Baylor @ Iowa State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 8, 2019 ) Iowa State 70, Baylor 73

No. 20 Iowa State returned to the court after a week off and shook up the top of the conference standings with a 78-64 win at league-leading Kansas State on Saturday. The Cyclones will continue their march to the top of the conference and look to improve to 12-2 at home Tuesday when they host Baylor in another key Big 12 matchup.

Sophomore reserve guard Lindell Wigginton led the way with 23 points, connecting on 5-of-6 3-pointers, while freshman Talen Horton-Tucker finished with 20 points and made a career-high six 3-pointers in nine attempts for the Cyclones, who sit 1 1/2 games behind the 21st-ranked Wildcats while Baylor trails by 2 1/2 games. The Cyclones, one of 15 teams in the nation to boast a top-35 adjusted offense (10th) and defense (34th), shot 52.7 percent from the field and 58.3 beyond the arc against a Wildcat defense that yields 43.5 percent shooting, 36.1 from 3-point range and 65.8 points per game - one of the nation's best. A depleted Baylor squad, which was rolling a few weeks back with six consecutive wins, has seen its NCAA Tournament hopes diminish the last two weeks, losing three of four, including 86-61 at Texas Tech on Saturday - its worst loss since Jan. 2, 2016, at Kansas. The Bears knocked off the Cyclones 73-70 in the first matchup this season on Jan. 8, as Makai Mason scored 25 points for Baylor and Marial Shayok tallied 19 for Iowa State.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT BAYLOR (16-9, 7-5 Big 12): The Bears played without Mason (toe) and King McClure (knee), who are both day-to-day, against the Red Raiders and had eight scholarship players available, including a former walk-on. In 11 games since leading scorer Tristan Clark went down with a season-ending knee injury, the Bears have gone to a three-guard offense and improved their 3-point shooting marks from 29 percent and 6.6 makes per game to 39 percent and 9.6, respectively. Four Bears are shooting at least 42 percent from 3-point range and making at least 1.5 per game since Clark's injury: Devonte Bandoo (44 percent, 1.8), freshman guard Jared Butler (43, 2.6), McClure (43, 1.9) and Mason (42, 2.4).

ABOUT IOWA STATE (19-6, 8-4): Over his last six games, Wigginton (13.3 points, 2.3 assists) is leading the Cyclones with 17 points per game and shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 51.6 percent behind the arc. Point guard Nick Weiler-Babb (9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists) is shooting a career-high 40 percent from the arc, second in the conference in assists and is the only player in the conference averaging at least nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Horton-Tucker (12.4 points, 5.2 rebounds) leads all Big 12 freshmen in scoring and paces the Cyclones with nine charges taken, while junior forward Michael Jacobson (12 points, six boards) leads the team in rebounding and is shooting 59 percent from the field, including 71 percent the last three games.

TIP-INS

1. Iowa State holds a 19-17 lead in the series, including 14-2 at Hilton Coliseum.

2. Baylor G Mario Kegler is averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 51 percent over his last eight games, while Butler joined the starting lineup with Clark out and is averaging 12.2 points and 3.7 assists in 11 starts.

3. Iowa State leads the Big 12 in scoring (78.9 points), field-goal percentage (48.2) and free-throw percentage (73.3), while also ranking second in 3-point field goal percentage (36.9).

PREDICTION: Iowa State 88, Baylor 66