Niang Makes History, ISU Falls to Baylor in OT

WACO, Texas – No. 13 Iowa State could not get over the hump on the road in overtime as the Cyclones fell to No. 25 Baylor 100-91 Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center. The loss drops ISU to 18-8 on the season and 7-6 in Big 12 play, while the Bears improve to 19-7 overall and 8-5 in conference play.

Abdel Nader tied a career-high with 26 points, while Georges Niang recorded 24 points, surpassing the 2,000-point mark for his career and passing Fred Hoiberg for third on Iowa State's all-time scoring list. Monté Morris finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 assists.

How it Happened
Georges Niang came into Tuesday night's game on the brink of a couple historic accomplishments, and his achieving those marks told the story of the early portions of the game. Niang passed Fred Hoiberg for third on ISU's all-time scoring list to put the Cyclones ahead 9-8 early on. After ISU fell into a five-point hole at 22-17, Niang did the work to get the Cyclones back into things, as he scored seven-straight points to get the Cyclones back to 24-24. His final bucket of the run put him at 2,000 points in his career.

Niang's bucket that got him over 2,000 points started another 7-0 run, with Monté Morris draining a 3-pointer to expand the Cyclones' edge to five points at 29-24. Both teams continued to shoot at a high-level, maintaining shooting percentages over 50 percent for the majority of the opening period. The Cyclones were bit by turnovers late in the first half, committing eight first-half giveaways, allowing Baylor to get back ahead. The home side finished the half on a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Lester Medford to give BU its biggest lead of the half at 41-35.

Led by Deonte Burton, the Cyclones got to work to quickly cut down the deficit out of the locker room. Baylor fought to get its lead back up to six, but the Cyclones worked diligently to get back ahead, as a smart pass from Abdel Nader set up Morris for a 3-pointer to put the Cyclones back ahead 51-49.

The contest featured 14 ties and 14 lead changes, with the majority coming during an entertaining second half. However, Baylor began to pull away again, building up a lead of seven points at 65-58 on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Terry Maston. Once again, the Cyclones' dynamic duo of Morris and Niang came to the rescue again, as the duo combined for ISU's next 12 points to cut the Bears' lead to two at 72-70. Nader pushed the Cyclones back ahead one possession later with a 3-pointer, capping a run of six-straight made field goals and putting ISU back ahead at 73-72.

The lead lasted barely a minute as Baylor moved back ahead at the charity stripe. Once again, Nader hit a big trey to keep ISU in it at 78-76 with 2:47 to play, which became a 78-78 game one possession later on a Morris baseline jumper. The teams traded three-point plays to tie proceedings at 81-81 heading into the final minute, which led to Burton and Johnathan Motley exchanging blocked shots of each other. ISU got the last chance of regulation, which Morris thought he converted with a 17-footer as time expired, but his shot came after the buzzer and five more minutes of basketball were needed.

In the extra period, the Bears continued to feed Motley the rock, but he helped keep ISU in the game by not converting his free throws. At 84-84, Medford hit a 3-pointer to put the Bears ahead, and the lead became five after a Motley slam dunk for an 89-84 BU edge. Another corner 3-ball from Nader cut the Bears' lead to two at 91-89, but Ish Wainright countered with a 3-pointer of his own to restore the Baylor five-point edge, which was a big enough gap to bring home the win for the home Bears.

Cyclone of Note: Georges Niang. It was a historic evening for Niang, even in defeat. The Cyclone passed his former head coach, Fred Hoiberg, for third on Iowa State's career scoring list and joined Jeff Grayer and Barry Stevens as career 2,000-point scorers in program history. Niang finished the evening with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, eight rebounds and four assists.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*Abdel Nader tied a career-high with 26 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season and 11th of his career.
*Monté Morris recorded 20 points and 11 assists, his fifth double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
*Morris now has 1,047 career points, passing Terry Woods for 29th in Iowa State history.
*Deonte Burton checked in with 14 points, his 10th game in double figures this season.
*Georges Niang finished with 24 points, his 35th-consecutive and 30th career game with at least 20 points.
*Niang now has 2,014 points, passing Fred Hoiberg for third-highest scorer in ISU history, and becoming the third Cyclone to have over 2,000 career points (Jeff Grayer, Barry Stevens).
*Niang is now ranked sixth in Big 12 history in career points, passing Cory Higgins and Richard Roby (both Colorado).

Up Next
Iowa State is back in Hilton Coliseum this Saturday to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. Tipoff will be at 6:30 p.m., with the game being televised on ESPNU.

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Team Stats

Abdel Nader

Georges Niang

Monte Morris

Deonte Burton

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Georges Niang

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