 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Tuesday, Dec. 8 | 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 93
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas | | BU Talent | Pat Nunley (pxp), Nick Joos (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | Northwestern State | | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 6-1 | | Ranking | 16 (AP), 15 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 254-172 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 234-161 (13th season)
| NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS
| | Record | 1-6
| | Ranking | nr (AP), nr (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Mike McConathy
| | Career: 612-405 (33rd season)
| | NSU Record: 260-246 (17th season)
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STORYLINES
- Tuesday's game will be televised on FOXà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Sports Southwest-Plus,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 145th straight televised game.
- Tuesday will mark the 9th series meeting. Baylor is 7-1 all-time vs. NSU, including a 6-1 mark inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco.
- Baylor defeated Northwestern State, 91-84 in overtime, the last time the teams met on Dec. 18, 2013.
- Baylor has won 30 consecutive non-conference home games - last loss toà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Northwestern on Dec. 4, 2012.
- Baylor has won 20 straight home games against unranked opponents - last loss to WVU on Jan. 28, 2014.
- Baylor ranks top-10 nationally in assist pct. (3rd, 73.7), offensive rebound pct. (4th, 43.0) and steal pct. (7th, 12.9).
- The Bears are 16th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency (113.0) and 20th in adj. defensive (93.7) efficiency.
- Baylor leads the Big 12 in assists (21.6; 4th nationally) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7; 10th nationally).
- Baylor is 12th nationally in scoring margin (+22.3), 14th in rebound margin (+12.0) and 23rd in scoring defense (61.1).
- Baylor is ranked No. 16 by the AP and No. 15 in the coaches poll. BU has been ranked for 17 consecutive polls.
- Baylor has gone 52 consecutive games without allowing 75+ points, the nation's longest active streak.
- Baylor, Michiganà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State and Oklahoma are the only schools AP-ranked in football and men's and women's basketball.
- Baylor has a .708 winning percentage over the last four-plus seasons (109-45).
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers has a school-record 920 career rebounds and needs 13 more to move into the Big 12's all-time top 10.
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince has scored in double figures in 23 of the last 25 games, averaging 16.1 ppg in that stretch.
- Al Freeman has scored in double figures in 5 of 7 games this season - he had 7 double-digit scoring games last year.
- Lester Medford has 13 career starts at point guard and has 74 assists and 23 turnovers in those games (3.2 A-T ratio).
- Ishmail Wainright is the Big 12's only player averaging at least 5 rebounds (5.9) and 4 assists (4.0).
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 24.7 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 87 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (173 of 199 points).
- Baylor is 42-14 in its last 56 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Twelve of the 14 losses have been away from home (7 road, 5 neutral) and nine losses have been against ranked teams.
- Baylor has outscored every opponent in 2nd-chance points, averaging 17.1 ppg to opponents' 6.9 ppg.
- Baylor averages 10.0 more bench points per game than its opponents, 28.4 to 18.4.
- Baylor is 306-70 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- 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 396th game at Baylor (234-161). His .592 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .685 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Baylor is 48-7 in November/December games when ranked in the AP poll and 61-12 in home games when APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ranked.
- Baylor is 200-92 (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 88-11 when leading at the half over the last four seasons, including 6-0 this season.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has won 38% of its games (21-34) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 0-1 this season.
- Baylor is 38-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 10-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
- Baylor has been ranked in the AP Preseasonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Poll in 5 of the last 6 seasons - last year was the lone exception.
- 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.
- BU is 87-6 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, including a 12-2 mark last season.
- Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 773 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas Tech.
SERIES HISTORY
- Baylor is 7-1 all-time against Northwestern State, including a 6-1 mark in games played in Waco.
- The Bears won the inaugural series meeting when the teams played in Natchitoches, La., in 1945-46. The six games since then have all been played at the Ferrell Center, with Baylor going 6-1 in those games with the lone loss on Nov. 25, 1997.
- Baylor and NSU last played on Dec. 18, 2013, a game that went to overtime before Baylor won 91-84.
LAST TIME VS. NORTHWESTERN STATE
- Baylor came out slow following a 12-day break for final exams, and both teams scored 38 points in both the first and second halves, forcing overtime at 76-76.
- Kenny Chery took over in OT, scoring 12 of Baylor's 15 points as BU outscored the Demons 15-8 in overtime.
- Only three current Bears played in the game. Rico Gathers had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, Taurean Prince added 8 points in 11 minutes, and Ishmail Wainright had 2 rebounds in 6 minutes.
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. 16, 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. 25 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 4 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 7 in men's basketball and No. 17 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.
BEARS DEFEAT NO. 13 VANDERBILT, CLIMB RANKINGS
- Baylor knocked off No. 16/13 Vanderbilt, 69-67, on Sunday night at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center.
- With the Vandy win and a win over Prairie View A&M, BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € climbed nine spots to No. 16 in the APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Top 25 and eight spots to No. 15 in the coaches poll.
- The game was the first time in program history Baylor hosted a non-conference game with both teams ranked.
- Taurean Prince recorded a career-high 30 points and was named Big 12 Player of the Week for the first time.
- Lester Medford hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, capping his 15-point, 5-assist performance.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards on his way to breaking Brian Skinner's Baylor career rebounding record. Gathers now holds Baylor's season (394) and career (920) rebounding records.
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 75 POINTS
- Baylor has gone 52 consecutive games without allowing 75 points, the nation's longest active streak.
- BU is 38-14 during that stretch, including an 11-9 record against AP-ranked opponents.
- Baylor is holding opponents to an average of 61.5 points per game during that stretch.
- Baylor was the only major conference team to hold every opponent under 75 last season, and the Bears set a school record for fewest points per game allowed during the shot clock era at 60.2 points per game.
30 CONSECUTIVE NON-CONFERENCE HOME WINS
- Baylor has won 30 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 58-2 in non-conference home games since 2009-10 and 95-12 in non-conference home games during the Drew era.
HOME WINNING STREAKS
- BU has won 20 straight home games against unranked teams, with the last loss on Jan. 28, 2014, vs. West Virginia.
- Baylor has won nine consecutive games played at the Ferrell Center, tying the 9th-longest streak in arena history.
- Baylor's last home loss was Feb. 9, 2015, against No. 21 Oklahoma State.
- A win vs. Northwestern State would tie the 5th-longest winning streak in arena history at 10 consecutive.
- The school record for consecutive wins at the Ferrellà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Center is 15 straight from Feb. 3, 2010 through Jan. 11, 2011.
TOP 10 NATIONALLY IN ASSISTS, STEALS AND O-BOARDS
- Baylor is the nation's only team ranked in the top 10 nationally in assist percentage and steal percentage, and the Bears are also ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage.
- Baylor ranks 4th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 43.0 percent of its missed shots.
- BU ranks 3rd nationally in assist percentage with assists on 73.7 percent of its field goals made.
- The Bears rank 7th nationally in steal percentage, grabbing steals on 12.9 percent of opponents' possessions.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 88-11 when leading at the break in that stretch (6-0 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 21-34 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 99 of 154 games over the last four-plus seasons. With wins in 88 of those 99 games, and victories in 21 of 55 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 109-45 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‹ € Sunday's 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 23 of the last 25 games dating back to Jan. 17.
- Prince is averaging 16.1 points per game during that 25-game stretch, including nine 20-point games.
- Prior to this 25-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 now has 920 career rebounds and is 14 boards away from passing Kansas' Eric Chenowith (933) for 10th on the Big 12's career list.
- Gathers has 28 career double-doubles, 2nd-most in Baylor history and 6 back of Skinner's school record of 34.
- Gathers and Prince are in a race to become Baylor's 29th player to reach 1,000 career points. Gathers needs 61 more points and Prince needs 103 more. The first one to reach 1,000 will be the 11th of the Scott Drew era.
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 has scored in double figures in 5 of 7 games this season after scoring 10+ points 7 times in 34 games last season. He also posted back-to-back 20-point games against Oregon and Jackson State.
- Freeman ranks 17th in the Big 12 in scoring (13.7), 6th in 3-point percentage (.455), 6th in 3-pointers made (2.1/gm), 11th in minutes played (30.1) and 15th in field goal percentage (.492).
3M POSTING IMPRESSIVE BENCH NUMBERS
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 24.7 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 87 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (173 of 199 points).
- Baylor's bench is averaging 10.0 more points per game than its opponents with 28.4 ppg against 18.4 ppg.
- Motley started all 34 games as a redshirt freshman last year, but he's come off the bench this season and is averaging 13.7 points in 21.0 minutes per game, including double-digit scoring in 5 of 7 games.
- Maston has already more than doubled his points and minutes totals from last seasonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (40 points in 87 minutes; 19 points in 36 minutes last year). He's averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game.
- McClure is averaging 5.3 points in 14.3 minutes per game off the bench. He's scored in double-figures twice and connected on at least one 3-pointer in 5 of 7 games.
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
- Baylor has shot .816 from the free-throw line over the last 4 games, connecting on 80-of-98 attempts.
- The Bears rank 2nd in the Big 12 with a .743 team free throw percentage.
- Rico Gathers, a .581 career free-throw shooter entering those games, has made 19-of-20 attempts.
- The Bears shot .638 (44-of-69) at the charity stripe over the season's first 3 games.
- Baylor made 21-of-24 (.875) vs. Savannah State, 26-of-30 (.867) vs. Arkansas State and 21-of-24 (.875) vs. PVAMU, but the Bears dropped to 12-of-20 (.600) in Sunday's win vs. Vanderbilt.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 8-6 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 27-46 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 1-1 vs. ranked teams this season with a loss at No. 25 Oregon on Nov. 16 and a win over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6.
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.
- Through seven games this season,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor is No. 16 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.
- 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.
SECOND-MOST WINS AMONG BIG 12 TEAMS SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 109-45 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (121-33) among Big 12 teams (thru 12/6/15).
- Iowa State (106-40) is 3rd, Oklahoma State (93-57) is 4th, Kansas State (90-50) is 5th, Oklahoma (88-49) is 6th, Texas (84-60) is 7th, West Virginia (81-59) is 8th, TCU (60-76) is 9th and Texas Tech (51-81) is 10th.
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 17 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
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 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 306-70 in that span, giving Baylor 77 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 10 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 296-75).
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 234 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .592 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
MEASURABLES
- Johnathan Motley has Baylor's longest wingspan at 7'3.5", followed by Jo Acuil at 7'3", Ishmail Wainright at 7'1.5", Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince at 6'11.5", Terry Maston at 6'11" and Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers at 6'10.5".
- John Heard has Baylor's highest vertical jump at 39.5", followed by Lester Medford and Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman at 37". Motley's 36" vertical is best among big men, followed by Prince, Gathers and Maston at 34.5".
- Gathers has the longest hands at 10.5", followed by Maston, Acuil and Prince at 9".
- Jake Lindsey has the team's widest hands at 10.25", followed by Motley and Wainright at 9.5".
- Wendell Mitchell recorded the fastest NBA Sprint Test at 3.01, followed by Prince and Manu Lecomte at 3.02.
UP NEXT
- Following the Northwestern State game, Baylor will take an 8-day break for final exams before hosting a game at Fort Hood's Abrams Gym on Dec. 16 against Hardin-Simmons.
- Free tickets were distributed onà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Fort Hood to military members and their families, and no tickets were made publicly available for the game, which will be televised on FOXà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Sports Southwest-Plus.
- The game will be the first-ever college basketball game played on a Texas military base.
