KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gabe Kalscheur hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, helping Iowa State overcome a spectacular performance by Baylor forward Jalen Bridges and sending the Cyclones to a 78-72 victory over the No. 10 Bears in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday.
Jaren Holmes added 17 points, Tamin Lipsey had 12 and Tre King 10 for the fifth-seeded Cyclones (19-12), who followed up a win over the Bears (22-10) on Saturday by beating them for the fifth time in six conference tournament games.
Iowa State advanced to play third-ranked Kansas or West Virginia in the semifinal round on Friday night.
Bridges was held to five points on 1-for-9 shooting when the teams met last weekend in Waco, Texas, but the West Virginia transfer went 10 of 11 from the field and 6 of 6 from beyond the arc in the quarterfinals. Bridges topped his career high with a 3 early in the second half, which gave the Bears a 50-42 lead, and wound up finishing with 28 points.
It wasn’t enough against the Cyclones, who are trying to repeat their 2019 title as the No. 5 seed. They crashed the offensive glass, often getting three or four shots in each trip down floor. And they had Kalscheur and Co. lighting it up from beyond the arc.
Iowa State had 21 offensive rebounds to five for the Bears and finished with a 44-17 edge on the glass.