Brady Heslip’s final regular-season game at the Ferrell Center may just be the victory that helps get Baylor back into the NCAA tournament.
Heslip scored 18 points, with all five of his 3-pointers coming in the second half, and the Bears got a much-needed boost with a 74-61 victory over No. 16 Iowa State on Tuesday night. His tiebreaking 3 with 2:14 left started a game-ending 13-0 run.
“You guys don’t know how happy I am right now. All I wanted to do was win. I just wanted to leave everything out there so we could win,” Heslip said. “This was the best feeling I’ve felt in this gym, no question.”
There were 15 lead changes and four ties before Heslip put the Bears (20-10, 8-9 Big 12) ahead to stay.
And now the Bears, who have won seven of eight games since starting 2-8 in Big 12 play, feel confident they have what’s needed to get back in the NCAA field after having to settle for the NIT championship last season — a year after making it to an NCAA regional final.
“Absolutely. No question,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “You can’t hold losses against Top 25 teams in the top conference in the country (against us). Minnesota was 8-10 last year. They lost their last three out of four — and they got in. … You’ve got to be thankful for the league’s strength and playing in a great league.”
Iowa State (22-7, 10-7), in the mix for the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament, lost its second road game in four days.
