:02 | +3 | Tamin Lipsey makes three point jump shot (Keshon Gilbert assists) | 1-9 | |
17:52 | Bears 30 second timeout | |||
17:28 | Jayden Nunn offensive foul | |||
17:28 | Jayden Nunn turnover (offensive foul) | |||
17:05 | Milan Momcilovic misses three point jump shot | |||
17:03 | Jalen Bridges defensive rebound | |||
16:47 | Yves Missi misses two point layup | |||
16:45 | Keshon Gilbert defensive rebound | |||
16:33 | Robert Jones misses two point jump shot | |||
16:31 | Yves Missi defensive rebound | |||
16:12 | +2 | Yves Missi makes two point dunk (RayJ Dennis assists) | 3-9 | |
15:41 | Tre King misses two point jump shot | |||
15:39 | Yves Missi defensive rebound | |||
15:24 | Jalen Bridges misses three point jump shot | |||
15:22 | Keshon Gilbert defensive rebound | |||
15:12 | +2 | Keshon Gilbert makes two point layup | 3-11 | |
14:55 | Ja'Kobe Walter misses three point jump shot | |||
14:53 | Tamin Lipsey defensive rebound | |||
14:44 | Tre King misses two point jump shot | |||
14:42 | RayJ Dennis defensive rebound | |||
14:34 | Tre King personal foul | |||
14:34 | TV timeout | |||
14:26 | +2 | RayJ Dennis makes two point jump shot | 5-11 | |
13:58 | Curtis Jones turnover (bad pass) | |||
13:46 | Josh Ojianwuna misses two point layup | |||
13:44 | Hason Ward defensive rebound | |||
13:38 | Keshon Gilbert misses three point jump shot | |||
13:36 | Caleb Lohner defensive rebound | |||
13:27 | RayJ Dennis turnover (bad pass) (Hason Ward steals) | |||
13:20 | +2 | Curtis Jones makes two point jump shot | 5-13 | |
13:01 | +2 | Caleb Lohner makes two point layup (Josh Ojianwuna assists) | 7-13 | |
12:46 | Keshon Gilbert misses two point jump shot | |||
12:44 | Hason Ward offensive rebound | |||
12:38 | Hason Ward misses two point layup | |||
12:36 | Keshon Gilbert offensive rebound | |||
12:30 | Keshon Gilbert turnover (lost ball) (Jayden Nunn steals) | |||
12:23 | +2 | Caleb Lohner makes two point layup (RayJ Dennis assists) | 9-13 | |
12:08 | RayJ Dennis blocks Curtis Jones's two point jump shot | |||
12:06 | Josh Ojianwuna defensive rebound | |||
11:57 | RayJ Dennis misses three point jump shot | |||
11:55 | Curtis Jones defensive rebound | |||
11:44 | +2 | Hason Ward makes two point layup (Keshon Gilbert assists) | 9-15 | |
11:25 | Jayden Nunn turnover (bad pass) (Keshon Gilbert steals) | |||
11:18 | Caleb Lohner personal foul | |||
11:18 | TV timeout | |||
11:17 | RayJ Dennis personal foul | |||
11:14 | Curtis Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
11:12 | Yves Missi defensive rebound | |||
10:58 | +2 | Caleb Lohner makes two point jump shot | 11-15 | |
10:23 | Tamin Lipsey misses two point jump shot | |||
10:21 | Caleb Lohner defensive rebound | |||
10:09 | Robert Jones shooting foul (Jalen Bridges draws the foul) | |||
10:09 | Jalen Bridges misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
10:09 | +1 | Jalen Bridges makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 12-15 | |
9:50 | Tamin Lipsey misses three point jump shot | |||
9:48 | Caleb Lohner defensive rebound | |||
9:39 | +3 | Jalen Bridges makes three point jump shot (RayJ Dennis assists) | 15-15 | |
9:20 | +2 | Tre King makes two point jump shot (Tamin Lipsey assists) | 15-17 | |
9:02 | RayJ Dennis misses three point jump shot | |||
9:00 | Milan Momcilovic defensive rebound | |||
8:45 | +2 | Robert Jones makes two point jump shot | 15-19 | |
8:19 | Jalen Bridges misses two point jump shot | |||
8:17 | Yves Missi offensive rebound | |||
8:17 | Robert Jones personal foul | |||
8:11 | Hason Ward blocks RayJ Dennis's two point layup | |||
8:09 | Bears offensive rebound | |||
8:01 | RayJ Dennis misses three point jump shot | |||
7:59 | Tamin Lipsey defensive rebound | |||
7:51 | RayJ Dennis shooting foul (Hason Ward draws the foul) | |||
7:51 | TV timeout | |||
7:51 | +1 | Hason Ward makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 15-20 | |
7:51 | +1 | Hason Ward makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 15-21 | |
7:34 | Ja'Kobe Walter misses two point layup | |||
7:32 | Tamin Lipsey defensive rebound | |||
7:20 | Milan Momcilovic misses two point jump shot | |||
7:18 | Milan Momcilovic offensive rebound | |||
7:13 | Milan Momcilovic misses two point jump shot | |||
7:11 | Caleb Lohner defensive rebound | |||
7:08 | Tamin Lipsey personal foul | |||
6:51 | +2 | Yves Missi makes two point layup (Caleb Lohner assists) | 17-21 | |
6:51 | Jayden Nunn flagrant 1 (Tamin Lipsey draws the foul) | |||
6:51 | +1 | Tamin Lipsey makes flagrant free throw 1 of 2 | 17-22 | |
6:51 | +1 | Tamin Lipsey makes flagrant free throw 2 of 2 | 17-23 | |
6:39 | +3 | Keshon Gilbert makes three point jump shot (Tamin Lipsey assists) | 17-26 | |
6:10 | Ja'Kobe Walter turnover (lost ball) (Curtis Jones steals) | |||
5:55 | Cyclones 30 second timeout | |||
5:37 | Keshon Gilbert misses three point jump shot | |||
5:35 | Caleb Lohner defensive rebound | |||
5:15 | Hason Ward blocks Ja'Kobe Walter's two point jump shot | |||
5:13 | Hason Ward defensive rebound | |||
5:02 | +2 | Hason Ward makes two point jump shot (Tamin Lipsey assists) | 17-28 | |
4:43 | Josh Ojianwuna misses two point layup | |||
4:40 | Jalen Bridges offensive rebound | |||
4:26 | +3 | Jalen Bridges makes three point jump shot (RayJ Dennis assists) | 20-28 | |
4:07 | +3 | Curtis Jones makes three point jump shot (Keshon Gilbert assists) | 20-31 | |
3:44 | Milan Momcilovic personal foul | |||
3:44 | TV timeout | |||
3:38 | +2 | Jalen Bridges makes two point layup (RayJ Dennis assists) | 22-31 | |
3:33 | Yves Missi blocks Keshon Gilbert's two point layup | |||
3:31 | Tre King offensive rebound | |||
3:30 | Tre King misses two point layup | |||
3:28 | RayJ Dennis defensive rebound | |||
3:24 | Yves Missi offensive foul | |||
3:24 | Yves Missi turnover (offensive foul) | |||
2:57 | Keshon Gilbert misses two point jump shot | |||
2:55 | Yves Missi defensive rebound | |||
2:43 | RayJ Dennis misses two point jump shot | |||
2:41 | RayJ Dennis offensive rebound | |||
2:37 | +2 | RayJ Dennis makes two point layup | 24-31 | |
2:08 | Curtis Jones misses two point jump shot | |||
2:06 | Jalen Bridges defensive rebound | |||
2:01 | +3 | Jalen Bridges makes three point jump shot | 27-31 | |
1:40 | +2 | Keshon Gilbert makes two point layup | 27-33 | |
1:16 | Jayden Nunn misses three point jump shot | |||
1:14 | Cyclones defensive rebound | |||
1:01 | Keshon Gilbert misses two point jump shot | |||
0:59 | Jalen Bridges defensive rebound | |||
0:48 | Jayden Nunn turnover (out of bounds) | |||
0:40 | Keshon Gilbert misses two point jump shot | |||
0:38 | Yves Missi defensive rebound | |||
0:31 | RayJ Dennis turnover (lost ball) (Keshon Gilbert steals) | |||
0:27 | Jalen Bridges shooting foul (Keshon Gilbert draws the foul) | |||
0:27 | +1 | Keshon Gilbert makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 27-34 | |
0:27 | +1 | Keshon Gilbert makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 27-35 | |
0:01 | Jayden Nunn misses three point jump shot | |||
0:00 | Hason Ward defensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |