BAYLOR (0-0) vs. ANGELO STATE (0-0)
Nov. 11, 2006 - Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas) - 7:00 p.m. CST

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RADIO: Baylor-ISP Sports Radio Network (ESPN/KRZI 1660AM Waco)
INTERNET AUDIO: live broadcast at BaylorBears.com
TELEVISION: none
INTERNET VIDEO: live video stream at BaylorBears.com (free of charge within Texas, $5.95 outside of Texas)
LIVE STATS:

THE GAME
Baylor opens its 2006-07 season Saturday, Nov. 11, when it hosts Angelo State in Waco in the season opener for both teams. Tipoff at the Ferrell Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST and the game will be streamed live on the internet at BaylorBears.com (free of charge within Texas, $5.95 outside of Texas). The Bears (0-0) played one exhibition game, defeating Texas A&M-Commerce 102-85 last Saturday. The young Bears, with nine freshmen and sophomores, play a full season and have a full allotment of scholarships for the first time in four years. Angelo State (0-0) dropped two exhibition games; 89-63 at Texas-Arlington Monday and 69-51 at Texas-San Antonio Wednesday. The Bears have won their opening games in six of the last seven seasons.

BAYLOR TIP-INS
- Baylor is 6-1 over the past seven years in season-opening contests.
- Baylor returns its starting backcourt of Aaron Bruce (Jr.) and Curtis Jerrells (So.), both former Freshman All-Americans.
- Junior guard Aaron Bruce played for the Australia national team last summer that finished tied for ninth place in the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan.
- Sophomore Mamadou Diene has made at least one block in all 17 career games.
- Baylor's last three recruiting classes have all been rated Top-20 nationally: 2006 No. 17 (Rivals.com); 2005 No. 11 (Rivals.com); and 2004 No. 10 (Hoopscoop.com).
- Underclassmen have led BU in scoring in 40 of its last 45 games (dating to 2004-05) [in 28 of last 45 a freshman has been top scorer].
- True freshman Tweety Carter is Baylor's first-ever McDonald's All-America signee.
- Baylor is 15-3 when scoring 70+ points (in Drew Era; 4 seasons).
- BU is 1-33 when allowing opponents to shoot 50% or higher (in 4 years under Drew).
- Over the past six seasons Baylor is 54-5 when totaling an equal or higher shooting percentage than its opponent (3-1 in 2005-06).
- Baylor teams have made at least one 3-point basket in 423 straight games.

HEAD COACH Scott Drew
Scott Drew, in his fourth season at Baylor in what many have called the most daunting rebuilding project in college basketball history, owns a four-year mark of 21-52 at the school and a career record of 41-63 (five seasons). Prior to Baylor, Drew spent 10 seasons at Valparaiso, the last as head coach after nine seasons as an assistant to his father Homer. During his decade at Valpo, the Crusaders earned six NCAA Tournament berths, including five straight from 1996-2000. An outstanding recruiter, Drew is responsible for five national Top-20 recruiting classes over the last eight years (No. 17 in 2006, No. 11 in 2005 and No. 10 in 2004 at Baylor; No. 6 in 2001 and No. 13 in 1999 at Valpo). He was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision.

THE ANGELO STATE RAMS
Angelo State (0-0) is led by Fred Rike, in his first year at ASU and his first as a head coach.

ASU NOTES: The Rams are a Division II program that plays in the Lone Star Conference... ASU dropped two exhibition games: 89-63 at Texas-Arlington and 69-51 at Texas-San Antonio... The Rams finished 8-19 last season, 0-12 in conference play... ASU returns two starters and five lettermen from 2005-06... Senior G Turner Phipps played two seasons at Baylor (2003-04 and 2004-05) before transferring to Angelo State.

THE ANGELO STATE SERIES
Saturday marks the fourth meeting between Baylor and Angelo State. The Bears have won all three previous meetings, the last a 76-57 victory Feb. 17, 1988. All three games have been played in Waco.

SEASON OPENERS
Baylor is 6-1 over the last seven seasons in season-opening games. Last season's defeat at Texas Tech (BU did not play a non-conference schedule in 2005-06) broke a six-year winning streak in opening games.

FULL ROSTER, FULL SCHEDULE
For the first time in four seasons since taking over at Baylor, head coach Scott Drew has both a full allotment of scholarships available and a complete schedule to play. For three seasons the Bears have played through handicaps: in each of the first three years the program was playing with scholarship limits; last season, the Bears were stripped of playing a non-conference schedule (all results of sanctions brought on by the previous coaching staff). In 2006-07 Baylor has 13 scholarships available to use and will play a full schedule.

TWO BEARS STARTERS INJURED
Two Baylor starters are currently injured: senior G/F Pat Fields and sophomore C Mamadou Diene. Diene is nursing a sprained ankle and sat out last Saturday's exhibition game. He may return to action Saturday vs. Angelo State or next week at the NIT Season Tip-Off. Fields is out with a sprained MCL in his knee suffered during the exhibition last Saturday and is sidelined for four to six weeks.

BRUINS BOAST TALENTED BACKCOURT
The strength of Baylor's 2006-07 team lies in it's talented pool of guards. Led by former Freshmen All-Americans Aaron Bruce (2005) and Curtis Jerrells (2006), Baylor's backcourt was listed among the nation's top 14 backcourts in The Sporting News preseason publication. Junior Bruce (13.1 ppg in 2005-06) and sophomore Jerrells (13.5 ppg) are joined in the backcourt by sophomore Henry Dugat (7.2) and the school's first-ever McDonald's All-American, freshman Demond "Tweety" Carter.

BEARS DEFEAT TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE IN EXHIBITION
Aaron Bruce hit 5-of-8 3-pointers and led five Bears in double figures with 27 points in a 102-85 exhibition victory over Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Ferrell Center. Sophomore Kevin Rogers added 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore Curtis Jerrells had 14 points and eight assists, and sophomore Henry Dugat chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds. Baylor used a seven-point run to build a 10-point lead before the midpoint of the first half and led by as many as 17 before taking a 48-34 into the break. In the second half, the Bears extended their lead to as much as 18. Baylor shot 57.4 percent from the floor, including 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc, while holding the Lions to 32.4 percent shooting from the floor. Texas A&M-Commerce hit 9-of-31 from 3-point range. The Bears outrebounded the Lions, 47-35, but Texas A&M-Commerce grabbed 17 offensive rebounds which led to 16 second-chance points.

BEARS STILL YOUNG
Despite returning 11 of last season's 13 players, the Bears are still a relatively young squad in 2006-07. Baylor's roster includes just two seniors and three juniors compared to nine freshmen and sophomores. [Note: Underclassmen have led Baylor in scoring in 40 of its last 45 games (over the last three seasons); in 28 of those 45 a freshman has been top scorer.]

"FRESHMAN FOUR" BACK FOR SOPHOMORE SEASON
Back for its sophomore campaign is Baylor's 2005-06 rookie quartet of Mamadou Diene, Henry Dugat, Curtis Jerrells and Kevin Rogers, nicknamed the "Freshman Four" last season. The four were huge contributors as freshmen, when they combined to account for 46 percent of the team's scoring, 51 percent of rebounds, 49 percent of assists and 49 percent of minutes played.

BEARS RETURN PRODUCTION NUMBERS
In 2006-07 Baylor returns four-of-five starters, 11-of-13 roster players and a great majority of its production, statistically speaking. The Bears return 87.6 percent of last season's points, 84.7 percent of rebounds and 93.5 percent of assists.

BRUCE ALMIGHTY BACK AS SEASONED JUNIOR
The Bears head into the 2006-07 season led once again led by third-year guard Aaron Bruce. The junior, rated the nation's 11th-best point guard by The Sporting News preseason publication, spent the offseason playing for the Australian national team at the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan. Bruce averaged 13.1 points during an injury-riddled sophomore campaign last season and averaged 18.2 points in 2004-05 when he led the nation's freshmen in scoring and was named a freshman All-American.

JERRELLS LOOKS TO BUILD ON STELLAR FRESHMAN SEASON
Curtis Jerrells is coming off a rookie season in which he led the team in scoring (13.5 ppg), assists (3.3 apg), steals (1.4 spg) and minutes (33.4 mpg) and was named a Freshman All-American. Jerrells is projected a preseason All-Big 12 selection by Lindy's, USA TODAY and ESPN.com. He has also been named the Big 12's "Most Underrated Player" by both Athlon and The Sporting News preseason publications.

MAYOR DIENE'S SECOND TERM AS SHOT BLOCKER
Mamadou Diene, a seven-foot sophomore from Senegal, established himself in his rookie season as the Big 12's top shot-blocker and is on pace to be the second-most prolific swatter in Baylor history. Diene averaged a league-leading 2.2 blocks per game and is second on the school's career blocks-per-game chart trailing only current Milwaukee Buck Brian Skinner's 3.36 average (1994-98). Diene, referred to as "The Mayor" by the Baylor coaching staff due to his huge popularity across campus, averaged 3.2 points and 5.8 rebounds (13th in the Big 12) as a freshman. The 19-year-old Diene has gained more than 55 pounds since his arrival in the United States in Jan. 2005 weighing 197 pounds.

BAYLOR vs. NON-CONFERENCE FOES
The Bears are 52-18 in regular-season non-league play over the past seven seasons (Baylor did not play any non-conference games last season due to NCAA sanctions).

MILESTONES & RECORDS WATCH
• Aaron Bruce ranks 3rd on Baylor's career 3-point percentage list (.402).
• Aaron Bruce is 10 made 3-pointers shy of moving into 7th place on Baylor's career 3-point field goal list (113 made, David Wesley No. 7 with 123).
• Pat Fields ranks 6th on Baylor's career 3-point percentage list (.378).
• Aaron Bruce ranks 5th on Baylor's career free throw percentage list (.822).
• Mamadou Diene ranks 2nd on Baylor's career blocks-per-game list (2.24).

FRESHMAN CLASS RATED 17th NATIONALLY
Baylor's 2006 signee class was rated the nation's 17th-best class by Rivals.com and is made up of a trio of freshman, all top-100 national recruits. The signees include Demond "Tweety" Carter of Reserve Christian School (Reserve, La.), Josh Lomers of Boerne (Texas) High School and Djibril "Penny" Thiam of Stoneridge Prep (Tarzana, Calif.).

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER
Baylor's 14-man, 2006-07 roster boasts 10 Americans and four players from overseas. The four international student-athletes include junior Aaron Bruce (native of Australia), sophomore Mamadou Diene (native of Senegal), redshirt freshman Jari Vanttaja (native of Finland) and true freshman Djibril "Penny" Thiam (native of Senegal).

DEPARTED PLAYERS
Baylor lost just two lettermen from it's 2005-06 roster: four-year forward Tommy Swanson (6.6 ppg) and two-year transfer guard Kevis Shipman (2.1 ppg).

FERRELL CENTER'S 19th YEAR
The Bears enter their 19th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center this year. Baylor finished 4-4 at home in 2005-06 and owns a 154-113 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.

EARLY 2007 SIGNEES
Baylor signed two players in the early signing period, LaceDarius Dunn of Monroe, La., and Fred Ellis of Sacramento, Calif. Dunn, a senior at Excelsior Christian School, is the highest-rated Baylor signee in recent memory. Dunn is rated the No. 18 recruit nationally by Scout.com's Dave Telep. Other national ratings include: No. 27 by Hoopmasters.com, No. 29 by HoopScoop.com and No. 33 by Rivals.com. A 6-4 shooting guard, Dunn was rated the No. 5 player at the 2006 Adidas Superstar Camp in Atlanta by USA TODAY. He is rated the nation's fifth-best shooting guard by Scout.com and the No. 7 shooting guard by Rivals.com. Dunn is a two-time, first-team all-state honoree who guided ECS to a 35-4 record as a junior in 2005-06, averaging 27.7 points, 13 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Dunn led Excelsior Christian to the Class C state title and a 47-2 record as a sophomore in 2004-05. Ellis is a senior at Sacramento High School in Sacramento, Calif. He was called the "biggest sleeper" recruit of the summer by Telep at Scout.com. A 6-7 wing, Ellis led SHS to a 29-6 overall record and an 11-1 conference mark as a junior in 2005-06. Sacramento lost in the SJS-Div. III championship game. Ellis averaged 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. Ellis was invited to the Super 100 Basketball Camp in Berkeley last summer.

BAYLOR EARLY SIGNEES:Name           Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (Schools)LaceDarius Dunn G   6-4 190 Fr. Monroe, La. (Excelsior Christian School)Fred Ellis  F   6-7 190 Fr. Sacramento, Calif. (Sacramento HS)

OVER THE AIR
Bear basketball games are aired live via the Baylor-ISP Radio Network on flagship station 1660AM ESPN Radio (KRZI) in Waco and worldwide on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 161. Selected games will air on Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate KKDL 1160AM. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his 12th season, and former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley, in his 25th season as color analyst.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour wrap-up of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout the Southwest. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV (Sundays at 10:30 p.m.), FSN Southwest (Wednesdays at 1 p.m) and CSTV. All shows are archived online at BaylorTV.com.

NEXT UP...
The Bears travel to Spokane, Wash., to participate in the 2006 NIT Season Tip-Off Nov. 14-15, at Spokane Arena. Baylor is in the West Region and will play Colorado State Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. CST in the opening game. The teams will then face either Gonzaga or Rice Wednesday, Nov. 15, at either 6:30 or 9:30 p.m. CST. The region championship, pitting the opening-game winners, will be telecast live on ESPN2 Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. CST.