Men's Hoops Preview: Baylor at Oklahoma Feb. 6

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BAYLOR (13-8, 3-5) at No. 4 OKLAHOMA (17-3, 6-2)
Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) - Norman, Okla.
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002 - 7:00 p.m. CST

RADIO:
Baylor Radio Network
KRZI 1660/1580 AM (Waco)
on-line @ www.GoBaylorBears.com

TELEVISION:
Sooner Sports Network
T-W Cable Ch. 18 (Waco, tape-delay at 9 p.m.)

QUICK NOTES
??? BU is 10-0 when outrebounding its opponent.
??? In the past two years Baylor is 28-1 when totaling an equal or higher shooting percentage than its opponent (10-0 this year).
??? BU ranks 6th in nation with 9.6 avg. 3-pointers.
??? Baylor ranks first in the Big 12 in steals (9.25 spg), turnover margin (+4.25) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49) in conf. games.
??? Baylor teams have made at least one 3-point basket in 313 straight games.
??? Baylor has lost 12 straight games on its opponents home court.
??? Wendell Greenleaf is fourth on BU's career steals list with 136.
??? John Lucas ranks 2nd in the Big 12 with 2.0 steals per game in conference action.
??? Lawrence Roberts ranks 5th among the nation's freshmen in rebounding average.
??? Wendell Greenleaf is shooting 59% of 3-pointers (19-of-32) the last 4 games and averaging 20.3 points.
??? Wendell Greenleaf's 46% 3-point pct. ranks 2nd in the Big 12 Conference.

THE GAME
Baylor hits the road Wednesday, Feb. 6, traveling to Norman, Okla., for a showdown with No. 4 Oklahoma. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST at the Lloyd Noble Center on the OU campus. Baylor (13-8, 3-5) is coming off a record-setting 97-45 victory at home Sunday against Texas A&M. Oklahoma (17-3, 6-2) has won two straight, most recently an 85-84 overtime decision over Texas at Austin. Baylor is aiming to break a 12-game losing streak on its opponents home courts, and a 14-game losing streak to Oklahoma. Wednesday's game will be telecast in Waco on a tape delay, and can be seen at 9 p.m. on Time-Warner Cable channel 18.

HEAD COACH DAVE BLISS
Dave Bliss, in his third season at Baylor, is a 27-year coaching veteran and ranks 17th among active Division I coaches in victories with 511. The former head coach at New Mexico, Southern Methodist and Oklahoma owns a career record of 511-306 (.625). 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 took over the reigns of Baylor basketball on March 23, 1999, and was 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 and in his second year led Baylor to a 19-12 mark and into the NIT.

BLISS A MEMBER OF COACHING'S 500 CLUB
Baylor's Dave Bliss became the 92nd collegiate head coach to reach 500 career victories Nov. 21 when the Bears defeated Texas-Arlington 88-64. In 27 years as a head coach, Bliss has averaged more than 19 wins per season.

THE OKLAHOMA SERIES
Baylor and Oklahoma will meet for the 24th time Wednesday. The Sooners lead the all-time series 19-5. Oklahoma has won 14 straight dating back to the 1978-79 season. The Sooners defeated the Bears 65-51 last season in Waco and 82-60 at Norman. Ironically, the last time Baylor defeated Oklahoma (75-67, Dec. 6, 1977 in Waco), current Bears head coach Dave Bliss was the head coach of the Sooners. The Sooners are 9-2 against the Bears in Norman and have won seven straight such meetings.

THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS
Defending Big 12 Tournament champion Oklahoma (17-3, 6-2) is in its eighth season under the direction of Kelvin Sampson, who owns a 349-220 career record with stops at Montana Tech (1981-85) and Washington State (1985-94) prior to his days in Norman. Sampson has amassed a 173-72 ledger in his eight seasons at Oklahoma, including five 20-win campaigns. The Sooners have won 70 games since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season.

OU NOTES: The Sooners are led by junior guard Hollis Price, who averages 18.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game... Junior guard Ebi Ere (15.9) and senior forward Aaron McGhee (13.4) are the only other Sooners averaging at least 10 points per game, sophomore center Jabahri Brown is tops on the team with 7.4 rebounds per contest... Oklahoma is 12-0 at home this season, including a 4-0 mark in Big 12 play.

BLISS vs. OKLAHOMA
Dave Bliss is 1-6 against the school he coached from 1975 to 1980, including an 0-4 mark while at Baylor. His lone victory over the Sooners came Dec. 22, 1984, an 85-76 triumph in Honolulu, Hawai'i, while with SMU. While head coach in Norman, Bliss amassed a 77-62 record in four seasons. His best season came in 1978-79 when the Sooners went 21-10, finished first in the Big Eight Conference, won the Big Eight Tournament and reached the Sweet 16. Bliss was named Big Eight Coach of the Year that season and during his first season at OU, 1975-76.

BEARS BEGIN SIX-GAME STRETCH VS. RANKED FOES
The Bears are entering perhaps the toughest portion of their schedule, as they begin a six-game stretch against ranked opponents which begins Wednesday at No. 4 Oklahoma. Following OU on Baylor's schedule are No. 22 Missouri, No. 24 Texas Tech, No. 2 Kansas, OU again, and No. 14 Oklahoma State.

GREENLEAF LIGHTING IT UP
Junior Wendell Greenleaf has performed at a torrid pace over the past four games. In that span, the junior guard has averaged 20.3 points, shot 60.6 percent (28-46) from the field, hit an impressive 59.4 percent (19-32) of 3-pointers and averaged 4.0 assists.

DAVIS BACK IN LINEUP
Senior Greg Davis returned to the floor Sunday against Texas A&M after missing five games over three weeks with an injured left shoulder. The forward, who averages 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds, started against the Aggies and saw 25 minutes of action. Davis scored five points (all at the free throw line), pulled down four rebounds, blocked a pair of shots and had two steals. He helped Baylor finish with a 43-31 advantage on the boards.

ROAD BEARS
Though the Bears have earned a 4-8 record in their last 12 games away from the Ferrell Center, Baylor has dropped 12 straight decisions in games played on their opponents???sup>TM home court. That 12-game losing streak dates back to a 63-55 victory at Kansas State on Jan. 13, 2001.

BEARS vs. NATIONALLY RANKED FOES
Wednesday's game against No. 4 Oklahoma is Baylor's third this season against a nationally ranked opponent. Baylor dropped a 68-57 decision at home Jan. 8 to then-No. 6 Oklahoma State and lost 69-63 at home Jan. 26 to then-No. 24 Texas. The Bears are 2-4 in their last six games against nationally ranked foes, including two victories over top 10 opponents.

3-POINT BARRAGE
Baylor is averaging 9.57 3-point shots made per game (201) this season, a figure that ranks first in the Big 12 Conference and sixth nationally. The Bears are on pace to break the school???sup>TMs single-season record of 265 3-pointers in 1994-1995. Projected over a 30-game season, the Bears are on track to make 287 3s this year. Baylor has made 10 or more 3s in four straight contests and in 12 of 21 games this season.

3-POINT MISCELLANY
Leading the Bears???sup>TM charge in 3-pointers made is junior Wendell Greenleaf with 51, freshman John Lucas has hit 43. In all, nine Bears have made at least 10 shots from 3-point range this season. Prior to this season, no Baylor team has ever had more than seven players make at least 10 3-pointers in a season. With 10 3-pointers Sunday against Texas A&M, the Bears have made at least one 3-pointer in 313 consecutive games. That streak dates back to Feb. 21, 1990, when Baylor was 0-for-8 from long range at home against Texas Tech.

THE LAST MEETING: OKLAHOMA 82-BAYLOR 60, FEBRUARY 2001
Baylor fell victim to a hot-shooting Oklahoma squad and dropped a 82-60 decision to the 13th-ranked Sooners at the Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma buried the Bears under a season-high 14 3-pointers. The Sooner outside shooting overshadowed a game-high 25-point performance by Baylor's Terry Black, who played the majority of the contest with five stitches over his eye. Black was injured on an alley-oop attempt less than five minutes into the first half, and missed seven minutes while receiving medical attention. Oklahoma was led by J.R. Raymond's 24 points on a career-high seven 3-pointers. Raymond led a Sooner barrage that drained 14-of-24 3-point shots. The Bears missed 10-of-11 shots during one first-half stretch and were outscored 12-2 and trailed 29-13. Oklahoma held Baylor to one field goal in the final five minutes of the half to gain a 43-24 halftime lead. Oklahoma's lead grew to as many as 34 points in the second half, before Baylor cut it to the final 22-point margin. The Bears, coming off a victory over then-No. 6 Kansas, were held to 35 percent shooting from the field for the game.

THE LAST TIME OUT: BAYLOR 97-TEXAS A&M 45
Lawrence Roberts scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Baylor to a crushing 97-45 victory over Texas A&M at the Ferrell Center, the Bears' biggest victory over a conference opponent in school history. Wendell Greenleaf added 18 points and John Lucas 13 for Baylor. The Bears connected on 54 percent of their shots, hitting 31-of-58 field goals, while holding the Aggies to only 30 percent with a 17-for-57 performance. Two quick 3-pointers by Greenleaf helped Baylor to an early 13-3 lead which A&M eventually whittled to two at 15-13. The Bears then went on a 12-3 run to build an 11-point lead and never looked back. Baylor hit 6-of-10 3-pointers in the first half, including three by Greenleaf. Baylor built its 43-28 halftime advantage to a 44-point lead with a 36-7 run in the first 12 minutes of the second half. Texas A&M was held to just 17 second-half points and shot 7-for-29 (29.8%) from the field in the final half. The return of forward Greg Davis from shoulder injury helped the Bears finish with a 43-31 rebounding edge. Baylor's 52-point margin of victory represented its fifth-largest ever. For the Aggies, it was the second-largest margin of defeat in school history. The win avenged a three point loss to Texas A&M earlier in the season at College Station.

BEARS GREEDY WITH BALL
Baylor has shown a strong sense of court awareness this season, evident in the fact that the Bears rank second in the Big 12 Conference in assists (18.33 per game), steals (10.33), turnover margin (+3.86) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30). However, BU is even better at controlling the ball in conference contests. According to the Feb. 4 conference rankings, the Bears lead the league in steals (9.25), turnover margin (+4.25) and assist-to-turnover ration (1.49) in Big 12 games.

ROBERTS AMONG FRESHMAN BOARD LEADERS
Freshman Lawrence Roberts has made his presence felt in virtually every aspect of the game this season, however, perhaps nowhere moreso than in the rebounding department. He leads the Bears and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 8.1 rebounds per game. Through games of Feb. 3, Roberts ranks fifth nationally in rebounding average among freshmen.

BEAR FAMILY LOSES ECHOLS
The Baylor basketball program lost one of its own in January, when letterman Ben Echols died following surgery. Echols, who transferred to Baylor from Centenary, played for the Bears from 1997 to 2000. Echols started every game at center in 1999-2000, Dave Bliss???sup>TM first season, and led the team in blocks and averaged 6.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. Following graduation from Baylor in May 2000, Echols had played overseas in Lebanon and Russia.

COOL HAND LUCAS
In the waning minutes with the game on the line, who better to have on the line than freshman John Lucas. Through 21 games, Lucas is 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) from the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games. Overall, Lucas is shooting 80.8 percent (42-of-51) from the free throw line, second on the team and eighth in the Big 12 Conference.

BAYLOR LED BY ITS CUBS
Baylor???sup>TMs three true freshmen (John Lucas, Lawrence Roberts, and Kenny Taylor) have made an immediate impact on this year???sup>TMs team. Through 20 games, the three freshmen have combined for 41 percent of the team???sup>TMs points, 31 percent of the rebounds, 37 percent of the steals and 34 percent of the assists.

GOLD DOME BRINGS OUT BEST IN BEARS
The Bears once again hit the road, where they have struggled to match the success they???sup>TMve enjoyed at home in the Ferrell Center. The following chart illustrates the difference between Baylor's play at home vs. other venues in key stat categories:

    HOME-AWAY COMPARISON                Ferrell Center  Road    Record          11-2        2-6    Points per game     83.9        74.4    Scoring Margin      +19.4       -2.9    Rebounding Margin   -0.4        -13.2    Opp. 3-Pt FG Pct.   31.5%       46.9%    Blocks per game     5.0     1.8    Lucas 3-Pt FG Pct.  47.1%       31.0%    Roberts FG Pct.     48.4%       38.1%

ROBERTS ENJOYING STELLAR FROSH SEASON
Lawrence Roberts has hit the ground running in his first season of college basketball. In 21 games, the true freshman has compiled five double-doubles, been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week and to the San Juan Shootout all-tournament team, and leads the team in several categories, including: scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounds (8.1 rpg), blocks (26), field goals (116), free throws made (92) and free throws attempted (135). The Houston, Texas, native is also second on the team in steals (41). According to the Feb. 4 Big 12 rankings, Roberts is 9th in scoring, sixth in rebounding, third in steals, eighth in blocks, fifth in defensive rebounds and 10th in offensive rebounds..

YOUNG LUCAS LEADING THE BEARS
Freshman point guard John Lucas III (son of Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas Jr.) has adequately assumed the Bears???sup>TM point guard position. Lucas is shooting 40.2 percent on 3-point shots (43-of-107). The Houston, Texas, native has scored 20-plus points three times and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.02 (95-to-47), 12th in the conference. According to the Feb. 4 rankings, Lucas is 23rd in the Big 12 in scoring, seventh in assists, ninth in 3-pointers and eighth in free throw percentage. He has twice been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Dec. 10, Jan. 7).

GREENLEAF'S THIEVERY
Junior Wendell Greenleaf continues to ascend Baylor???sup>TMs career steals list, his total of 136 trailing third-ranking David Wesley (145) by nine thefts. Greenleaf leads the Big 12 with 2.38 steals per game.

BEARS' WINNING WAYS AT HOME
The Bears are 11-2 at home in the Ferrell Center this season. Baylor recorded a 14-3 record at home in 2000-2001. Since Dave Bliss took over the reigns of Baylor???sup>TMs basketball program, the Bears have compiled a 36-12 record (.750) at home.

BEARS' SUCCESS EQUALS IMPROVED ATTENDANCE
Through 13 home games, Baylor is averaging 6,527 fans per game, including a Ferrell Center record 10,496 Jan. 26 vs. Texas. This year's average is on pace to rank as the highest season average in Ferrell Center history. The 84, 852 fans that have passed through the turnstiles this year already ranks as the second-best season total in school history. The record crowd against Texas marked the second 10,000-plus crowd this season and the third of the Dave Bliss era. Last season, Baylor set a Ferrell Center total attendance record, drawing 91,421 in 17 home games. Baylor's 5,378 average in 2000-2001 marked an increase of 2,131 from the 1999-2000 season, the fourth-largest attendance increase in the nation.

FERRELL CENTER'S 14th YEAR
The Bears are in their 14th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center. Including this season's 10-2 mark, the Bears own a 127-81 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.

BIG 12 ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Three of six Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors this season have gone to Baylor true freshmen. Forward Lawrence Roberts was selected Nov. 27, and guard John Lucas was honored Dec. 10 and Jan. 7. Roberts received the award following his performance in season-opening wins over Hardin-Simmons, UT-Arlington and Sacred Heart. He averaged a double-double and led Baylor in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounds (12.0 rpg), steals (12), blocks (7), free throws made (13) and free throws attempted (20). Lucas was initially honored after the Bears???sup>TM 95-81 victory over North Texas, in which he had career highs with 27 points and 11 field goals. Lucas earned his second selection after averaging 17.5 points in wins over Colorado State and Iowa State.

PLENTY OF NEW BRUINS
The 2001-2002 Baylor roster includes four new players: three true freshmen (John Lucas, Lawrence Roberts and Kenny Taylor) and one junior college transfer (Rod Nealy). Also seeing their first game action in the Green and Gold this season are former transfers R.T. Guinn and Kevin Henry. The pair, both former New Mexico players, sat out last season at Baylor to gain eligibility.

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, senior Greg Davis, sophomore R.T. Guinn and senior Kevin Henry, were all recruited by Bliss???sup>TM UNM staff. Guinn (who was recruited by???QUOTE]but never played for???QUOTE]Bliss at UNM) and Henry sat out last year due to NCAA transfer policy. All three players were starters at New Mexico.

TRANSFERS FIND HOME AT BAYLOR
The 2001-2002 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 are:

    Player          Prev. School            Status    Greg Davis  New Mexico      Senior forward    Chad Elsey  SMU         Senior guard    R.T. Guinn  New Mexico      Sophomore center    Kevin Henry    New Mexico      Senior guard    Rod Nealy *  Ark.-Little Rock    Junior forward    Andre White    Hardin-Simmons          Junior guard

* Nealy played as a freshman (1999-2000) at Arkansas-Little Rock before transferring to McLennan Community College.

NATION'S LONGEST-STANDING COACHING DUO
Baylor boasts Division I basketball's longest-tenured current coaching tandem. Bear assistant coach Doug Ash has been Dave Bliss???sup>TM top aide for all 27 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.

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: Ellis Kidd Jr., a guard from Seminole (Okla.) State College, Tommy Swanson, a forward from North Crowley (Texas) High School, and Terrance Thomas, a forward from Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas.

Kidd, a 6-4, 185-pound guard, is in his first season at Seminole State after transferring from Oklahoma State. He redshirted the 2000-2001 season at OSU after playing only 10 minutes in two early games and will have three seasons of eligibility at Baylor. A former Dallas Morning News all-area selection at James Madison High School in Dallas, Kidd was named a USA Today honorable mention all-American as a senior in 2000.

Swanson, a 6-9, 215-pound forward, played only seven games as a junior last season at North Crowley following a head injury. He averaged 14 points and nine rebounds before a hairline fracture to his skull sidelined him for the season. Texas Hoops rated Swanson the state's No. 24 player prior to his senior season. He is listed among the nation's top 300 prep seniors by Athon Sports and was named an honorable mention all-American by Street & Smith's College Basketball.

Thomas, a 6-7, 220-pound forward, was highly recruited after being named to the All-Region XIV team as a freshman last season at Lon Morris. Thomas averaged 19.3 points and 12 rebounds last season, and is rated No. 4 among junior college small forwards by The Sporting News in its preseason preview. He is also listed as the 22nd-best junior college recruit by Mike Mitchell's Midwest Report and is rated the No. 27 juco player nationally by Greg Swaim's scouting service. A native of Waco, Thomas attended Maceo Smith High School in Dallas. He averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds as a senior in 2000 and was named a USA Today honorable mention all-American.

BAYLOR EARLY SIGNEES
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (High School) Ellis Kidd Jr. G 6-4 185 So. Dallas, Texas (Madison HS/OSU/Seminole St.) Tommy Swanson F 6-9 215 Fr. Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley HS) Terrance Thomas F 6-7 220 Jr. Dallas, Texas (Maceo Smith HS/Lon Morris)

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 Baylor 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 ???eVoice of the Bears??? John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his seventh season. Former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley is in his 20th 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.

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

BIG-12 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
Baylor's 2001-2002 edition has been projected in preseason polls to finish anywhere from seventh to 10th in the Big 12 Conference. The league???sup>TMs coaches picked the Bears to finish ninth in preseason balloting, and the conference media projected Baylor eighth. The highest projected finish for Baylor was seventh, by Lindys magazine.

UP NEXT...
The Bears return home Saturday, Feb. 9, for a nationally televised primetime contest against Missouri at the Ferrell Center. The game will tipoff at 9 p.m. CST and be televised nationwide on ESPN. This will be the only meeting this regular season between Baylor and Missouri. The Tigers defeated the Bears 69-59 last season at Columbia, Mo.

Men's Hoops Preview: Baylor at Oklahoma Feb. 6

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