Manu Lecomte kept Baylor undefeated with this game winner to beat Iowa State (AP) If Baylor ascends to No. 1 in the country*next week, the Bears will have Manu Lecomte to thank for it.
The junior point guard sank a game-winning off-balance*runner*with 8.2 seconds left to give second-ranked Baylor a 65-63 victory over upset-minded Iowa State on Wednesday night in Waco.
With the score tied and the shot clock at five seconds, Lecomte drove left, got Iowa State’s Matt Thomas on his hip and hoisted an high-arcing*shot off one foot as his momentum carried him away from the tim. The ball sailed high enough to draw rain before falling through the hoop, giving Baylor a two-point lead in a game it had trailed for long stretches of the second half.
Manu Lecomte kept Baylor undefeated with this shot. pic.twitter.com/uNKkHIEMEv
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) January 5, 2017
Iowa State coach Steve Prohm*put the ball in the hands of*star point guard Monte Morris on the game’s final play, but the senior could not evade Baylor’s Ish Wainwright to get a clean look. Morris’ heavily contested runner clanked off the rim as time expired, dooming the Cyclones’ hopes of a massive road upset.
Don't know why Monte Morris hesitated at the top. Did he know how much time was left? pic.twitter.com/OV5rAXBgqI
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) January 5, 2017
Three teams entered Wednesday without a loss, but only Baylor and Gonzaga remained by the end of the night after top-ranked Villanova fell for the first time this season at Butler. The Bears will almost certainly ascend to No. 1 for the first time in program history next week if they can defeat Oklahoma State on Saturday in Waco.
Baylor would be a deserving No. 1 because no team in the country has been a more pleasant surprise so far this season.
Having lost three key starters from last year’s 22-win team, Baylor did not receive a single vote in either of the major preseason polls. Only two months later,*the Bears have established themselves as a potential challenger to Kansas in the Big 12 with non-league wins over*Louisville, Xavier, Oregon, Michigan State and VCU.
Dominating the offensive glass has been Baylor’s trademark in recent years, but this year’s Bears are also*taking better care of the ball, scoring efficiently at the rim and getting to the foul line more frequently. The presence of the nation’s second leading shot blocker, Jo Lual-Acuil, has also made the Bears’ signature zone much tougher to score against at the rim than in recent years.
What made Wednesday’s game against Iowa State closer than expected was Baylor’s uncharacteristic inability to take care of the ball. The Bears committed 13 turnovers in a slow-paced game including four apiece on stars Lecomte and Johnathan Motley.

It was Motley and Lual-Acuil who kept Baylor competitive long enough for Lecomte to win it in the final seconds. The two big men combined for 28 points, 20 rebounds and a pair of blocks against an Iowa State team that fell to 9-4 with the loss.
Only a couple months ago, this Baylor team wasn’t on the national radar. Now the Bears could be one win away from ascending to No. 1 in the nation.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at[email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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