Game Preview - Men's Hoops vs. UALR Dec. 2

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BAYLOR (2-0) vs. ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK (4-0)
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2000 - 1:00 p.m. CST

THE GAME
Baylor continues a season-opening four game homestand Saturday, Dec. 2, by hosting Arkansas-Little Rock in Waco, Texas. Tipoff at the Ferrell Center is set for 1 p.m. CST. Baylor is 2-0 and coming off a 93-52 victory over Hardin-Simmons last Saturday. Arkansas-Little Rock is undefeated at 4-0, most recently defeating Morris Brown College 79-68 Tuesday in Atlanta. The Bears are in the second year of the Dave Bliss era, and their 95th year of men's basketball in 2000-2001. Baylor owns an all-time record of 946-1,077 in 94 seasons of basketball.

HEAD COACH DAVE BLISS
Dave Bliss was handed the reigns of Baylor basketball on March 23, 1999, and given the task of rebuilding a program that had finished the 1998-99 season without a Big 12 Conference win. Bliss proceeded to guide the Bears to a 14-15 record in 1999-2000, which was an eight-and-a-half game turnaround from the previous season - the 10th-best turnaround in Division I basketball last year.

Bliss, in his second season at Baylor, is a 26-year coaching veteran and ranks 19th among active Division I coaches in victories with 481. The former head coach at New Mexico, Southern Methodist and Oklahoma owns a career record of 481-286 (.627). He has led teams to 15 postseason tournament appearances, including 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament. Five times Bliss has been honored as his conference's coach of the year, and he is one of only 23 Division I coaches ever to have taken three different schools to the NCAA Tournament (UNM, SMU, OU).

BLISS vs. ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK
Dave Bliss has never coached against Arkansas-Little Rock in 26 years as a head coach.

THE ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK SERIES
Baylor trails its all-time series with Arkansas-Pine Bluff by a 1-0 margin. The Trojans won the only meeting, a 42-41 decision in the postseason NIT in 1987. The two teams met in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament in Little Rock, Ark. Saturday marks the first contest between Baylor and Arkansas-Little Rock in Waco.

THE ARKANSAS LITTLE-ROCK TROJANS
Arkansas-Little Rock (4-0) is led by head coach Porter Moser, in his first year as a head coach. Moser is 4-0 in his young career at UALR. Moser, 32, is the sixth-youngest head coach in Division I men's basketball.

UALR NOTES: The Trojans are led by senior forward Stan Blackmon, who is averaging 17.0 points per game... UALR assistant coach Seve Shields is a Baylor graduate (1988), who played golf for the Bears for three seasons under his father, Gene Shields... UALR's 4-0 record this season ties as the second-best start ever for a Trojan team... Through four games, Arkansas-Little Rock has 10 players averaging 13 or more minutes per game.

THE LAST TIME OUT - HARDIN-SIMMONS
Terry Black scored 22 points and totaled 12 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games to lead Baylor past Hardin-Simmons 93-52 at the Ferrell Center. Black was 7-of-11 from the field and hit 8-of-11 free throws to lead all Bears in scoring. Four of his game-high 12 rebounds came on the offensive end, and he dished out four assists. As a team, the Bears hit 50.7 of their shots from the floor, connecting on 30-of-49 shots from inside the three-point arch. Meanwhile, Baylor held the Cowboys to just 33.9 percent shooting on the day and 2-of-20 from three-point range. Baylor never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 7-0 lead over the first three and a half minutes of play. By halftime, the Bears had built a 40-20 lead. The Cowboys pulled to within 19 points early in the second half, but never got closer than 20 the rest of the way. Baylor forced Hardin-Simmons into 24 points, which led to 24 Bear points. The Bears' 93 points was the highest point total by a Baylor team since scoring 102 on Texas-Pan American Dec. 30, 1998. Five players reached double figures in scoring. DeMarcus Minor had 17, Greg Davis had 13, Logan Kosmalski had 12 and Wendell Greenleaf came off the bench for 10. Baylor dished out 21 assists as a team, led by Matt Sayman's career-high six.

BAYLOR vs. THE SUN BELT
The Bears own an all-time record of 59-33 vs. teams currently in the Sun Belt Conference. Baylor won its last meeting with a current Sun Belt school - last year's 91-74 victory over North Texas, which was a member of the Big West Conference at the time - but has lost its last two contests vs. members of the SBC at the time of the game, a 72-63 loss to Louisiana Tech and a 66-64 loss to Arkansas State, both in 1998-99.

BAYLOR vs. NON-CONFERENCE FOES
Including wins in its first two games, Baylor has compiled a 12-3 record vs. non-conference opponents under head coach Dave Bliss. The Bears recorded a 10-3 non-conference record last season.

BLACK IS BACK AND LEADING THE BEARS
Senior forward Terry Black has successfully met Bear fans' high expectations through the season's first two games, by posting back-to-back double-doubles and leading the Bears to two convincing wins. Black followed up his 25-point, 13-rebound double-double vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double against Hardin-Simmons. Black, an athletic playmaker, is in just his second season at Baylor, but is a co-captain and one of two seniors on the team. The former junior college all-American and national champion led the Big 12 in steals last season (2.66 per game) and registered the third-most double-doubles (nine) in the league. Black has started every game at Baylor, and is a preseason All-Big 12 selection. Black has also been tabbed in preseason publications as the Big 12's "Top Defensive Player" (Preview Sports magazine), "Best Leaper" (The Sporting News), and most "Underrated" (Athlon Sports).

BLACK LEADS BIG 12 IN SCORING & REBOUNDING
Terry Black is the Big 12 Conference leader in both scoring (23.5) and rebounding (12.5), in the league's early statistical rankings. Black also ranks among the conference's top 5 in field goal percentage (3rd, 72.7%), steals (2nd, 3.5 per game), and blocked shots (6th, 1.5 per game).

THE WORKHORSE
Senior DeMarcus Minor is back to quarterback the Bears in 2000-2001, and through two games is averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 assists and only 31.5 minutes. Last season Minor, in his first year in Green and Gold, started every game and led Baylor with an amazing 38.4 minutes-per-game average. Minor played all 40 minutes in 12 of 27 regulation games in 1999-2000, en route to being named honorable mention all-Big 12. This season the former transfer, who played at Marquette and Barton County Community College, has been projected a third-team all-Big 12 pick by Athlon's preseason publication.

OTHORO OUT WITH BROKEN TOE
Sophomore Steven Othoro, who played his finest collegiate game in this season's opening-game win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, is out with a broken toe on his right foot. Othoro injured the toe at the end of the victory over UAPB Nov. 22. In just 16 minutes played vs. the Golden Lions, Othoro posted career highs in points (14), rebounds (8) and blocks (2), and hit 6-of-7 field goals. Othoro is expected to be out two to three weeks.

TWO ROOKIES MAKE IMPRESSIVE START
True freshmen Logan Kosmalski (6-8 forward) and Matt Sayman (6-3 guard) have each started the season's first two games, the first of their respective careers. The rookies made impressive starts in the two wins, Sayman averaging 9.0 points in 28.5 minutes and Kosmalski averaging 9.5 points in 28.5 minutes. Additionally, Sayman (The Colony [Texas] HS) leads the team with four (4-10) 3-pointers and has tallied seven assists and five steals. Kosmalski (Euless [Texas] HS) is averaging 7.0 rebounds and leads the team with 87.5 percent free throw percentage (7-of-8).

LOTS OF NEW BRUINS
The 2000-2001 Baylor roster includes six new players: three true freshman (Michael DeGrate, Logan Kosmalski and Matt Sayman), two Division I transfers (R.T. Guinn and Kevin Henry), and one junior college transfer (Shon Robinson). Guinn and Henry will sit out the 2000-2001 season to comply with the NCAA transfer policy. Also seeing their first game action in Green and Gold this season are former transfers Greg Davis, Chad Elsey (Elsey gains eligibility on Dec. 16) and Andre White. All three sat out last season at Baylor to gain eligibility.

TRANSFERS
The 2000-2001 Bear squad boasts four players who transferred to Baylor from Division I schools, and a fifth who previously played at a DI institution. A sixth transferred from a DIII school. The players include:

    Player      Prev. School    Status    Greg Davis  New Mexico  Junior forward    Chad Elsey  SMU     Junior guard    R.T. Guinn  New Mexico  redshirt    Kevin Henry    New Mexico  redshirt    DeMarcus Minor  Marquette*  Senior guard    Andre White    Hardin-Simmons  Soph. guard

* Minor played as a freshman (1997-98) at Marquette before transferring to Barton County Community College.

FERRELL CENTER'S 13th YEAR
The Bears are in their 13th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center. The Bears own a 104-77 all-time record in the arena, which opened in November 1988. The Ferrell Center is a golden-domed structure that seats 10,284 for basketball games. In the 2000 offseason, the Ferrell Center underwent various renovations, including: an expanded locker room, completely new offices for the basketball staff, upgraded audio-visual center, refinished playing court, and renovated weight room.

GOBAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.GoBaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the FANSonly Network. FANSonly currently hosts sites for more than 80 schools, including six institutions of the Big 12 Conference.

OVER THE AIR
Bear basketball games can be heard live on the Baylor Radio Network. The flagship station is KRZI-AM (1660/1580) in Waco. Selected BU games will be broadcast on Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate WBAP News/Talk 820, which covers 80 percent of the nation during night games. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris. Morris is a veteran broadcaster in his sixth season behind the mic at Baylor. Former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley is in his 19th season as color analyst for Bear broadcasts.

BAYLOR GAMES ON THE NET
The radio broadcast from all Baylor basketball games can be heard live on the internet on Baylor's official online website, www.GoBaylorBears.com, or at www.yahoo.broadcast.com.

NATION'S LONGEST COACHING DUO
Baylor boasts Division I basketball's longest-tenured current coaching tandem. Bear assistant coach Doug Ash has been Dave Bliss' top aide for all 26 years Bliss has been a collegiate head coach. The Bliss and Ash duo began at Indiana University in the early 1970s when both were assistants under Bobby Knight. When Bliss became head coach at Oklahoma in 1975, he took Ash with him. The pair has been together ever since, at SMU, New Mexico, and Baylor.

PRESEASON HONORS
The Bears have been honored by preseason prognosticators, led by senior forward Terry Black. Black was projected a third-team All-Big 12 selection, and the conference's "Most Versatile" player by Lindy's preseason publication. He was also named the Big 12's "Top Defensive Player" by Preview Sports magazine. The Sporting News tabbed Black the "Best Leaper" in the Big 12, and Athlon Sports selected him the most "Underrated" player in the conference. Senior point guard DeMarcus Minor was selected a preseason third-team All-Big 12 player by Athlon Sports.

BIG-12 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
Baylor's 2000-2001 edition has been projected in preseason polls to finish anywhere from eighth to 11th in the Big 12 Conference. The league's coaches picked the Bears to finish 11th in preseason balloting, as did the conference media. The highest projected finish for Baylor was eighth, by both Preview Sports magazine, and ESPN.com.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and other regional outlets. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays while Fox shows it at 1 p.m. each Wednesday.

THE LOBO TRANSFERS
As has been well documented, the Baylor roster includes three former players from the University of New Mexico, where Dave Bliss and his staff previously coached. The players, junior Greg Davis, sophomore R.T. Guinn and senior Kevin Henry, were all recruited by Bliss' UNM staff. Davis, the Bears' current starter at center, is the only former Lobo playing this season after sitting out 1999-2000 at Baylor. Guinn (who was recruited by - but never played for - Bliss at UNM) and Henry are sitting out this season to comply with the NCAA transfer policy. All three players were starters at New Mexico.

BEARS ADD 3 EARLY SIGNEES
Baylor has signed three early signees, all from the state of Texas, to national letters of intent during the early signing period: Dandrick Jones, a guard from Kimball High School in Dallas, Lawrence Roberts, a forward from Lamar High School in Houston, and Kenny Taylor, a guard from Willowridge High School in Sugar Land, Texas.

Jones, a 6-3, 185-pound guard, was an All-District 11-5A selection last year as a junior on a 22-12 Kimball squad that reached the playoffs. He averaged 17 points, four rebounds and seven assists in 2000. Listed as the 12th best prospect in Texas by TexasHoops, Jones also received High Honorable Mention All-America status in Street & Smith's College Basketball magazine. He was listed among the top seniors nationally by Athlon Sports preseason publication.

Roberts, a 6-8, 220-pound forward, averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as a junior at Lamar in 2000. One of the most sought-after forwards in the nation, Roberts is rated the No. 5 prospect in the state of Texas by TexasHoops entering his senior season. Athlon Sports included Roberts on its list of the nation's Top 20 Power Forwards in its preseason publication. He was rated the No. 14 power forward nationally by FastBreak Recruiting.com. Roberts was listed No. 86 on Lindy's magazine's Top 100 Seniors nationally.

The 6-3, 175-pound Taylor averaged 14 points and three assists as a junior for state champion Willowridge last season. Taylor led WHS to a 36-1 record and the Class 5A state title in 2000. TexasHoops rated Taylor the No. 13 prospect in Texas entering his senior season. Taylor was also listed among the High Honorable Mention All-America status in Street & Smith's College Basketball preview and among the nation's top seniors by Athlon Sports magazine.

    BAYLOR EARLY SIGNEES    Name            Pos.    Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (High School)    Dandrick Jones          G   6-3 185 Fr. Dallas, Texas (Kimball HS)    Lawrence Roberts    F   6-8 220 Fr. Houston, Texas (Lamar HS)    Kenny Taylor            G   6-3 175 Fr. Sugar Land, Texas (Willowridge HS)

UP NEXT...
Baylor concludes its season-opening four-game homestand Saturday, Dec. 9, when it hosts St. Edwards at the Ferrell Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

Game Preview - Men's Hoops vs. UALR Dec. 2

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