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Baylor (0-0) vs. Oral Roberts (0-0) Nov. 11, 2016 | 6:01 p.m. CT Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284) WATCH: ESPNU and WatchESPN LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas and TuneIn App

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MEDIA INFORMATION Date Friday, Nov. 11 | 6:01 p.m. CT Location Waco, Texas; Ferrell Center (10,284) Tickets Purchase Tickets Online TV ESPNU and WatchESPN TV Talent Roy Philpott (pxp), Paul Biancardi (color) Stream Radio TuneIn App BU Radio ESPN Central Texas BU Talent John Morris (pxp), Nick Joos (color) Stats Game Notes Baylor | Oral Roberts Social Media @BaylorMBB BAYLOR BEARS Record 0-0 Ranking nr (AP), nr (Coaches) Head Coach Scott Drew Career: 270-183 (15th season) BU Record: 250-172 (14th season) ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES Record 0-0 Ranking nr (AP), nr (Coaches) Head Coach Scott Sutton Career: 320-225 (18th season) ORU Record: 320-225 (18th season)

STORYLINES
- Baylor opens the 2016-17 season by hosting Oral Roberts at 6 p.m. Friday on ESPNU.
- Friday is the 6th series meeting. Baylor has won the five previous meetings by an average of 14.4 points.
- BU has won 10 consecutive season openers by an average of 30.5 points. Drew is 12-1 in openers.
- BU did not receive any preseason poll votes for the first time since 2009-10.
- Baylor returns six letterwinners from last season's 22-12 NCAA Tournament team.
- Seven Bears have not yet played at Baylor, but four of those practiced with the team last season.
- Baylor has just one senior on the roster, but BU has five players in their fourth years of college basketball.
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons entering 2016-17.
- The Bears are coming off a school-record third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
- Head coach Scott Drew enters his 14th season at Baylor as the school's all-time wins leader (250).
- Six Baylor players have been selected in the last five NBA Drafts, sixth-most nationally.
- Drew (45) is the youngest of 12 coaches to take his current program to three Sweet 16s since 2010.
- All 12 of Baylor's losses last season were against NCAA Tournament teams - Iowa State and National Championship game participants North Carolina and Villanova are the only other teams to make that claim.
- Baylor's 125 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (148).
- Baylor has knocked off 12 ranked teams over the last two seasons (12-14 vs. ranked opponents).
- Drew has won 20+ games in a school-record five consecutive seasons and eight of the last nine years.
- Baylor went 68-17 in football, MBB and WBB in 2015-16, the nation's best combined record.
- BU was picked 5th in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, behind Kansas, WVU, Texas and Iowa State.
- Drew is 216-103 since 2007-08, the first year he had a full allotment of scholarships.
- Baylor has won 88% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (100-13).
- Projected starting PG Manu Lecomte was named Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Six of BU's seven starting point guards during the Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
- Johnathan Motley was named to the five-player Preseason All-Big 12 team. BU has had seven players selected to the team in the last seven seasons.
- Motley is on preseason watch lists for the Karl Malone Award and Lute Olson Award.
- Baylor has had a nation-leading four players selected in the NBA Draft since 2010 who weren't ranked in the ESPN100 out of high school -- Quincy Acy, Ekpe Udoh, Pierre Jackson and Taurean Prince.
- In Drew's first 13 seasons, 25 players have gone on to professional careers.
- BU has graduated 92 percent of its scholarship seniors since Drew took over in 2003 (24 of 26).
- Drew is coaching his 423rd game at Baylor (250-172). His .593 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .677 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 800 straight games.
- BU went 22-4 last season when it took the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.

EXPERIENCED DESPITE ONLY ONE SENIOR
- Baylor may have only one senior on this year's roster, but that doesn't mean the Bears are lacking for experience.
- One potential starting lineup is entirely comprised of players in at least their fourth year of college.
- Manu Lecomte, Al Freeman and Johnathan Motley are fourth-year juniors, Ishmail Wainright is a fourth-year senior, and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. is a fifth-year junior. Wainright is the only player in that group to never redshirt.
- The Bears also have sophomore guards King McClure and Jake Lindsey and junior forward Terry Maston, who all played in all 34 games last season.

MOTLEY AND LECOMTE EARN PRESEASON HONORS
- Johnathan Motley was named to the five-player Preseason All-Big 12 team, and Manu Lecomte was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
- Lecomte is the second Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in program history, joining Terry Black (1999-00).
- Motley is BU's seventh Preseason All-Big 12 honoree in the last seven seasons, joining Rico Gathers (2016), Isaiah Austin (2015), Cory Jefferson (2015), Pierre Jackson (2013), Perry Jones III (2012) and LaceDarius Dunn (2011).
- Motley is also on preseason watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Karl Malone Award and Lute Olson Award.

SUCCESS IN SEASON OPENERS
- Baylor is 12-1 in season openers during the Scott Drew era, with the lone loss coming at Texas Tech in 2005-06, when the Bears did not play a non-conference schedule.
- Last season,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor defeated Stephen F. Austin, 97-55, in the season opener at the Ferrell Center.
- Baylor has won its last 10 season openers by an average of 30.5 points per game.

PICKED FIFTH IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
- Baylor was picked to finish fifth in the 2017 Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll in a vote by the league's head coaches in October. It's the sixth time in the last seven seasons BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has been picked in the top half of the league.
- In the last 10 seasons, BU has been picked 9th in 2007-08 (NCAA Tournament), 3rd in 2008-09 (NIT runner-up), 10th in 2009-10 (Elite Eight), 4th in 2010-11, 3rd in 2011-12 (Elite Eight), 2nd in 2012-13 (NITà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € champions), 3rd in 2013-14 (Sweet 16), t-6th in 2014-15 (NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament), 5th in 2015-16 (NCAA Tournament) and 5th (2016-17).

SERIES HISTORY
- Friday's game is the 6th all-time meeting between Baylor and Oral Roberts. BU is 5-0 in the previous matchups, including a 3-0 mark in Waco and a 2-0 record in Tulsa.
- Baylor has won the previous five meetings by an average of 14.4 points per game.
- The teams first met on Dec. 7, 1982, in Waco, a game the Bears won 58-55.
- The most recent meeting was Dec. 30, 2013, in Waco, an 81-55 Baylor win.

UNRANKED IN PRESEASON POLL
- For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor did not receive any votes in either the AP or coaches preseason polls. The Bears went to the Elite Eight that season.
- Baylor had been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 in five of the last six seasons prior to this year. The Bears were No. 16 in 2010-11, No. 12 in 2011-12, No. 19 in 2012-13, No. 25 in 2013-14 and No. 22 in 2015-16. The lone unranked year in that span was 2014-15, but the Bears received votes in both preseason polls.

SEVEN PLAYERS LOOK TO MAKE BAYLOR DEBUTS
- Baylor has seven players on the roster who have not yet played, but only three of those are new to the program.
- Fifth-year junior forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., fourth-year junior guard Manu Lecomte and second-year freshman guard Wendell Mitchell all redshirted last season. Those three, along with sophomore walk-on Jonathan Davis, all gained experience practicing with the team.
- BU welcomes three players into the program -- freshman guard Tyson Jolly (Oklahoma City, Okla.), freshman forward Mark Vital (Lake Charles, La.) and JuCo transfer Nuni Omot (St. Paul, Minn. / Indian Hills CC).

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT - FROM UNRANKED TO NBA DRAFT PICKS
- Baylor has had a nation-leading four players selected in the NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft since 2010 who weren't ranked in the ESPN100 out of high school.
- The only other schools with three such players were Colorado,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Marquette, Missouri, New Mexico and Connecticut.
- Baylor developed Quincyà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Acy, Ekpe Udoh, Pierre Jackson and Taurean Prince into NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft picks after joining the program as unranked recruits.

POINT GUARDS THRIVE IN DREW'S SYSTEM
- Six of Baylor's seven starting point guards during the Scott Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
- Lester Medford (2016), Kenny Chery (2014, 2015), Pierre Jackson (2012, 2013), Tweey Carter (2010), Curtis Jerrells (2007, 2008, 2009) and Aaron Bruce (2005, 2006, 2007) have been named All-Big 12.

25 PRO PLAYERS IN DREW ERA
- In Scott Drew's 13 years at Baylor, 25 of his players have gone on to professional careers.
- All three scholarship seniors from last year's team are now playing professionally.
- Taurean Prince was selected 12th overall in the NBA Draft, becoming the 2nd lottery pick in program history.
- Rico Gathers decided to pursue a pro football career and was selected in the NFL Draft's 6th round.
- Lester Medford recently began his professional career playing in Hungary.

GRADUATING 92 PERCENT OF SENIORS
- Since Scott Drew took over the Baylor Basketball program in 2003, 24 of 26 scholarship players who have exhausted their collegiate eligibilty have graduated from Baylor.
- Players recruited by Drew to graduate at Baylor: Tim Bush, Patrick Fields, Aaron Bruce, Mamadou Diene, Delbert Simpson, Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat, Kevin Rogers, Tweety Carter, Josh Lomers, Ekpe Udoh, Fred Ellis, Quincy Acy, Anthony Jones, J'mison Morgan, A.J. Walton, Cory Jefferson, Brady Heslip, Gary Franklin, Kenny Chery, Royce O'Neale, Lester Medford, Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince.

RANKED IN NINE STRAIGHT SEASONS
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons entering 2016-17.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € cracked a string of 38 consecutive unranked seasons when it was tabbed No. 25 in 2007-08.
- The Bears reached as high as No. 19 in 2008-09, No. 19 in 2009-10, No. 9 in 2010-11, No. 3 in 2011-12, No. 16 in 2012-13, No. 7 in 2013-14, No. 14 in 2014-15 and No. 13 in 2015-16.

THREE CONSECUTIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES
- Baylor is on a school-record streak of three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Prior to earning at-large bids in each of the last three seasons, the Bears had never been to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
- The Bears are one of nine teams nationally to earn a top-six seed in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, joining Arizona, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Villanova and Virginia.
- Baylor was a No. 6 seed in 2014, a No. 3 seed in 2015 and a No. 5 seed last season.

CONSISTENTLY AMONG NATION'S BEST OFFENSES
- Baylor's offense has consistently ranked among the nation's best over the last nine seasons under Scott Drew.
- The Bears have finished eight of the past nine seasons among the top 20 nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency, joining Duke as the only programs to make that claim.
- BU finished No. 13 in 2015-16, No. 18 in 2014-15, No. 9 in 2013-14, No. 14 in 2012-13, No. 8 in 2011-12, No. 102 in 2010-11, No. 3 in 2009-10, No. 11 in 2008-09 and No. 11 in 2007-08.

SIX NBA DRAFT PICKS IN LAST FIVE SEASONS
- Baylor's six NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft picks over the last five years are the nation's sixth most, trailing only Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas and North Carolina and tied with Arizona, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA.
- A program-record three Baylor players were selected in the 2012 NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft -- Perryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Jones III (28th pick; Oklahoma City Thunder), Quincyà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Acy (37th pick; Toronto Raptors) and Quincy Miller (38th pick; Denver Nuggets). Pierre Jackson (42nd pick, Philadelphia 76ers; traded to New Orleans Pelicans) was chosen in the 2013 draft, Coryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Jefferson (60th pick; San Antonio Spurs; traded toà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Brooklynà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Nets) was selected in 2014 and Taurean Prince (12th pick; Utah Jazz; traded to Atlanta Hawks) was chosen in 2016.

SECOND-MOST WINS AMONG BIG 12 TEAMS SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor has averaged 25 wins per season over the last 5 years - 2nd-most in the Big 12 in that span. Baylor's 125-56 record since 2011-12 trails only Kansas (148-37) among Big 12 teams.
- Iowa State (123-52) is 3rd, Oklahoma (112-57) is 4th, Kansas State (101-65) is 5th, Texas (100-70) is 6th, West Virginia (100-68) is 7th, Oklahoma State (90-74) is 8th, TCU (68-94) is 9th and Texas Tech (65-93) is 10th.

12 WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS IN LAST TWO SEASONS
- Baylor has gone 12-14 against ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- BU had a school record seven wins over ranked teams in 2014-15.
- Five wins over ranked teams last season tied the second-most in program history (5 in 2013-14).
- Last season, Baylor had wins over No. 16 Vanderbilt, at No. 13 Iowa State, vs. No. 13 Iowa State, at No. 24 Texas and vs. No. 23 Texas.
- BU is 31-54 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first four rebuilding seasons.
- Baylor has won multiple games vs. APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Top 25 teams in each of the last nine seasons, including three straight seasons with at least five wins over ranked teams.

FIVE STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS
- Baylor has won 20+ games in a school-record five consecutive seasons and in eight of the last nine years. The Bears had just three 20-win seasons in the program's first 101 years (1907-2007).
- Baylor has topped 22 wins in each of the past 5 seasons and is averaging 25.0 wins per season in that span.

DREW AMONG NATION'S ELITE
- Head coachà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Scott Drew is the youngest of 12 coaches nationally to take his current program to three Sweet 16 appearances since 2010. Drew (45) is joined by Xavier's Chris Mack (46), Arizona's Sean Miller (47), Ohioà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State's Thad Matta (49), Indiana's Tomà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Crean (50), Kansas' Bill Self (53), Kentucky's John Calipari (57), Michigan State's Tom Izzo (61), Louisville's Rickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Pitino (63), North Carolina's Roy Williams (66), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (69) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (71).
- Baylor is one of 15 teams to make three Sweet 16 appearances since 2010.

NO BAD LOSSES
- All of Baylor's losses last season were against NCAA Tournament teams. The only other teams to make that claim were Iowa State, North Carolina and Villanova.
- Baylor and Villanova were the nation's only teams to not suffer any losses against teams outside the RPI top 50.

NATION'S BEST IN THREE MAJOR SPORTS OVER LAST FIVE SEASONS
- Baylor had the nation's most combined wins across football and men's and women's basketball over the five-year period from 2011-12 through 2015-16.
- The Bears went 350-84 in that span, giving Baylor 83 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and nine more than the next closest team nationally, Notre Dame at 341-87.
- Baylor led the nation with an .800 winning percentage across football, men's basketball and women's basketball during the 2015-16 season.
- BU went 68-17 in those sports -- football 10 wins, men's basketball 22 wins and women's basketball 36 wins.
- BU joined Michigan State and Oklahoma as the nation's only programs to finish the season ranked in all three sports.

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
- Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last eight seasons under 14th-year head coach Scott Drew.
- Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 216-103 (24 wins per season) and has made eight postseason appearancesà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (NCAA -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016; NITà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € -- 2009, 2013) and posted eight 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 15 postseason appearances (eight under Drew) and won 20+ games just 11 times (eight under Drew) in the program's first 110 seasons.

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 88% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 100-13 when leading at the break in that stretch (18-2 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 25-43 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 113 of 181 games over the last five seasons. With wins in 100 of those 113 games, and victories in 25 of 68 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 125-56 since 2011-12.

ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 250 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .594 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.

NATION'S SIXTH-BEST POSTSEASON RECORD
- Baylor's 17-6 postseason record over the past eight seasons is the nation's sixth-best among teams with at least three NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament berths since 2009.
- The only teams with better postseason winning percentages than Baylor's .739 are Connecticut (.783), Kentucky (.781), North Carolina (.781), Duke (.778), Louisville (.750)
- The Bears' 17 postseason wins in that span are eighth-most, trailing only Kentucky (25), North Carolina (25), Duke (21), Michiganà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State (20), Kansas (18), Connecticut (18) and Louisville (18).
- Baylor went 4-1 and advanced to the 2009 NIT Championship game, 3-1 on their way to NCAA Tournament Elite Eight berths in 2010 and 2012, 5-0 to claim the 2013 NIT title and 2-1 on its way to the 2014 Sweet 16.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE
- For the fifth consecutive season, all 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised in 2016-17.
- BU has at least 23 games on ESPNà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € networks, five games on FOXà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Sports Southwest and one game on CBS.
- With 23 games on ESPNà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € networks this season, Baylor will have 174 ESPN games in the last 10 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.
- Games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley.
- Morris is in his 29th year doing Baylor broadcasts, while Nunley is in his 34th season as color analyst.
- All of Baylor's games can be heard live on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com and via the TuneIn App.

BEST IN TEXAS
- Baylor is 42-8 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 four of the last five seasons.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is a combined 56-12 against Lone Star State teams over the last seven seasons after going 10-27 against in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor (9-3 in 2015-16, 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).
- Additionally, six of the nine NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft picks fromà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas colleges since 2012 have come from Baylor. North Texas, Texas and Texas A&Mà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € have each had one player selected in the last five NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Drafts.

UP NEXT
- Baylor faces the first of two preseason top-10 teams in non-conference play when it hosts No. 5/5 Oregon as part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
- BU played at Oregon on Nov. 16 last season in the only previous series meeting -- the Ducks won 74-67.

---

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Baylor basketball begins the season with a rather large chip on its shoulder.

For the first time in seven years, the Bears didn't receive a single vote in the Associated Press preseason poll. They are one of just 13 teams that have been ranked at some point in each of the previous nine years.

"We'll definitely use it as motivation, so that's good," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team opens with a game against Oral Roberts at 6 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center. "We know we have enough opportunities to garner the attention we deserve if we can win against the teams we're playing. . . . That also makes it nerve-racking for a coach, because you know the greater reward also provides the greater risk."

Junior point guard Manu Lecomte, a transfer from Miami who sat out last season, said he wasn't surprised by the rankings snub after losing Taurean Prince, Rico Gathers and Lester Medford off a team that won 22 games last year. But, "it's definitely motivation for me and I know for the whole team and the coaches."

One of the bigger risk-reward situations will come in just four days, when the Bears host fifth-ranked Oregon at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of ESPN's College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon. Baylor will also host No. 7/8 Xavier (Dec. 3) and could face No. 9/12 Michigan State and No. 13/14 Louisville at Battle4 Atlantis later this month in the Bahamas.

"That's why in the last four years we've had the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country," Drew said. "So many of them play in the NCAA Tournament and win 20 games. If you've heard of them, or haven't heard as much about them, usually they're quality teams."

That includes Oral Roberts, which has won 297 games and made eight postseason appearances in 17 seasons under coach Scott Sutton, the son of Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton. Sean Sutton, the former Oklahoma State head coach, is in his sixth season as an assistant with the Golden Eagles.

ORU has won 16 games against Big 12 teams, including a 78-71 upset victory over No. 3 Kansas on Nov. 15, 2006, the same day the Jayhawks were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's College Basketball preview issue.

"The Suttons always do a great job coaching," Drew said. "They have a group that shoots the 3. Last year, they were one of the best in the country. They also have some inside scoring as well. So, when you combine that, it makes you a good team. I think they're going to have a great year. We know it's a challenge for the first game. And without Johnathan Motley, everyone's going to have to step up and play really well."

The 6-foot-10 Motley, one of three returning starters, has to serve a one-game suspension after violating NCAA rules by playing in a summer league game. Baylor will also be without 6-9 junior forward Nuni Omot, who is academically ineligible for the fall semester.

That could put more on 7-foot junior Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., 6-8 junior Terry Maston, 6-5 senior forward Ishmail Wainright (5.9 ppg, 4.3 rebounds) and 6-5 freshman forward Mark Vital to pick up the slack in Friday's opener.

"It's a team effort, someone as talented as J-Mot with everything he does on the court and bringing energy and everything he brings to the team," said sophomore guard Jake Lindsey. "Obviously, Jo will have to step up. . . . everyone will have to come down and rebound. We don't have Rico and TP this year, and those are two big, physical guys. Rebounding has been a major emphasis for us, and we'll definitely have to come down and help more, especially without J-Mot."

Particularly for the first game, the Bears will be more guard-oriented with Lecomte and Lindsey joining junior Al Freeman (11.3 ppg), sophomore King McClure and freshmen Wendell Mitchell and Tyson Jolly as perimeter threats.

Lecomte, Mitchell and Lual-Acuil all redshirted last season, so they've waited over a year to play their first game in a Baylor uniform.

"Not really anxious, but a little nervous, being my first game," said Lecomte, who shot 43.4 percent from 3-point range in two seasons at Miami. "I've bene trying to prepare for it all year. Last year was probably the longest of my life. I had to wait and watch these guys play, and learned a lot from it. Now, it's my time and, of course, I'm a little nervous for the first game."

ORU has a veteran backcourt with seniors Aaron Anderson and Jalen Bradley (8.5 ppg) and a pair of Texans on the frontline with 6-8 freshman Emmanuel Nzekwesi from Trophy Club and 6-9 Albert Owens (9.9 ppg, 4.0 rebounds) from Cedar Hill.

In honor of the Veterans Day holiday, Friday is Military Appreciation Day. All current and former members of the military and their families will receive free tickets for both the men's and women's game. The second-ranked Lady Bears host Houston Baptist in the early game at 3:30 p.m.