Iowa State clinches first title since '45, has top seed in tournament

Iowa State clinches first title since '45, has top seed in tournament <br><br>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- If Marcus Fizer is indeed putting an end to his college career, he's doing it with a monstrous

Sunday, March 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Iowa State clinches first title since '45, has top seed in tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- If Marcus Fizer is indeed putting an end to his college career, he's doing it with a monstrous mentality.

Now the favorite to be Big 12 player of the year, Fizer had 34 points Saturday as his 10th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones won the Big12 title outright by beating Baylor 75-45.

It was the first title for the Cyclones since 1945. "I just go out there with the mentality that every time I get the ball and I've got a good shot, I'm aiming to knock the shot down," Fizer said. "I came out with the mentality that we were going to win this game."

The Big 12 regular season came to an end Sunday when Missouri played at No. 23 Kansas. That game would determine the fifth andsixth seed in the league tournament that starts Thursday in Kansas City.

Iowa State had the top seed with the other byes in the tournament's first-round going to second-seed Texas, third-seed Oklahoma and fourth-seed Oklahoma State.

First-round match ups on Thursday were eighth-seed Nebraska against ninth-seed Baylor, either Kansas or Missouri against 12th-seed Kansas State, seventh-seed Colorado against 10th-seed Texas A&M and either Kansas or Missouri against 11th-seed Texas Tech.

In games Saturday, No. 21 Oklahoma beat No. 13 Oklahoma State 59-56, No. 16 Texas defeated Kansas State 99-70, Texas A&M stopped Nebraska 83-76 in overtime and Colorado beat Texas Tech 88-67.

The 6-foot-8 Fizer, who leads the league in scoring, has scored 30 or more points in four of the last five games as the Cyclones(26-4, 14-2 Big 12) set a school record for wins in coach Larry Eustachy's second year. Iowa State has already won 11 more games than it won last year.

"This is the crown jewel," Eustachy said. The speculation is that Fizer, a junior, will turn pro wheneve rthe Iowa State season finally ends. But so far, he has not tipped his hand.

"I try not to think about the NBA too much," he said. "I'm thinking about finally winning the conference. That was my first goal. My next goal is to go far in the Big 12 tournament, and then to go farther and farther in the NCAA tournament. Right now, I'm just playing basketball at Iowa State."

Baylor (13-14, 4-12) made a game of it, getting within 43-40 midway through the second half. But the Cyclones ran off nine straight points.

"We battled back and then we missed dunks, we didn't block out and we had poor shots," said Baylor coach Dave Bliss. "We obviously have shortcomings we try to play around."

In Stillwater, Nolan Johnson had 21 points as Oklahoma spoiled the farewell party for Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena. The arena, opened in 1938, is to be expanded and transformed before it reopens in December.

Oklahoma (24-5, 12-4) rallied from a 46-33 deficit while Johnson helped hold Desmond Mason to just six points. Mason has been averaging 18 for the Cowboys (23-5, 12-4).

"I did what was asked of me tonight -- play defense and make shots when I was asked to," Johnson said.

Oklahoma scored on seven straight trips down the court to take the lead for good at 56-52. "We just had too many defensive mistakes," Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton said. "Even when you make a defensive mistake, you still have to put the ball in the basket."

Texas put the finishing touches on what was a miserable season for Kansas State and one that may spell the end of the road for Wildcats coach Tom Asbury.

The Wildcats (9-18, 2-14), who earlier in the season tied their single-season team record with an 11-game losing streak, ended the season losing 15 of their last 17 games.

Darren Kelly was 13-of-17 from the field and scored a career-high 33 points as Texas (22-7, 13-3) assured the Wildcats(9-18, 2-14) that they would finish last in the league.

The Longhorns, who had never before won at Kansas State, put the game out of reach with a 9-0 run early in the first half, turning a 54-44 lead into a 63-44 advantage.

Nebraska coach Danny Nee is also feeling the heat after his team collapsed in the overtime period against Texas A&M. The Huskers finished 4-12 in the Big 12, 11-18 overall. The win left the Aggies 4-12 in conference, 8-19 overall.

Jamahl Mosely scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half to help lead Colorado (17-12, 7-9) past Texas Tech (12-15, 3-13). Mosely scored Colorado's last nine points of the first half as the Buffs took a 42-28 lead at the intermission. Rayford Young led Tech with 28 points.