ESPN Men's Basketball

WACO, Texas -- LaceDarius Dunn hit four 3-pointers, scooped in an underhand shot while being fouled in the lane, drove the baseline for a reverse layup and started a series of late-game dunks for Baylor (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP).

Yet, Dunn's most impressive play in the Bears' 84-63 victory over Iowa State on Wednesday night may have been none of the above.

With Baylor (17-4, 4-3 Big 12) still trying to gain control early in the second half, Dunn began a wild sequence after Tweety Carter missed a 3-pointer and the ball bounced to the other end of the court. Dunn outran several Cyclones to save it from going out of bounds, a long offensive rebound that set up a botched alley-oop that still resulted in a dunk for Baylor.

Dunn finished with 21 points for the Bears, who four days after upsetting then-No. 6 Texas in overtime on the road backed it up by winning again.

"Coming off that win really gave us a lot of confidence back, and allowed us to come out tonight and play really well," Carter said.

After the hustling play when Dunn saved the ball to A.J. Walton, Ekpe Udoh's attempted pass rolled off the rim -- and he was charged a missed shot instead of credited with an assist. Quincy Acy still grabbed it for a slam, and the Bears led by 10 points with 15 minutes left.

Acy, who finished with 10 points, hit a jumper 3 minutes later and Baylor had a double-digit lead the rest of the way. The final margin was the largest.

"I felt like we played the first half exactly like we wanted it played. We were able to control tempo, we limited our turnovers, we were able to win the battle on the backboards," Cyclones coach Greg McDermott said. "Thought if we maintained those things in the second half, it would be a game decided in the final 5 minutes. But we turned it over five times in the first 11 or 12 possessions of the second half ... and really got manhandled on the backboards."

The Bears, who lost by two points to Kansas State (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) in their last home game a week ago to end a record 11-game winning streak at the Ferrell Center, dominated in all phases after halftime. They had a 28-11 rebounding margin after the break and finished with only four turnovers in each half.

"We did a great job in the second half of boxing out, knowing the great offensive players they have on the court, just hitting them and going up and getting the ball," Dunn said.

Udoh had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for his 11th double-double of the season. Carter had 14 points and six assists.

"When those two guys [Dunn and Udoh] are playing well, it opens it up for everybody," Carter said.

Craig Brackins had 19 points and Marquis Gilstrap added 15 for the Cyclones (13-9, 2-5), who have lost four of five.

Anthony Jones hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run for Baylor and stretch its lead to 10 after the Cyclones got a free throw in the opening seconds after halftime. There had been six ties and six lead changes in the first half, but none after that.

Dunn made a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game, and his last came with 6:15 remaining with an extremely frustrated McDermott fuming on the sideline.

After Carter missed a 3, Brackins was ahead of everybody when he got a long pass and went up for a slam. He missed when Walton caught up and swatted at the ball. McDermott was livid that a foul wasn't called, and play continued with Dunn hitting from long range to make it 65-49.

McDermott went under the basket to have words with the official during an ensuing timeout. When there was another timeout only seconds later, he conversed with another official though he avoided getting a technical foul.

Baylor then had slam dunks from three different players on consecutive possessions. Dunn had the first on an alley-oop pass from Udoh, who got the next slam before Acy threw one down. Walton was open at the basket the next time down, but settled for a layup instead.

Iowa State has lost 17 consecutive games against ranked teams, including five this season.

It is only the fourth time in school history the Bears have won at least 17 games in their first 21. The others were all NCAA tournament teams -- 1946, 1948 and 2008.