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BAYLOR (12-10, 3-8) vs. NEBRASKA (9-15, 1-10)
Feb. 22, 2003 - Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas) - 2:00 p.m. CST

RADIO: Baylor Radio Network (KRZI 1660/1580 AM Waco)
TELEVISION: none

THE GAME
Baylor, fresh off an impressive two-game road winning streak, returns to the Ferrell Center Saturday, Feb. 22, to host Nebraska. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CST. The Bears enter the game with a record of 12-10, 3-8 in the Big 12, and are coming off a 66-57 victory at Kansas State Wednesday. The Cornhuskers are 9-15 and 1-10 in league play, and in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. Nebraska lost 67-50 at Missouri last Tuesday. Baylor is 8-5 this season at home, the Huskers are 0-7 in road games. Saturday's game will not be televised.

BAYLOR TIP-INS
- Baylor's 9.4 3-pointers per game ranks 9th nationally.
- Baylor has faced 8 ranked teams in its last 11 games, more than any team nationally.
- Baylor is coming off back-to-back Big 12 road wins for the first time since 1998.
- Baylor is 10-9 in its last 18 games vs. Big 12 North teams, 1-3 this season.
- Baylor's 73.1% team free throw shooting is tops in the Big 12.
- Freshmen and sophomores account for 65% of Baylor's scoring (994-of-1,532).
- Over the past three seasons Baylor is 36-1 when totaling an equal or higher shooting percentage than its opponent (8-0 in 2002-2003).
- 7 of Baylor's 8 Big 12 losses have come to ranked teams (at time of game).
- The Bears are averaging 9.4 3-pointers and attempting 26.4 per game; both figures lead the Big 12 and are on pace to break Baylor's single-season school records.
- 46% of Baylor's field goal attempts (580-1269) are 3-pointers.
- Baylor is 5-0 this season when outscoring its opponents in the paint.
- Baylor is 28-3 under Dave Bliss when recording 40 or more rebounds (6-0 this year).
- Lawrence Roberts is averaging a double-double (14.7 ppg/10.1 rpg) this season.
- Kenny Taylor is the Big 12's most improved scorer, averaging 8.6 points more (12.5 ppg) than last season.
- R.T. Guinn and Kenny Taylor are among Baylor's top 3-point shooters of all time (by percentage), Guinn is No. 3 on the career list (42.9%), Taylor is No. 4 (39.8%).
- Kenny Taylor is 2nd in the Big 12 in made 3-pointers, averaging 3.3 per game.
- Lawrence Roberts leads the Big 12 in rebounds in conf. games, 10.9 per game.
- Over the last 4 games John Lucas has totaled 26 assists and 8 turnovers (3.3 ratio).
- John Lucas' 82.4% career free throw percentage ranks 3rd all-time at Baylor.
- 81% (180-221) of Kenny Taylor's field goal attempts are 3-pointers.
- R.T. Guinn has scored in double-digits in 4 straight games (a career first).
- Lawrence Roberts has compiled 10 double-doubles this season; and 18 in 50 career games played.
- R.T. Guinn is shooting 53% (10-of-19) from 3-point range the last 3 games.
- Kenny Taylor has made a 3-pointer in 16 straight games.
- Baylor is 13-4 in games that John Lucas records 6 or more assists (8-3 this year).

HEAD COACH DAVE BLISS
Dave Bliss, in his fourth season at Baylor, is a 27-year coaching veteran and ranks 12th among active Division I coaches in victories with 524. The former head coach at New Mexico, SMU and Oklahoma owns a career record of 524-324 (.618). 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 two dozen 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, a 19-12 mark and into the NIT in 2000-2001 and in his third year led Baylor to a 14-16 record.

THE NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Nebraska (9-15, 1-10) is led by third-year head coach Barry Collier, who is 36-46 while at Lincoln. Collier owns a career record of 232-178; he spent 11 seasons as the head coach at Butler, his alma mater, prior to taking over at Nebraska.

NU NOTES: Nebraska is winless in seven road games this season and stands in last place in the Big 12... Junior guard Nate Johnson leads the Huskers with 13.4 points per game... Nebraska is first in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage defense, holding opponents to a 30.1% 3-point ratio... Backup forward Marques McCarty is a native of Sugar Land, Texas who prepped at Stephen F. Austin High School.

THE NEBRASKA SERIES
Saturday marks just the 13th meeting between Baylor and Nebraska. The Huskers lead the series, which dates back to 1949, by an 8-4 tally. The Huskers won the last meeting, a 75-55 decision in Lincoln last season. The schools have split four previous meetings in Waco. The series began with a 71-55 Nebraska victory in December 1949 over Bill Henderson's Baylor squad that would advance to the 1950 NCAA Final Four.

BLISS vs. NEBRASKA
Dave Bliss is 8-11 all-time against Nebraska and 2-2 while at Baylor. All his other meetings vs. NU came as head coach at Oklahoma (1975-80), where he compiled a 6-9 record.

BEARS vs. BIG 12 NORTH
Baylor is 10-9 over the last two-plus seasons in games against schools from the Big 12 North (8-8 in regular reason, 2-1 in the Big 12 Tournament), though the Bears are just 1-3 vs. Northern schools this season.

RECENT ROAD SUCCESS
Baylor has won back-to-back road games since snapping a 22-game losing streak on opponents' home courts. Baylor upset No. 13 Oklahoma State 74-72 last Saturday in Stillwater before downing Kansas State 66-57 in Manhattan Wednesday.

ROBERTS LEADING BAYLOR'S YOUNG CUBS
After sitting out two of the season's first three games with a stress fracture in his left leg (fibula), All-Big 12 forward Lawrence Roberts has returned to lead Baylor with 14.7 points and 10.1 rebounds (2nd in Big 12) per game while recording 20 blocks (11th in Big 12). He has tallied 10 double-doubles this season. The sophomore set the Big 12 freshman scoring record last season with 498 points.

ROBERTS NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF WEEK
Sophomore forward Lawrence Roberts was selected Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week Monday following his performance in Baylor's win at No. 13 Oklahoma State. The 6-9 forward from Houston recorded a career-high 20 rebounds in the Bears' upset of OSU, and added 11 points and three assists. For the week, Roberts averaged 11.5 points and 14.0 rebounds in two games vs. nationally ranked teams. Roberts is Baylor's seventh Big 12 Player of the Week honoree, and the first since Terry Black was honored on Feb. 19, 2001.

ROBERTS NAMED TO ALL-DISTRICT 9 FIRST TEAM
Lawrence Roberts has been honored as a first-team NABC All-District 9 selection, as selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC. Roberts was named to the NABC All-District 9 second team as a freshman last season. The NABC selected 150 student-athletes from 15 districts, all of whom are now eligible for the NABC Division I All-American Team that will be announced at the conclusion of the season.

3-POINT PROPENSITY
The Bears are averaging 9.4 made 3-pointers and 26.4 attempts per game this season. Both of those figures top the Big 12 Conference and are on pace to break Baylor's single-season school records (273 made, 783 att.). In three previous seasons under Dave Bliss, Baylor has finished no lower than fourth in 3-point field goals or attempts in the conference rankings. Last season's squad established a new school record with 273 made 3-pointers (9.1 per game). Kenny Taylor leads the Big 12 with 72 made 3-pointers (3.3 per game). Baylor has made at least one 3-pointer in 344 consecutive games (dating back to Feb. 21, 1990).

MILESTONES & RECORDS WATCH
- John Lucas is third on Baylor's career free throw percentage list, at 82.4% (98-119), [David Wesley owns the top mark -- 82.8% 1989-1992].
- Lawrence Roberts is 2 blocks shy of 6th place on Baylor's career blocks list.
- John Lucas has 223 career assists and is 12 shy of moving into 7th on Baylor's career list (passing Roddrick Miller -- 234 from 1994-98).
- Kenny Taylor's 72 3-pointers are 6 shy of tying Aundre Branch (78, 1993-94) for 4th place on the school's Top 10 single-season list.
- John Lucas has made 100 career 3-pointers, and is 24 treys shy of moving into 5th place on Baylor's career list (passing David Wesley -- 123 from 1989-92).

NATION'S ROUGHEST STRETCH
Eight of Baylor's last 11 games were against nationally ranked opponents, including five-straight to open the conference season (Baylor is 1-7 vs. Top-25 teams). No other Division I team in the nation has faced such a stretch.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Baylor's prized freshman class of 2001, John Lucas, Lawrence Roberts and Kenny Taylor, has improved significantly in 2002-03 on its impressive performance last season. Through 22 games the sophomore trio from Houston has accounted for 58 percent of the team's points, 39 percent of rebounds, 52 percent of steals and 52 percent of assists. Production in every category is up from the trio's fabulous freshman season.

BEARS' STELLAR SHOOTING FROM LINE
Baylor as a team is shooting 73.1 percent, the best mark in the Big 12 Conference. Four Bear players are shooting 80 percent or higher from the line including: Carlton Dotson (16-18, 89 percent), Terrance Thomas (16-18, 89 percent), John Lucas (48-56, 86 percent -- 4th in Big 12) and Matt Sayman (43-54, 80 percent).

TAYLOR AND BEARS QUICK TRIGGER WITH 3-POINTERS
Sophomore Kenny Taylor is currently second in the Big 12 Conference in 3-point field goals made, averaging 3.3 per game. He is shooting 40 percent from 3-point distance. Taylor has attempted 180 3-pointers this season. Treys account for an incredible 81 percent of the 221 field goals he has attempted. As a team, the Bears have taken 580 of their 1,269 shot attempts (46%) from behind the arc.

LAST TIME OUT: BAYLOR 66 - KANSAS STATE 57
Lawrence Roberts scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Baylor past Kansas State 66-57 at Bramlage Coliseum. Baylor held off a late Wildcats rally to win back-to-back road conference games for the first time in five years. The Bears beat No. 16 Oklahoma State 74-72 on Saturday. It was the 10th double-double of the season for Roberts. R.T. Guinn added 13. Baylor held its biggest lead of the game at 54-40 midway through the second half before a 9-0 Kansas State run closed the gap to 54-49 with 5:35 remaining. Kansas State's Marques Hayden made a layup with 1:04 remaining to cut the Bears' lead to four at 60-56, but John Lucas, Ellis Kidd and Matt Sayman hit six straight free throws in the final minute to seal the victory. Baylor has won four straight regular season games against Kansas State. Despite failing to score a field goal for almost seven minutes in the first half, the Bears led 32-29 at halftime.

THE LAST MEETING: NEBRASKA 75 - BAYLOR 55 [Feb. 27, 2002]
Baylor fell victim to a torrid shooting night by Nebraska's Cary Cochran, who hit a school-record eight 3-point field goals as the Cornhuskers defeated the Bears 75-55 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Cochran hit six first-half 3-pointers en route to a career-high 27 points. Nebraska trailed Baylor 19-12 after Wendell Greenleaf hit a 3-pointer with 12:22 left in the first half. But the cold-shooting Bears got just one more field goal in the rest of the period. Nebraska closed the half with a 23-4 run, powered by four 3-pointers by Cochran. Nebraska made eight 3-point shots in the first half, hitting 47 percent of its long-range shots to take a 35-23 halftime lead. Baylor made only 26 percent of its first half shots. The Bears cut the Nebraska lead to eight early in the first half, but Nebraska quickly pushed the margin back to 18. Baylor again rallied and came within 10 on Greenleaf's 3-pointer with 6:36 left. The Huskers then put together a 12-2 run to open up a 20 point gap, their largest lead of the game. Led by Cochran, Nebraska hit 13 3-pointers in the game out of 27 total field goals.

TAYLOR BIG 12's MOST IMPROVED SCORER
Sophomore Kenny Taylor owns the highest increased scoring average in the Big 12 Conference from last season to this. During 2001-02, Taylor averaged 3.9 points per game. This season he has raised his scoring average to 12.5, an increase of 8.6 points per game.

FERRELL CENTER'S 15th YEAR
The Bears are enjoying their 15th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center. Baylor is 8-5 at home in 2002-2003 and owns a 135-89 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.

BEARS' WINNING WAYS AT HOME
The Bears are 8-5 at home this season. In four years under Dave Bliss, the Bears have compiled a 45-19 record (.703) at home in the Ferrell Center.

BAYLOR IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
As of Feb. 17, Baylor's average of 9.3 3-pointers per game ranked seventh amongst NCAA Division I teams. The Bears are led in that department by Kenny Taylor, who ranked 17th nationally with an average of 3.3 treys per contest.

MONUMENTAL COACHING MATCHUPS
This season the Bears play six games featuring matchups of current college coaching legends. Baylor's Dave Bliss, who ranks 12th among the nation's winningest active coaches with 524 career wins, faces four other coaches who rank among the list's top 11. Baylor has faced Mount St. Mary's Jim Phelan (No. 1 - 829), Texas Tech's Bob Knight (No. 2 - 801) Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton (No. 4 - 721) and Alcorn State's Davey L. Whitney (No. 11 - 560). Bliss is 3-2 vs. these top coaches through five games.

LOTS OF NEW BRUINS
The 2002-03 Baylor roster includes nine new players: four high school players (Will Allen, Corey Herring, Steve Raquet and Tommy Swanson), four junior college transfers (Carlton Dotson, Robert Hart, Ellis Kidd and Terrance Thomas) and a four-year transfer (Patrick Dennehy). Dennehy, a transfer from New Mexico, is a redshirt this season.

TRANSFERS FIND HOME AT BAYLOR
The 2002-2003 Bear roster boasts two players who transferred to Baylor from Division I schools, and a third who previously played at a DI institution. A fourth transferred from a DIII school.

THE LOBO TRANSFERS
Baylor's 2002-2003 roster includes two former players from the University of New Mexico, where Dave Bliss and his staff previously coached. Neither Patrick Dennehy or R.T. Guinn played under Dave Bliss at UNM, though Guinn was recruited to New Mexico by Bliss and staff. Dennehy played at New Mexico under current Bear assistant Rodney Belcher, who was not a part of Bliss' staff at UNM, but joined Baylor this off-season. Both players were starters at New Mexico.

BEARS INK NELSON IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Baylor signed big-man Tyrone Nelson of Hempstead (Texas) High School to a national letter of intent in the early signing period. A 6-9 forward/center, Nelson averaged 29 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks as a junior at Hempstead in 2001-2002. He was named to the TABC Class 3A All-State first team and MVP of District 25-AAA following his junior year. A highly sought recruit nationwide, Nelson is included on several national top-100 recruiting lists. He was rated the 60th-best recruit by TheInsidersHoops.com, No. 64 by Basketball News, No. 70 by The Sporting News, No. 79 by PrepStars, No. 90 by RivalsHoops and No. 125 by Hoop Scoop. Street & Smith's named Nelson an honorable mention prep All-America.

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 28 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.

BIG-12 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
Baylor's 2002-2003 edition has been projected in preseason polls to finish anywhere from sixth to 12th in the Big 12 Conference. The league's coaches picked the Bears to finish eighth in preseason balloting, and the conference media projected Baylor ninth. The highest projected finish for Baylor was sixth, by Basketball News.

UP NEXT...
Baylor travels down I-35 for a Wednesday, Feb. 26, matchup against No. 3 Texas. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. CST at the Frank Erwin Center and to be televised live by Fox Sports Net Southwest.