By LUKE MEREDITH ADVERTISING By LUKE MEREDITH AP Sports Writer AMES, Iowa — Senior point guard DeAndre Kane was supposed to be a one-year stopgap for Iowa State. Kane has evolved into one of the most versatile players in the
By LUKE MEREDITH
AP Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa — Senior point guard DeAndre Kane was supposed to be a one-year stopgap for Iowa State.
Kane has evolved into one of the most versatile players in the country — and the surging Cyclones look like one of the best teams in the nation because of it.
Kane had a season-high 30 points with nine assists, eight rebounds and five steals as No. 9 Iowa State rolled past No. 7 Baylor 87-72 on Tuesday night, setting a school record with its 14th straight win.
“He’s a mismatch nightmare out there, when you have a guy who is 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, strong as an ox and he’s experienced,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said of Kane, who transferred from Marshall in the offseason. “He’s a smart player.”
Melvin Ejim added 18 points for the Cyclones (14-0, 2-0 Big 12), who outscored Baylor 47-34 in the second half and rolled to a surprisingly decisive win over a fellow Big 12 title contender.
Kane had 17 points in the first half, helping his struggling teammates take a two-point lead. The rest of the Cyclones got untracked early in the second half, blowing past the Bears with a 28-12 run to secure their most impressive win of the season.
“I came here to win,” Kane said. “I just wanted to be a part of something special.”
Gary Franklin and Brady Heslip both had 15 points for Baylor (12-2, 0-1), which saw its win streak snapped at six games.
The Bears, like many teams before them, had no answer for Kane’s unique skill set.
He is averaging 16.1 points on 52 percent shooting to go along with 7.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game.
“When you see him in person, the size, the strength and the speed. He affects the game in a variety of ways,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Coming in I heard he was good. But I think he has far surpassed what people might have thought.”
Baylor couldn’t have asked for a tougher draw to open Big 12 play. The Cyclones had already beaten ranked teams Michigan and Iowa at home this season and entered play 39-3 in Ames since 2011-12.
The Bears hung around until early in the second half, when Iowa State slowly but surely overwhelmed yet another visitor.
Baylor, which figured to have a serious size advantage with Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson, was outscored 47-26 in the paint.
Austin had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Jefferson finished with seven points for Baylor, which had 19 turnovers
“They did a great job of doubling. I thought they were very aggressive. On film, we thought we could exploit it more, and I was wrong. We’ll have to work on that and be a lot more efficient playing out of a double team,” Drew said.
No. 5 Michigan 72
No. 3 Ohio State 68
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Keith Appling made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 29 seconds left and finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds to help No. 5 Michigan State beat No. 3 Ohio State 72-68 in overtime Tuesday night after blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.
The Spartans (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) led 55-38 and the Buckeyes (15-1, 2-1) forced overtime with a 20-3 run to close regulation.
Ohio State entered the day as one of six unbeaten teams in Division I.
Aaron Craft’s three-point play with 2:02 left in the second half and his layup, after throwing an inbounds pass off Adreian Payne’s backside, with a minute left pulled Ohio State within one. Payne made one of two free throws on the ensuing possession, allowing Amir Williams’ putback dunk with 19 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Ohio State scored the first points of the extra period, taking its first lead since it was ahead 19-17, but gave up some pivotal 3-pointers.
Michigan State redshirt freshman Kenny Kaminski made a season-high third 3-pointer to break a tie with 2:40 left in overtime and Payne connected on a shot beyond the arc on the Spartans’ next possession.
