 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Wednesday, Dec. 23 | 7:00 p.m. CT | | Location | Waco, Texas; Ferrell Center (10,284)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | FSSW-Plus and numerous RSNs
| | TV Talent | John Morris (pxp), Jim Haller (color)
| | Web Video | BaylorBears.com | | Satellite Radio | Sirius 135
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas | | BU Talent | Pat Nunley (pxp), Nick Joos (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | New Mexico State | | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 8-2 | | Ranking | 23 (AP), 22 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 256-173 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 236-162 (13th season)
| NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
| | Record | 7-5
| | Ranking | nr (AP), nr (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Marvin Menzies
| | Career: 182-105 (9th season)
| | NMSU Record: 182-105 (9th season)
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STORYLINES
- Wednesday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest-Plus,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 148th straight televised game.
- Wednesday will be the 10th series meeting. NMSUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € leads 5-4, but Baylor won 66-55 on Dec. 17 last season.
- Baylor has won 31 consecutive non-conference home games -- last loss toà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Northwestern on Dec. 4, 2012.
- Baylor has won 21 straight home games against unranked opponents -- last loss to WVU on Jan. 28, 2014.
- Baylor has won 10 consecutive games at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center, tying the 5th-longest streak in arena history.
- Baylor ranks top-10 nationally in assists/game (2nd, 22.5), rebound margin (4th, +13.8), offensive rebs/game (5th, 16.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, 1.76). BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 11th in steal percentage (12.3) and 12th in rebounds/game (43.6).
- Baylor is 1 of 5 teams ranked in the nation's top 40 in scoring offense and scoring defense, joining Louisville, Pittsburgh, SMU and West Virginia. BU ranks 40th in scoring offense (82.4) and 30th in scoring defense (62.9).
- Baylor is ranked No. 23 by the AP and No. 22 in the coaches poll. BU has been ranked for 19 consecutive polls.
- Baylor is 1 of 12 teams nationally with 35+ rebounds in every game this season, and the Bears have the nation's 7th-longest active streak with 12 consecutive games of 35+à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € rebounds.
- Baylor, Michiganà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State and Oklahoma are the only schools AP-ranked in football and men's and women's basketball.
- Baylor is outscoring opponents 43.2--23.0 in the paint and 16.8--7.5 in second-chance points.
- Baylor has a .707 winning percentage over the last four-plus seasons (111-46).
- Baylor hasn't allowed more than 80 points in 59 consecutive games, the Big 12's longest active streak.
- Baylor has held opponents under 75 points in 54 of its last 55 games, and BU is 40-15 in that stretch.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers has 998 career points and needs 2 more to become Baylor's 29th 1,000-point scorer. He already holds the school record with 965 career rebounds, and his 29 career double-doubles are 5 back of the school record.
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince has scored in double figures in 25 of the last 28 games, averaging 15.4 ppg in that stretch.
- Al Freeman has scored in double figures in 7 of 10 games this season -- he had 7 double-digit scoring games last year.
- Lester Medford has 16 career starts at point guard and has 99 assists and 27 turnovers in those games (3.7 A-T ratio).
- Medford is top-30 nationally in assists/game (19th, 6.4), steals/game (11th, 2.7) and AST-to-TO ratio (29th, 3.37).
- Ishmail Wainright has made more field goals over the last 3 games (12) than all of last season (11).
- Jake Lindsey has 29 assists and 4 turnovers, and his 7.25 A-T ratio leads all Big 12 players with at least 2.0 apg.
- BU has won 20+ games in 7 of the last 8 years. BU had only three 20-win seasons prior to Scott Drew's arrival.
QUICK HITS
- Drew is coaching his 399th game at Baylor (236-162). His .591 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .685 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 22.1 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 83 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (221 of 267 points).
- Baylor is 44-15 in its last 59 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Thirteen of the 15 losses have been away from home (8 road, 5 neutral) and 10 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
- Baylor is 312-71 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 50-8 in November/December games when ranked in the AP poll and 61-12 in home games when APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ranked.
- Baylor is 202-93 (24 wins per season) over the last 8-plus seasons and has made 7 postseason appearancesà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (NCAA Tournament -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015; NIT -- 2009, 2013).
- Baylor's 17-5 postseason record since 2009 is the nation's 4th-best among teams with 3+ NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € appearances.
- Baylor is one of only 14 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in 3 of the last 6 seasons.
- Baylor made back-to-back NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournaments for the first time in program history in 2014 and 2015.
- Baylor is 90-11 when leading at the half over the last four seasons, including 8-0 this season.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has won 38% of its games (21-35) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 0-2 this season.
- Baylor is 38-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 10-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
- Baylor was picked 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas.
- Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th seasons).
- Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last 7 seasons (73-63) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
- Baylor is 28-12 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last seven seasons.
- Baylor's 5 NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft picks in the last 4 years ranks 8th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA.
- Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 776 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas Tech.
GATHERS NEEDS 2 POINTS FOR 1,000
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers has 998 career points and needs 2 more to become Baylor's 29th 1,000-point scorer.
- Gathers can become the 11th player to join the 1,000-point club during the Scott Drew era.
- Teammate Taurean Prince is close behind with 927 career points, 73 shy of the 1,000-point club.
SERIES HISTORY
- Wednesday will mark the 10th series meeting betweenà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor and New Mexicoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State.
- Baylor trails in the series 4-5, including a 2-1 mark inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco and a 1-0 record at the Ferrell Center.
- Baylor dropped the first three series meetings before winning three straight and then dropping the next two.
- Baylor is 12-13 against current WAC members, with New Mexico State (4-5) the most-played opponent. The Bears have also played UTPAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (4-3), UMKCà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (3-4), Chicago State (1-0) and Seattle (0-1).
- Baylor defeated NMSU 66-55 when the teams met on Dec. 17 last season in the first series meeting since 1980.
LAST TIME VS. NEW MEXICO STATE
- Baylor defeated New Mexico State 66-55 onà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Dec. 17 last season, despite shooting .393 from the field.
- The Bears recorded 13 steals, including a career-best 7 steals by Rico Gathers.
- Johnathan Motley had game-highs with 16 points and 5 blocks.
- Lester Medford and Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman had 10 points apiece, and Gathers added 12 rebounds.
ONE OF THREE RANKED IN FB, MBB AND WBB
- Baylor, Michigan State and Oklahoma are the only schools ranked by the AP in football, men's and women's basketball.
- Baylor men's basketball is ranked No. 23, football is No. 18 and women's basketball is No. 4.
- Michigan State is ranked No. 3 in football, No. 1 in men's basketball and No. 24 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 4 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 3 in men's basketball and No. 18 in women's basketball.
- Baylor, Louisville and Michigan State were the only teams to finish the 2014-15 academic year ranked in the final AP Polls for all three sports.
31 CONSECUTIVE NON-CONFERENCE HOME WINS
- Baylor has won 31 consecutive non-conference home games, dating back to a Dec. 12, 2012, win vs. Lamar.
- The Bears' last non-conference home loss was Dec. 4, 2012, vs. Northwestern.
- BU is 59-2 in non-conference home games since 2009-10 and 96-12 in non-conference home games during the Drew era.
HOME WINNING STREAKS
- BU has won 21 straight home games against unranked teams, with the last loss on Jan. 28, 2014, vs. West Virginia.
- Baylor has won 10 consecutive games played at the Ferrell Center, tying the 5th-longest streak in arena history.
- Baylor's last home loss was Feb. 9, 2015, against No. 21 Oklahoma State.
- A win vs. New Mexico State would tie the 4th-longest winning streak in arena history at 11 consecutive.
- The school record for consecutive wins at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center is 15 straight from Feb. 3, 2010 through Jan. 11, 2011.
=DEFENSIVE STREAKS
- Baylor has gone 59 straight games without allowing more than 80 points, the longest active streak in the Big 12.
- Baylor has held teams under 75 points in 54 of its last 55 games is 40-15 during that stretch, including an 11-10 record against AP-ranked opponents.
- Baylor went 54 consecutive games without allowing 75 points before that nation-leading streak was snapped Saturday at Texas A&M, when the Bears gave up 80 points.
- Baylor is holding opponents to an average of 61.8 points per game during that stretch.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
- Baylor ranks in the top 12 nationally in assists per game, scoring margin, offensive rebounds per game, total rebounds per game, rebounding margin, steal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Baylor ranks 2nd nationally in assists/game (22.5), 4th in rebounding margin (+13.8), 5th in offensive rebounds/game (16.3), 8th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76), 11th in scoring margin (+19.5), 11th in steal percentage (12.3) and 12th in total rebounds/game (43.6)
- Baylor is 1 of 5 teams ranked in the nation's top 40 in scoring offense and scoring defense, joining Louisville, Pittsburgh, SMU and West Virginia. BU ranks 40th in scoring offense (82.4) and 30th in scoring defense (62.9).
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 90-11 when leading at the break in that stretch (8-0 in 2015-16, 21-7 in 2014-15, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12).
- BU has won 38% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 21-35 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 101 of 157 games over the last four-plus seasons. With wins in 90 of those 101 games, and victories in 21 of 56 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 101-46 since 2011-12.
PRINCE EARNS BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince earned his first career Big 12 Player of the Week award after a career-high 30 points inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € the Dec. 6 win over No. 13 Vanderbilt. Prince scored 16 of 18 Baylor points in a 6-minute span during the first half.
- Prince has scored in double figures in 25 of the last 28 games dating back to Jan. 17.
- Prince is averaging 15.4 points per game during that 28-game stretch, including nine 20-point games.
- Prior to this 28-game span,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince had 22 career double-figure scoring games in 77 career games played.
- Prince joined Rico Gathers (Nov. 16) to give Baylor multiple Big 12 Players of the Week for a 5th straight season.
GATHERS SETS ANOTHER REBOUNDING RECORD
- Rico Gathers broke Brian Skinner's school record with his 916th career board in the Dec. 6 win vs. No. 13 Vandy.
- Gathers already held Baylor's single-season (394) and single-game (28) rebounding records, both set last season.
- Gathers has 965 career rebounds, which ranks 9th on the Big 12's career list. He needs 3 more to pass Oklahoma State's Ivan McFarlin for 8th and 35 more to become the 8th Big 12 player to reach 1,000 career boards.
- Gathers has 29 career double-doubles, 2nd-most in Baylor history and 5 back of Skinner's school record of 34.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 236 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .593 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
MEDFORD RUNNING BEARS OFFENSE WITH EFFICIENCY
- With the graduation of Kenny Chery, Lester Medford has taken over the starting point guard role after starting as the Bears' shooting guard a season ago.
- Medford ranks top-30 nationally in assists/game (19th, 6.4), steals/game (11th, 2.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (29th, 3.37). He's leads the Big 12 in steals, ranks 2nd in assists and 5th in AST-to-TOà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ratio.
- In 8 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 54 assists and 9 turnovers (6.0 A-T ratio). He's also recorded 24 steals, creating nearly three times as many turnovers as he's committed.
- Medford posted 13 assists (t-14th-most in a game in BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € history) in only 18 minutes against Hardin-Simmons.
- In 16 career starts as point guard (6 last season, 10 this season), Medford has 99 assists and 27 turnovers, posting a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
FREEMAN GROWING INTO STARTING ROLE
- Sophomore Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman has moved into the starting shooting guard role after coming off the bench last year.
- Freeman already has 7 double-digit scoring games, equaling his total from all 34 games last season. He posted back-to-back 20-point games against Oregon and Jackson State.
- Freeman ranks 21st in the Big 12 in scoring (12.7), 10th in 3-point pct. (.422), and 9th in 3-pointers made (1.9/gm).
WAINRIGHT FILLING STAT SHEET
- Junior forward Ishmail Wainright stepped into the starting small forward role with the graduation of Royce O'Neale.
- Wainright ranks 7th in the Big 12 in assists per game (4.3) and 6th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1).
- Wainright has scored as many points in the last 3 games (29) as the season's first 7 games (29), raising his season average from 4.1 to 5.8 points per game since Dec. 8.
- Wainright has made more field goals over the last three games (12) than all of last season combined (11).
LINDSEY STEADY AS BACKUP POINT GUARD
- Freshman Jake Lindsey serves as the backup point guard to Lester Medford, averaging 13.4 minutes per game.
- Lindsey has 29 assists and just 4 turnovers on the season, averaging a team-best one turnover per 33.5 minutes.
- Lindsey is one assist shy of qualifying for the Big 12 assist-to-turnover leaderboard (min. 3.0 apg), but his current 7.25 ratio would lead the league by a large margin (ISU's Monte Morris leads at 5.5).
- Lindsey, the son of Utah Jazz GMà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Dennis Lindsey, has been so effective that he's also seeing action off the ball as a reserve shooting guard and small forward. He posted 6 assists and 0 turnovers in 17 minutes at Texas A&M.
3M POSTING MAJORITY OF BENCH SCORING
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 22.1 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 83 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (221 of 267 points).
- Baylor averages 8.8 more bench points per game than its opponents, 26.7 to 17.9.
- Motley started all 34 games as a redshirt freshman last year, but he's come off the bench this season and is averaging 12.5 points in 18.4 minutes per game, including double-digit scoring in 6 of 10 games.
- Maston has already more than doubled his points and minutes totals from last seasonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (50 points in 113 minutes; 19 points in 36 minutes last year). He's averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game.
- McClure is averaging 4.6 points in 14.2 minutes per game off the bench. He's scored in double-figures twice and connected on at least one 3-pointer in 6 of 10 games.
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
- Baylor has shot .789 from the free-throw line over the last 7 games, connecting on 112-of-142 attempts.
- The Bears rank 2nd in the Big 12 and 37th nationally with a .739 team free throw percentage.
- Rico Gathers, a .581 career free-throw shooter entering those games, has made 26-of-34 attempts (.765).
- The Bears shot .638 (44-of-69) at the charity stripe over the season's first 3 games, and the .789 shooting in the last 7 games has raised their season average by more than 10 percent from .638 to .739.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 8-7 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 27-47 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 1-2 vs. ranked teams this season with a win over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6 and losses at No. 25 Oregon on Nov. 16 and at No. 24 Texas A&M on Dec.19.
ELITE OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY
- Baylor's offense has ranked among the nation's top 20 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency metric in 7 of the last 8 seasons entering 2015-16, joining Duke as the only teams to make that claim.
- Baylor is No. 24 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency this season.
- Baylor was No. 18 in 2014-15, No. 9 in 2013-14, No. 14 in 2012-13, No. 8 in 2011-12, No. 3 in 2009-10, No. 11 in 2008-09 and No. 11 in 2007-08.
- Most times ranked inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € nation's top-20 from 2007-08--2014-15: Duke-8, Baylor-7, Arizona-5, Kansas-5, Kentucky-4, Northà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Carolina-4, Ohioà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State-4.
RANKED IN NINE STRAIGHT SEASONS
- Baylor joins Kansas as the only two Big 12 Conference schools to be ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
- Baylor has been ranked for at least three weeks in each of the last nine seasons, including an active streak of 19 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
SECOND-MOST WINS OF ANY BIG 12 TEAM
- Baylor is 111-46 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (124-33) among Big 12 teams (thru 12/21/15).
- Iowa State (109-41) is 3rd, Oklahoma State (95-58) is 4th, Kansas State (92-51) is 5th, Oklahoma (91-49) is 6th, Texas (88-60) is 7th, West Virginia (84-60) is 8th, TCU (62-77) is 9th and Texas Tech (54-81) is 10th.
BAYLOR BASKETBALL ON THE RADIO
- Baylor basketball is aired live via the Baylor-IMG College Radio Network on ESPNà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Central Texas and flagship station 1660AM ESPN Radio (KRZI) in Waco and worldwide on Sirius XM Radio. All games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley. Morris is in his 28th year doing Baylor broadcasts, while Nunley is in his 33rd season as color analyst.
- The radio call from all of Baylor's games can be heard live on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com.
NATION'S BEST IN 3 MAJOR SPORTS
- Since 2011-12, Baylor has the nation's most combined wins across football and men's and women's basketball.
- The Bears are 312-71 in that span, giving Baylor 78 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 10 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 302-76).
DREW AMONG NATION'S ELITE
- Head coach Scott Drew is the youngest of 10 coaches nationally to take his current program to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last six seasons.
- Drew (45) is joined by Xavier's Chris Mack (45), Arizona's Sean Miller (47), Ohio State's Thad Matta (48), Kansas' Bill Self (52), Kentucky's John Calipari (56), Michigan State's Tom Izzo (60), Louisville's Rick Pitino (63), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (68) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (71).
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
- Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last seven seasons under 13th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 202-93 (24 wins per season) and has made seven postseason appearancesà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (NCAA -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NITà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € -- 2009, 2013) and posted seven 20-win seasons.
- Prior to 2007-08, Baylor won only 135 games in the first 11 seasons of the Big 12 era (12.3 wins per season).
- Baylor has made 14 postseason appearances (seven under Drew) and won 20+ games just 10 times (seven under Drew) in the program's first 109 seasons.
UP NEXT
- The Bears play their final non-conference game before Big 12 play on Tuesday at 2 p.m. against Texas Southern.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ €
- The game, which will be televised onà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ESPNU, was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. CT, but has been moved to 2 p.m. due to Baylor football playing in the Russell Athletic Bowl on the same day, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation Given the choice, Baylor coach Scott Drew would rather learn lessons from a win, "but sometimes a loss gets the most out of you."
Coming off an 80-61 loss at 24th-ranked Texas A&M, the No. 22/23 Bears (8-2) will try to bounce back when they play New Mexico State (7-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center.
Against A&M, Baylor gave up 25 points off its 16 turnovers, got beat on the boards (44-41) and was nearly doubled up on points in the paint, 38-22, in allowing over 75 points for the first time in 55 games.
"Our calling card has been toughness and rebounding and winning the battle in the paint," Drew said. "Everything we pride ourselves in, we did a poor job in. Sometimes, you need a wake-up call to get motivated."
Winning the battle of the boards will be a tough task against a New Mexico State team that features an all-sophomore frontline of 6-10 Johnathon Wilkins (6.9 ppg, 4.3 rebounds), 6-9 Pascal Siakam (23.6 ppg, 12.1 rebounds) and 6-7 Jalyn Pennie (5.7 ppg, 5.1 rebounds).
"They're used to winning and having success," Drew said of the Aggies, who have made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. "Maybe the biggest team we'll face all year. They're one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, like us, so it will be a war on the glass."
The Bears (4th, 13.5) and Aggies (7th, 12.6) are both ranked in the top 10 in rebounding margin. Siakam and 6-8 Baylor senior forward Rico Gathers (11.9) are sixth and eight, respectively, in rebounds per game.
Siakam, a projected NBA Draft pick, is "one of the best big men in college basketball," Drew said. But he was held to 12 points and four rebounds in Baylor's 66-55 win over New Mexico State last year in Waco.
"He can knock down the jumper from 15 to 17 feet, he can score at the rim and on double teams," Drew said. "Last year, we did a very good job against him."
Gathers is one of four double-figure scores for the Bears with a team-high 14.9. Fellow senior forward Taurean Prince is next at 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, followed by sophomore guard Al Freeman at 12.7 and 6-9 sophomore forward Johnathan Motley with 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. In the A&M game, senior point guard Lester Medford had a team-high 16 points and five assists, while Gathers had eight points and 18 boards. But the Bears shot just 35.6 percent from the floor, including a combined 2-of-14 by guards Freeman, Jake Lindsey and King McClure.
"We have to get better and we approached it that way," Drew said. "Hopefully, that motivation will carry over and help us become a better team when conference starts."
New Mexico State snapped a three-game losing streak by hitting 11 3-pointers in Saturday's 73-53 win at UTEP and followed that up by beating Oral Roberts, 76-63, on Monday for its 57th win in its last 63 home games.
"This would be a good win, a good RPI game, similar to SFA," Drew said.
The Bears will host Texas Southern (1-9) at 2 p.m. next Tuesday, Dec. 29, before opening Big 12 play Jan. 2 on the road at No. 2/3 Kansas (9-1).
