Mason scores 25 as Baylor upsets 20th-ranked Iowa State

Makai Mason scored a season high 25 points Tuesday night in Waco, leading the Baylor Bears to a 73-70 victory over 20th-ranked Iowa State.

After the Cyclones took a two-point lead, Mason knocked down a jumper and hit five free throws in the final two minutes to pace the Bears to their first Big 12 win of the season.

Center Tristan Clark, a Baylor sophomore from Wagner, finished with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Baylor coach Scott Drew said Clark, at 6-9 and 240 pounds, served as something of a quarterback on the basketball court at the Ferrell Center.

“Tristan, I tell you, we ran offense through Tristan Clark,” Drew said on the team’s radio broadcast.

Drew pointed out that Clark had three assists and zero turnovers on a night when he touched the ball frequently.

“Do you know how hard that is to run offense through somebody and for him to have zero turnovers for the game?” the coach asked. “I mean, he did an unbelievable job quarterbacking our team and really helping with things.”

Records

Iowa State 12-3, 2-1
Baylor 9-5, 1-1

Notable

Iowa State came into Waco with the early lead in the Big 12. The Cyclones had opened with victories over Oklahoma State on the road and Kansas at home. Baylor started conference with an 85-81 road loss at TCU. Losing to the Horned Frogs was the Bears’ third loss of the season by four points or less.

Quotable

“We’ve had some close losses,” Drew said. “It was good to see ’em win this one.”

Tristan Clark, by the numbers

Clark’s nation-leading field goal percentage of 75 percent dropped to 73.7 percent after he hit 6 of 10 from the field against the Cyclones. He’s averaging 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.