 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Tuesday, Dec. 29 | 2:00 p.m. CT | | Location | Waco, Texas; Ferrell Center (10,284)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | ESPNU and WatchESPN | | TV Talent | Ted Emrich (pxp), Reid Gettys (color)
| | Satellite Radio | Sirius 81/XM 81
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas | | BU Talent | Pat Nunley (pxp), David Kaye (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | Texas Southern
| | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 9-2 | | Ranking | 23 (AP), 21 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 257-173 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 237-162 (13th season)
| TEXAS SOUTHERN TIGERS
| | Record | 1-10
| | Ranking | nr (AP), nr (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Mike Davis
| | Career: 292-203 (16th season)
| | TSU Record: 55-52 (4th season)
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STORYLINES
- Tuesday's game will be televised on ESPNU,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 149th straight televised game.
- Tuesday will be the 9th series meeting. BU is 9-0 all-time vs. Texas Southern and 49-0 vs. current SWAC teams.
- Baylor has won 32 consecutive non-conference home games - last loss toà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Northwestern on Dec. 4, 2012.
- Baylor has won 22 straight home games against unranked opponents - last loss to WVU on Jan. 28, 2014.
- Baylor has won 11 consecutive games at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center, tying the 4th-longest streak in arena history.
- Baylor leads the nation in assists/game (1st, 22.6) and ranks top-10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 1.83), rebound margin (7th, +12.2), steal percentage (7th, 12.8) and offensive rebounds/game (5th, 15.6).
- 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 37th in scoring offense (82.6) and 37th in scoring defense (63.5).
- Baylor is ranked No. 23 by the AP and No. 21 in the coaches poll. BU has been ranked for 20 consecutive polls.
- 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 43.5ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬"24.0 in the paint and 16.2ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬"7.5 in second-chance points.
- Baylor has a .709 winning percentage over the last four-plus seasons (112-46).
- Baylor hasn't allowed more than 80 points in 60 consecutive games, the Big 12's longest active streak.
- Baylor has held opponents under 75 points in 55 of its last 56 games, and BU is 41-15 in that stretch.
- Scott Drew is coaching his 400th game at Baylor (237-162). His .594 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .686 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers became Baylor's 29th 1,000-point scorer in the New Mexico State game. He already holds the school record with 969 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 26 of the last 29 games and ranks 3rd in the Big 12 with 16.4 ppg.
- Al Freeman has scored in double figures in 8 of 11 games this season - he had 7 double-digit scoring games last year.
- Lester Medford has 17 career starts at point guard and has 111 assists and 27 turnovers in those games (4.1 A-T ratio).
- Medford, who has 51 assists and 5 turnovers in his last 6 games, is the nation's only player ranked in the top-20 nationally in assists per game (11th, 6.9), steals per game (11th, 2.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 4.0).
- Ishmail Wainright has made more field goals over the last 3 games (14) than all of last season (11).
- Jake Lindsey has 32 assists and 6 turnovers, and his 5.33 A-T ratio leads all Big 12 players with at least 2.0 apg.
QUICK HITS
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 20.6 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 83 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (227 of 275 points).
- Baylor is 36-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced deeper into postseason play than any of Texas' 21 Division I team in each of the last four seasons.
- Baylor is 45-15 in its last 60 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 313-71 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 51-8 in November/December games when ranked in the AP poll and 62-12 in home games when APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ranked.
- Baylor is 203-93 (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 91-11 when leading at the half over the last four seasons, including 9-0 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 777 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas Tech.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Make Baylor 9-0 all-time vs. Texas Southern and 50-0 all-time against current SWAC members.
- Give Baylor a 10-2 or better start to the season for the 7th time in the last 9 years.
- Be Baylor's 12th consecutive victory at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center, tying the 3rd-longest in the arena's 28-year history.
- Give Baylor an 46-15 record over its last 61 games
- Make Baylor 59-15 in December games under Drew, including a 29-4 record when ranked in the APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € poll.
- Give Baylor an 113-38 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 204-93 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
- Tuesday will mark the 9th series meeting betweenà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor and Texas Southern.
- Baylor defeated Texas Southern, 75-49, when the teams met on Dec. 1 last season.
- Baylor has won all eight previous meetings, which were all played at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center. BU has an average margin of victory of 18.4 points in the series (76.3-57.9) and has won all eight games by at least 8 points.
- Baylor is 49-0 all-time against current SWAC members, including wins vs. PVAMU and Jackson State this season.
LAST TIME VS. TEXAS SOUTHERN
- Baylor led by as many as 31 in a 75-49 win over Texas Southern on Dec. 1 last season.
- BU held TSU to 35.4% from the floor and 19.0% from 3-point range, while out-rebounding the Tigers 47-30.
- Rico Gathers had a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and he added a career-high 4 blocks.
- Lester Medford had 13 points, 8 assists and 3 steals, while Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince added 11 points and Al Freeman had 9 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
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.
32 CONSECUTIVE NON-CONFERENCE HOME WINS
- Baylor has won 32 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 60-2 in non-conference home games since 2009-10 and 97-12 in non-conference home games during the Drew era.
HOME WINNING STREAKS
- BU has won 22 straight home games against unranked teams, with the last loss on Jan. 28, 2014, vs. West Virginia.
- Baylor has won 11 consecutive games played at the Ferrell Center, tying the 4th-longest streak in arena history.
- Baylor's last home loss was Feb. 9, 2015, against No. 21 Oklahoma State.
- A win vs. Texas Southern would tie the 3rd-longest winning streak in arena history at 12 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 60 straight games without allowing more than 80 points, the longest active streak in the Big 12.
- Baylor has held teams under 75 points in 55 of its last 56 games is 41-15 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 at Texas A&M on Dec. 19, when the Bears gave up 80 points.
- Baylor is holding opponents to an average of 61.9 points per game during that stretch.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
- Baylor ranks in the top 15 nationally in assists per game, scoring margin, offensive rebounds per game, rebounding margin, steal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Baylor leads the nation with 22.6 assists per game, ranks 5th in offensive rebounds/game (15.6), 5th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83), 7th in rebounding margin (+12.2), 12th in scoring margin (+19.1) and 7th in steal percentage (12.8).
- 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 37th in scoring offense (82.6) and 37th in scoring defense (63.5).
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-15 nationally in assists/game (11th, 6.9), steals/game (11th, 2.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 4.0). He's leads the Big 12 in steals, ranks 2nd in assists and 4th in AST-to-TOà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ratio.
- In 9 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 66 assists and 9 turnovers (7.3 A-T ratio). He's also recorded 26 steals, creating nearly three times as many turnovers as he's committed.
- Medford posted a career-high 13 assists (t-14th-most in a game in BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € history) against Hardin-Simmons and had 10 points, 12 assists and 0 turnovers against New Mexico State, recording his career-first double-double.
- In 17 career starts as point guard (6 last season, 11 this season), Medford has 111 assists and 27 turnovers, posting a 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
GATHERS JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB, PRINCE CLOSE BEHIND
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers became Baylor's 29th 1,000-point scorer on Dec. 23 vs. New Mexico State.
- Gathers (1,007 career points) was the 11th player to join the 1,000-point club during the Scott Drew era.
- Teammate Taurean Prince is close behind with 961 career points, 39 shy of the 1,000-point club.
PRINCE PUTTING UP POINTS
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince ranks 3rd in the Big 12 with 16.4 points per game and 10th with 5.9 rebounds per game.
- Prince has scored in double figures in 26 of the last 29 games dating back to Jan. 17.
- Prince has 10 games with 20+ points in that stretch, including a pair of 30-point efforts.
- 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 joined Rico Gathers (Nov. 16) to give Baylor multiple Big 12 Players of the Week for a 5th straight season.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 91-11 when leading at the break in that stretch (9-0 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 102 of 158 games over the last four-plus seasons. With wins in 91 of those 102 games, and victories in 21 of 56 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 102-46 since 2011-12.
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 969 career rebounds, which ranks 8th on the Big 12's career list. He needs 31 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.
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 8 double-digit scoring games, surpassing 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 (12.5), 7th in 3-point pct. (.440), 7th in 3-pointers made (2.0/gm) and 10th in minutes per game (30.1).
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 (4.7) and 7th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6).
- Wainright has scored 43 points in his last 4 games, more than all of last season combined.
- Wainright has already posted season highs in points, assists, steals, blocks, field goals made and 3-pointer made.
LINDSEY STEADY AS BACKUP POINT GUARD
- Freshman Jake Lindsey serves as the backup point guard to Lester Medford, averaging 13.5 minutes per game.
- Lindsey has 32 assists and just 6 turnovers on the season, averaging a team-best one turnover per 24.8 minutes.
- Lindsey is one assist shy of qualifying for the Big 12 assist-to-turnover leaderboard (min. 3.0 apg), but his current 5.33 ratio would lead the league (ISU's Monte Morris leads at 5.25).
- 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 BEARS BENCH SCORING
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 20.6 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 83 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (227 of 275 points).
- Baylor averages 7.9 more bench points per game than its opponents, 25.0 to 17.1.
- Motley started all 34 games as a redshirt freshman last year, but he's come off the bench this season and leads all Big 12 reserves with 11.4 points in 17.5 minutes per game, including double-digit scoring in 6 of 11 games.
- Maston has already tripled his points and minutes totals from last seasonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (56 points in 124 minutes; 19 points in 36 minutes last year). He's averaging 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game.
- McClure is averaging 4.2 points in 13.5 minutes per game off the bench. He's scored in double-figures twice and connected on at least one 3-pointer in 6 of 11 games.
NATION'S BEST IN 3 MAJOR SPORTS OVER LAST 5 SEASONS
- Since 2011-12, Baylor has the nation's most combined wins across football and men's and women's basketball.
- The Bears are 313-71 in that span, giving Baylor 76 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 11 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 302-76).
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 20 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
- Baylor has shot .789 from the free-throw line over the last 8 games, connecting on 127-of-161 attempts.
- The Bears rank 2nd in the Big 12 and 30th nationally with a .743 team free throw percentage.
- Rico Gathers, a .581 career free-throw shooter entering those games, has made 31-of-41 attempts (.756).
- 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 8 games has raised their season average by more than 10 percent from .638 to .743.
BEST IN TEXAS
- Baylor is 36-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced deeper into postseason play than any of Texas' 21 Division I team in each of the last four seasons.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is a 50-10 against Lone Star State teams over the last six seasons (3-1 this season) after going 10-27 against in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor ... (10-1 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 2013-14, 7-1 in 2012-13, 10-0 in 2011-12, 5-3 in 2010-11 and 9-1 in 2009-10).
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. 23 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.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 237 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .594 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
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.
SECOND-MOST WINS OF ANY BIG 12 TEAMS SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 112-46 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (125-33) among Big 12 teams (thru 12/27/15).
- Iowa State (110-41) is 3rd, Oklahoma State (95-58) is 4th, Oklahoma (94-49) is 5th, Kansas State (93-51) is 6th, Texas (88-60) is 7th, West Virginia (84-60) is 8th, TCU (63-77) is 9th and Texas Tech (55-81) 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.
UP NEXT
- Baylor heads to Kansas to openà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Big 12 Conference play against the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks at 3 p.m. Saturday.
- The game will be televised nationally on CBS. Baylor is 0-13 all-time in Lawrence, and Allenà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Fieldhouse is the only Big 12 arena where the Bears are winless.
