KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Keshon Gilbert scored 20 points for No. 7 Iowa State, which pulled away in the second half for a 76-62 victory over No. 14 Baylor in the second semifinal of the Big 12 tournament on Friday.
No. 1 Houston, the top seed in the tournament, awaits the second-seeded Cyclones.
Iowa State (26-7) will be playing in its sixth Big 12 tournament final, having won each of the previous five. The Cyclones are the only team to appear in the championship game without losing over the 26 prior editions.
Iowa State also got 13 points from Curtis Jones, 11 from Milan Momcilovic and 10 each from Tamin Lipsey and Hason Ward.
Third-seeded Baylor (23-10) was led by Jalen Bridges with 20 points. He was joined in double figures by Yves Missi with 14 points and Caleb Lohner with 12.
Iowa State, up by eight at halftime, erased any lingering doubt with a 17-3 run to start the second half. The Cyclones went 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, during the run. Meanwhile, the Bears missed their first eight shots of the half.
The Cyclones finished 10-for-20 from 3-point range. They hit 5 of 10 in each half.
The first half was a game of spurts. Iowa State jumped out to a 9-1 lead, but Baylor later had a 10-2 run to tie the game at 15-all. Iowa State responded again, this time with a 13-2 run for its largest lead of the half at 28-17.
Iowa State took a 35-27 lead into the locker room. Baylor, which ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring at 81.1 points per game, was just 11 of 29 (37.9 percent) from the field in the half. The Bears wound up 23 of 59 (39 percent).
The Cyclones were led by Gilbert with nine points in the first half. Bridges topped Baylor with 12 points prior to the break. Only four Bears scored in the first half.
–David Smale, Field Level Media