 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Saturday, Jan. 9 | 2:00 p.m. CT | | Location | Ames, Iowa; Hilton Coliseum (14,356)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | ESPN2 and WatchESPN | | TV Talent | Jon Sciambi (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (color)
| | Satellite Radio | Sirius 84/XM 84
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas | | BU Talent | John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | Iowa State
| | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 11-3, 1-1 | | Ranking | RV (AP), 25 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 259-174 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 239-163 (13th season)
| IOWA STATE CYCLONES
| | Record | 12-2, 1-1
| | Ranking | 13 (AP), 14 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Steve Prohm
| | Career: 116-31 (5th season)
| | ISU Record: 12-2 (1st season)
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STORYLINES
- Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN2,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 152nd straight televised game.
- Saturday is the 30th series meeting. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € trails 12-17, including a 1-12 mark in Ames.
- Baylor has back-to-back wins against ISUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € for the first time since 2001-02. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has never won 3 straight vs. ISU.
- Baylor is 8-8 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- All 3 of Baylor's losses have been true road games against AP Top 25 teams (Oregon, TAMU, Kansas).
- Baylor is ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll and has been ranked for 21 consecutive weeks.
- Baylor leads the nation in assists/game (1st) and ranks top-20 in offensive rebound percentage (4th), assist-to-turnover ratio (6th), rebound margin (8th), steal percentage (14th), free throw percentage (15th) and scoring margin (20th).
- Baylor has won 114 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (128).
- Baylor has a .708 winning percentage over the last four-plus seasons (114-47).
- Baylor is 74-64 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 years.
- Baylor is 47-16 in its last 63 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fourteen of the 16 losses have been away from home (9 road, 5 neutral) and 11 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
- Scott Drew is coaching his 403rd game at Baylor (239-163). His .595 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .686 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince needs 2 points to become Baylor's 30th 1,000-point scorer (12th of Drew era).
- Prince has scored in double figures in 28 of the last 32 games and ranks 6th in the Big 12 with 15.5 ppg.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers needs 11 rebounds to pass Nebraska'sà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Aleks Maric (1,015) for 7th on the Big 12 career rebounds list.
- Gathers ranks 26th on Baylor's all-time scoring list (1,047) and holds the school record with 1,005 career rebounds.
- Gathers ranks 2nd in school history with 31 career double-doubles, 3 back of Brianà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Skinner's school record of 34.
- Al Freeman has 10 double-figure scoring games this season. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 16-1 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman's 17 career games with 10+ points.
- Lester Medford has 20 career starts at point guard and has 127 assists and 35 turnovers in those games (3.6 A-T ratio).
- Medford joins ISU's Monte Morris as the only players ranked in the nation's top 25 in steals, assists and A-T ratio.
- Medford has 77 assists with 15 turnovers (5.1 A-T ratio) and 29 steals in his last 11 games.
- Ishmail Wainright needs 2 more points to double his scoring total from last season (82 this season, 42 last year).
- Jake Lindsey has 38 assists and 7 turnovers, and his 5.43 A-T ratio leads all Big 12 players (min. 2.0 apg).
QUICK HITS
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston and freshman King McClure combine to average 19.8 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 85 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (277 of 327 points).
- Baylor is 93-11 when leading at the half since 2011-12, including 11-0 this season.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has won 37% of its games (21-36) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 0-3 this season.
- Baylor has held opponents under 75 points in 57 of its last 59 games overall, and BU is 43-16 in that stretch.
- Baylor, Michiganà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State and Oklahoma are the only schools ranked in football and men's and women's basketball.
- Baylor is 318-73 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 205-94 (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 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 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 780 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
- Saturday marks the 30th series meeting, and Baylor trails 12-17 in the all-time series.
- Baylor is 1-12 all-time against Iowa State in Ames. The Bears won in Ames for the first time last season.
- Baylor has led at halftime twice in the 13 previous meetings in Ames -- the Bears led 37-30 in 2012 before losing 80-72, and BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € led 40-37 on its way to a 79-70 win last season.
- The home team has won 22 of 25 games in the all-time series, and Baylor is 1-3 vs. ISUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € at neutral sites.
LAST SEASON VS. IOWA STATE
- Baylor beat Iowa State twice in the same season for the first time, though it was only the seventh time the teams played multiple games in a season, including three games in 2014.
- BU held a 40-37 halftime lead in Ames, but ISU rallied to take an 8-point lead at 62-54 with 8:28 remaining. Baylor finished the game on a 25-8 run, including 3-pointers on five consecutive possessions.
- Baylor started the game in Waco on a 16-1 run, but Iowa State rallied late and took its first lead with 1:58 remaining. Kenny Chery hit a game-winning elbow jumper with 4 seconds left, giving the Bears a 74-73 win.
- BU shot 47%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (23-of-49) from 3-point range against the Cyclones last season, including 14-of-26 in Ames.
- Taurean Prince averaged 12.5 points and 6.0 rebounds against Iowa State, while Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers averaged 12.0 points and 11.0 boards.
- Ishmailà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Wainright and Al Freeman, two of this year starters, played only 45 combined minutes against ISU.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Improve Baylor's record to 13-17 against Iowa State, including back-to-back wins inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Ames after starting 0-12.
- Be the first time Baylor has won three consecutive games in the series against Iowa State.
- Give Baylor a 12-3 or better start to the season for the 8th time in the last 9 years.
- Give Baylor a 48-16 record over its last 64 games, including a 12-11 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
- Give Baylor a 115-39 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 206-94 since 2007-08.
KEYS TO VICTORY
- Baylor is 11-0 this season when leading at the half and 93-11 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
- Baylor is 11-0 this season when posting 16+ assists and 0-3 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
- Baylor is 11-0 this season when holding opponents below 35 rebounds and 0-3 when allowing 35+à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € boards.
- Baylor is 10-0 when out-rebounding its opponent and 1-3 when tying or losing the rebounding battle.
- Baylor is 11-0 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-3 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor is 9-0 when holding opponents below 70 points and 11-1 when holding teams below 80 points.
- Baylor is 8-0 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 9-0 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 16-1 when Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 9-1 mark this season.
- Baylor is 20-2 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 10-1 mark this season.
- Baylor is 10-0 when Ishmailà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Wainright records 5+ assists, including a 6-0 mark this season.
LINEUP NOTES
- Baylor has used the same starting lineup in all 14 games this season -- 1 of 5 Big 12 teams to do so.
- Baylor's starting lineup has 406 games of combined experience, including 157 starts.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers and Lester Medford have both started 48 consecutive games.
- Gathers has played in all 123 games during his Baylor career. The Big 12 consecutive games played record is 142 by Texas' Damion James, and Gathers could be at 140 consecutive games entering the Big 12 Championship.
ONE OF THREE RANKED IN FB, MBB AND WBB
- Baylor, Michigan State and Oklahoma are the only schools ranked in football, men's and women's basketball.
- Baylor men's basketball is ranked No. 25, football is No. 18 and women's basketball is No. 6.
- Michigan State is ranked No. 3 in football, No. 5 in men's basketball and No. 23 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 4 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 2 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.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 8-8 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 27-48 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 1-3 vs. ranked teams this season with a win over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6 and losses at No. 25 Oregon on Nov. 16, at No. 24 Texas A&M on Dec.19 and at No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 2.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
- Baylor ranks top 20 nationally in assists per game, free throw percentage, rebounding margin, steal percentage, offensive rebound percentage, scoring margin, and assist-to-turnover ratio.
- BU leads the nation in assists/game (1st, 21.2) and ranks top-20 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, 1.74), free throw percentage (15th, .755), rebounding margin (8th, +11.4), offensive rebound percentage (4th, 42.6), steal percentage (14th, 11.8) and scoring margin (20th,+15.1).
- Individually, Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers ranks 4th in offensive rebound percentage (20.0) and 30th in defensive rebound percentage (26.7), while Lester Medford ranks 15th in steal percentage (4.6) and 55th in assist rate (33.3).
SECOND-MOST WINS IN BIG 12 SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 114-47 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (128-33) among Big 12 teams (thru 1/8/16).
- Iowa State (112-42) is 3rd, Oklahoma State (97-59) is 4th, Oklahoma (95-50) is 5th, Kansas State (94-53) is 6th, Texas (89-62) is 7th, West Virginia (87-60) is 8th, TCU (64-79) is 9th and Texas Tech (57-82) is 10th.
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 (1,047 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 998 career points, 2 shy of the 1,000-point club.
PRINCE POURING IN POINTS
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince ranks 6th in the Big 12 with 15.5 points per game and 14th with 5.8 rebounds per game.
- Prince has scored in double figures in 28 of the last 32 games dating back to Jan. 17, 2015.
- 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.
DEFENSIVE STREAKS
- Baylor has held teams under 75 points in 57 of its last 59 games overall is 43-16 during that stretch, including an 11-11 record against AP-ranked opponents.
- Baylor is holding opponents to an average of 62.6 points per game during that 59-game stretch.
- 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.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 93-11 when leading at the break in that stretch (11-0 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 37% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 21-36 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 104 of 161 games over the last four-plus seasons. With wins in 93 of those 104 games, and victories in 21 of 57 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 104-47 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 1,005 career rebounds, which ranks 8th on the Big 12's career list. He needs 11 more to pass Nebraska's Aleks Maric (1,015) for 7th
- Gathers has 31 career double-doubles, 2nd-most in Baylor history and 3 back of Skinner's school record of 34.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 239 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .595 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
MEDFORD RUNNING 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 is one of two players ranked in the top-25 nationally in assists/game (13th, 6.6), steals/game (12th, 2.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (22nd, 3.4). He's leads the Big 12 in steals, ranks 2nd in assists and 5th in AST-to-TOà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ratio.
- In 12 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 82 assists and 17 turnovers (4.8 A-T ratio). He's also recorded 31 steals, creating nearly twice 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 20 career starts as point guard (6 last season, 14 this season), Medford has 127 assists and 35 turnovers, posting a 3.6 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 10 double-digit scoring games, surpassing his total from all 34 games last season. He's posted four 20-point games, including a career-high 22 points at No. 25 Oregon.
- Freeman ranks 13th in the Big 12 in scoring (13.2), 5th in 3-point pct. (.446), 7th in 3-pointers made (2.1/gm) and 10th in minutes per game (30.7).
WAINRIGHT FILLING STAT SHEET
- Junior forward Ishmail Wainright stepped into the starting small forward role with the graduation of Royce O'Neale.
- Wainright ranks 8th in the Big 12 in assists per game (3.6) and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0).
- Wainright is 2 points away from doubling his point total from last season (82 this season, 42 last season).
- Wainright has already posted season highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He's made 10-of-29 from 3-point range (35%) this season, after shooting 5-of-20 from long range (25%) over his first two years combined.
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 38 assists and just 7 turnovers on the season, averaging a team-best 27 minutes per turnover.
- Lindsey's 5.43 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the Big 12 among players averaging at least 2.0 assists per game.
- 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 19.8 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 84 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (277 of 327 points).
- Motley started all 34 games as a redshirt freshman last year, but he's come off the bench this season and ranks 2nd among Big 12 reserves with 10.1 points in 17.1 minutes per game, including double-digit scoring in 6 games.
- Maston has already quadrupled his points and minutes totals from last seasonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (85 points in 165 minutes; 19 points in 36 minutes last year). He's averaging 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game.
- McClure is averaging 3.6 points in 12.2 minutes per game off the bench. He's scored in double-figures twice and connected on at least one 3-pointer in 7 games.
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
- Baylor has shot 79% from the free-throw line over the last 11 games, connecting on 184-of-233 attempts.
- The Bears lead the Big 12 and rank 15th nationally with a .755 team free throw percentage.
- Baylor's current .755 free throw percentage would be a school record, surpassing the .754 in 2011-12.
- Rico Gathers, a .581 career free-throw shooter entering those games, has made 37-of-50 attempts (74%).
- The Bears shot 64% (44-of-69) at the charity stripe over the season's first 3 games, and the 79% shooting in the last 11 games has raised their season average by 12 percent from 64% to 76%.
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. 22 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.
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 318-73 in that span, giving Baylor 78 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 12 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 306-78).
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 21 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.
UP NEXT
- Baylor returns home for three of its next four games, beginning with Wednesday's 7:15 p.m. game against TCU.
- The Bears then head to Lubbock to face Texasà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tech on Jan. 16, followed by back-to-back home games against Kansas State on Jan. 20 and Oklahoma on Jan. 23.
- Baylor will play five of its next seven games at home. In addition to the previously listed games, Baylor goes to Oklahomaà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State (Jan. 27)à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € and hosts Georgia (Jan. 30)à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € and Texas (Feb. 1).
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Figuratively speaking, Baylor basketball had the lid lifted off the basket at Hilton Coliseum a year ago when the Bears hit 14 3-pointers in their first-ever win in Ames, Iowa.
The 25th-ranked Bears (11-3, 1-1) make a return trip to face No. 13/14 Iowa State (12-2, 1-1) and first-year head coach Steve Prohm at 2 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be nationally televised by ESPN2.
"I think it's one less question people ask: when are you going to win up there?" Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "So, they're not reminded of it, and definitely past experiences help. Whenever you play somebody and you have success, that's something that stays with you and you know what it takes and what you've got to do to have that success. It gives you some confidence heading into that game, too."
At the same time, this year's team is trying to win its first true road game. The Bears are 0-3 on the road, losing at nationally ranked Oregon (74-67), Texas A&M (80-61) and Kansas (102-74).
"We know it's tough to get those road wins," Drew said, "but I believe we'll do a better job controlling what we can control. That's identifying what their strengths are and taking them away, and getting better on the offensive end so that we don't allow people to play in transition as much. If you're not scoring or you're turning the ball over, there's really nothing you can do defensively if they're getting fast breaks."
Particularly in the last two road games, Baylor hasn't been able to dig out of huge holes early. The Bears fell behind 14-2 at A&M and then 24-4 last Saturday at Kansas, when Wayne Selden knocked down his first four shots, including two beyond the 3-point arc.
"At Kansas, we had some better looks early on than we've had in our first couple road games, trying not to settle for contested jump shots and trying to get open shots or paint touches," Drew said. "If you start fast on the road, you take the crowd out of it."
Iowa State, coming off a 76-69 win at home over Texas Tech, has offensive weapons at every spot on the floor. But none more potent than 6-8 senior forward Georges Niang, who ranks among the Big 12 leaders in points (19.2), rebounds (6.7), assists (3.14) and blocked shots (0.79).
"They've got versatility at every spot, starting with Georges Niang," said 6-8 Baylor senior forward Rico Gathers, who is averaging a double-double with 14.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. "With him being a point forward, he's able to get in the paint and create offense for others. You really don't want to allow that to happen."
Because of his ability to post up, drive and shoot 3-pointers, Niang creates a mismatch for defenders. "If you put a smaller guy on him, he hurts you inside," Drew said. "And if you go with a bigger guy, he hurts you outside. He's just a very skilled player."
This game features four returning first- or second-team All-Big 12 players. Gathers and Niang were first-team selections, while 6-8 senior forward Taurean Prince (15.5 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) and Iowa State point guard Monte Morris (13.8 ppg, 7.4 assists) were named to the coaches' All-Big 12 second team.
Prohm, who was 104-29 in four seasons at Murray State, inherited an Iowa State team that had most of its pieces back from a 25-9 squad that finished just a game back of Kansas in last year's conference race.
"He's done a great job, first and foremost, of playing to their strengths," Drew said of Prohm. "They were so good with what Fred (Hoiberg) did offensively, (there's) really not any difference at all. Defensively, he's changed some things up and implemented some of his philosophies. But he's done a great job allowing them to continue to play to their strengths for a veteran group that was great to begin with."
The Bears will return from Ames to host TCU (8-6, 0-2) at 7:15 p.m. next Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the Ferrell Center.
BEAR FACTS: Prince needs two more points to become the 30th player in program history and 12th in the Drew era to score 1,000 career points. . . . Gathers ranks 26th with 1,047 points and is the all-time leader with 1,005 rebounds, becoming the Bears' first 1,000-1,000 player.
