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No. 4/5 Baylor (8-0) vs. Southern (4-5) Dec. 14, 2016 | 6:05 p.m. CT Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284) WATCH: ESPNU and WatchESPN LISTEN: Sirius 81, XM 81, Internet 81

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MEDIA INFORMATION Date Wednesday, Dec. 14 | 6:05 p.m. CT Location Waco, Texas; Ferrell Center (10,284) Tickets Purchase Tickets Online TV ESPNU and WatchESPN TV Talent Matt Schick (pxp), Dino Gaudio (color) Satellite Radio Sirius 81, XM 81, Internet 81 BU Radio BaylorBears.com BU Talent John Morris (pxp), Nick Joos (color) Stats Game Notes Baylor | Southern Social Media @BaylorMBB | #SicSouthern BAYLOR BEARS Record 8-0 Ranking 4th (AP), 5th (Coaches) Head Coach Scott Drew Career: 278-183 (15th season) BU Record: 258-172 (14th season) SOUTHERN JAGUARS Record 4-5 Ranking nr (AP), nr (Coaches) Head Coach Roman Banks Career: 103-72 (6th season) SU Record: 103-72 (6th season)

STORYLINES
- No. 4 Baylor hosts Southern in its first game as a top-5 ranked team since Jan. 21, 2012.
- Wednesday is the 7th game in program history that the Bears entered with a top-5 ranking.
- Baylor's No. 4 AP ranking ties the 2nd-best in program history - BU was No. 3 on Jan. 16, 2012.
- Baylor is one of six remaining undefeated DI teams (Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, UCLA, USC, Villanova).
- BU is 4-0 when trailing at half and has out-scored all four teams by at least 16 points after the break.
- Baylor is 4-0 vs. ranked teams (No. 4 Oregon, No. 24 Michigan State, No. 10 Louisville, No. 7 Xavier).
- The Bears have defeated three top-10 teams in a season for the first time in program history.
- Baylor is 8-16 against AP Top 10 teams since March 2012. BU started the Drew era 1-26 vs. top-10.
- BU is 8-0 for the 6th time in program history and the first time since starting 17-0 in 2011-12.
- Wednesday is the 8th series meeting. Baylor is 7-0 in the series with an average scoring margin of +18.0.
- Baylor won the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis with wins over VCU, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 10 Louisville. Johnathan Motley was named tournament MVP after averaging 20.0 points per game.
- Baylor came from behind at half to win all 3 Battle 4 Atlantis games. BU trailed by 8 to VCU, by 3 to Michigan State and by 15 to Louisville. The Bears out-scored all 3 by at least 16 points in 2nd halves.
- The Bears have won 39 consecutive non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 12, 2012. BU averages a 21.2 point margin of victory and has nine wins over high-major teams during the streak.
- Baylor ranks 5th nationally in fewest fouls committed per game at 14.8.
- Baylor has won all eight games this season by at least 3 points and averages a +14.5 scoring margin.
- Head coach Scott Drew is in his 14th season at Baylor and is the school's all-time wins leader (258).
- Baylor has 16 wins over ranked teams in the last two-plus seasons (16-14 since 2014-15).
- BU is 35-54 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first four rebuilding seasons.
- Baylor returned six letterwinners from last season's 22-12 NCAA Tournament team.
- Baylor's starting lineup has an average age of 21.9 years old and all five are at least 21 years old.
- All five players in Baylor's starting lineup are in at least their fourth years of college basketball.
- BU is 30-4 since the start of last season when it takes the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last 10 seasons.
- The Bears are coming off a school-record third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
- Six Baylor players have been selected in the last five NBA Drafts, sixth-most nationally.
- Baylor's 133 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (157).
- Drew is 224-103 since 2007-08, the first year he had a full allotment of scholarships.
- Drew (46) 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.
- Drew has won 22+ games in five straight seasons and won 20+ games in eight of the last nine years.
- BU was picked 5th in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, behind Kansas, WVU, Texas and Iowa State.

QUICK HITS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (104-13).
- BU has won 40% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 29-43 in those.
- 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.
- Six of BU's seven starting point guards during the Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
- Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 808 straight games.
- BU did not receive any preseason poll votes for the first time since 2009-10.
- Point guard Manu Lecomte was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 14 and Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 5. Lecomte was also picked by the league's coaches as the preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
- Johnathan Motley was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 28, following his MVP performance at Battle 4 Atlantis. He is on preseason watch lists for the Naismith Award, Karl Malone Award and Lute Olson Award.

TIED FOR FIFTH-BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
- Baylor's 8-0 record ties the sixth-best start in the program's 111-season history.
- BU's only better starts were 17-0 in 2011-12, 13-0 in 1911-12, 12-0 in 2000-01 and 9-0 in 1945-46.
- BU's 8-0 start this season is tied for fifth-best with the 1926-27 Immortal Ten season.

SECOND-BEST RANKING IN PROGRAM HISTORY
- Baylor's No. 4 AP ranking ties the second-best in program history. BU's highest ranking was No. 3 on Jan. 16, 2012, after starting 17-0, and the Bears lost their next two games at No. 7 Kansas and vs. No. 5 Missouri.
- BU was also No. 4 on Jan. 2, 2012 and Jan. 9, 2012. This season's Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 AP polls marked the 4th and 5th times in program history the Bears have been ranked in the top 5 nationally.

BEARS RECEIVING SIX FIRST-PLACE VOTES
- Baylor received 6 first-place votes in each of the last two AP polls and one first-place vote on Nov. 28.
- Prior to this season, the Bears had only one first-place vote in program history on Jan. 16, 2012.

THIRTY-NINE STRAIGHT NON-CONFERENCE HOME WINS
- Baylor has won 39 consecutive non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 12, 2012.
- Included in that streak are nine wins over high-major teams - No. 4 Oregon, No. 7 Xavier, No. 16 Vanderbilt, BYU, Arizona State, Providence, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Georgia, and a pair of wins over Stephen F. Austin.
- Baylor's average margin of victory during the 39-game streak is 21.2 points per game.
- BU has won by double-digits in 32 of its last 39 non-conference home games, including 24 of the last 27 games.
- The last time Baylor lost a non-conference home game was Dec. 4, 2012, a 74-70 loss to Northwestern.

SERIES HISTORY
- Wednesday is the eighth series meeting between Baylor and Southern. The Bears are 7-0 in the all-time series.
- BU has won by double-digits in six of the seven previous meetings, with the lone exception a 70-66 victory the last time the teams played on Dec. 22, 2014.
- Baylor is 50-0 all-time against current SWAC teams -- 1-0 vs. Alabama State, 3-0 vs. Alcorn State, 3-0 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-0 vs. Grambling, 7-0 vs. Jackson State, 3-0 vs. Mississippi Valley State, 14-0 vs. Prairie View A&M, 7-0 vs. Southern and 9-0 vs. Texas Southern.

ONE OF SIX REMAINING UNDEFEATED BIG 12 TEAMS
- Baylor is the last remaining undefeated Big 12 team and is one of six undefeated teams - Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, UCLA, USC and Villanova.
- BU has four wins over ranked teams, while none of the other undefeated teams have more than two ranked wins.

SIXTEEN WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS IN LAST THREE SEASONS
- Baylor has gone 16-14 against ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- BU is 4-0 vs. ranked teams this season (0No. 4 Oregon, No. 24 Michigan State, No. 10 Louisville and No. 7 Xavier).
- Baylor's 4-game winning streak vs. AP-ranked teams tied the longest in program history - the Bears also won four straight from Jan. 14-Feb. 7, 2015, but none of those were against top-10 teams.
- 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 35-54 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first four rebuilding seasons.
- Baylor has won at least five games vs. APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Top 25 teams in each of the last 3 seasons entering 2016-17.

BU KNOCKS OFF NO. 7 XAVIER FOR THIRD TOP-10 WIN OF SEASON
- Baylor defeated No. 7 Xavier, 76-61, on Dec. 3 for its school-record third top-10 win of the season and its school-record-tying fourth consecutive win in games against ranked opponents.
- It was the 7th matchup of top-10-ranked teams in program history and BU's first-ever win in a top-10 matchup.
- The Bears trailed by 3 at the half, but out-scored Xavier 45-27 after the break.
- Manu Lecomte had a career-high 24 points, including 6-of-9 on 3-pointers, and was named Big 12 Player of the Week.
- The win helped Baylor climb from No. 9 to No. 4 in the AP Top 25, tying the second-best ranking in BU history.

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS CHAMPIONS
- Baylor knocked off VCU, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 10 Louisville to claim the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis.
- BU overcame halftime deficits in all three games and rallied back from 20 down with 16:30 to go vs. Louisville.
- Johnathan Motley was named tournament MVP and Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 20.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Big 12 weekly award was the second on Motley's career.
- It was the third regular-season tournament title of the Drew era - the 2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic and 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis. BU is now 26-11 in regular-season tournaments under Drew.
- The Bears jumped from No. 20 to No. 9 in the AP poll and from receiving votes to No. 11 in the coaches poll.

HUGE COMEBACK TO BEAT NO. 10 LOUISVILLE, CLAIM ATLANTIS TITLE
- Baylor claimed its 3rd regular-season tournament title of the Drew era and third win over a ranked team this season by rallying from 22 points down to knock off No. 10 Louisville in the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis title game.
- BU trailed 32-10 with 4 minutes left in the 1st half and trailed 39-24 at the break.
- Baylor still trailed by 20 points at 44-24 with 16:30 remaining, but out-scored UL 42-19 the rest of the way.
- The comeback was keyed by three reserves who played the last 15 minutes - Jake Lindsey, King McClure and Terry Maston combined to shoot 13-of-15 in the second half.

BEARS BEAT NO. 24 MICHIGAN STATE
- Baylor earned its second ranked win of the season by knocking off No. 24/20 Michigan State, 73-58, in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals. BU advanced to its 3rd regular-season tournament title game in the last 4 seasons.
- The Bears were led by Johnathan Motley's 26 points, including 20 in the first half.
- Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. added 14 points, and Ishmail Wainright had 7 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 0 turnovers.

BU KNOCKS OFF VCU IN B4A QUARTERFINALS
- Baylor rallied from an 8-point halftime deficit to beat VCU, 71-63, in the Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals.
- The Bears went a perfect 17-of-17 at the foul line in the 2nd half after shooting 10-of-16 on 1st-half FTs.
- Johnathan Motley posted his 6th career double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) to lead BU in both categories.
- Manu Lecomte was cold from the field (3-of-12), but scored BU's final 11 points, including 9 straight free throws.
- Lecomte finished with 16 points, Al Freeman added 15 points, and Ishmail Wainright had a career-high 9 rebounds.

TOP-5 WIN OVER NO. 4 OREGON
- Baylor knocked off No. 4 Oregon, 66-49, on Nov. 15. The Bears became the first team to hold Oregon below 50 points since Feb. 21, 2013 - a streak of 119 games.
- The win was Baylor's 4th in its last 11 games against AP Top 5 teams. Prior to that stretch, BU was 3-34 all-time against top-5 ranked opponents. The Bears are now 4-17 against top-5 teams in the Drew era.
- BU was led by Manu Lecomte with 18 points and 7 assists, while Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. had 8 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. Lual-Acuil's 7 blocks tied the 10th-most in a game in program history.
- Johnathan Motley made his season debut and had 17 points and 7 boards in 28 minutes.

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER SUCCESS
- Baylor has posted a combined 122-26 record in November and December games during the Drew era.
- The Bears are 62-11 in November games and 60-15 in December contests.
- BU is 18-1 in December games since 2013, with the lone loss at No. 24 Texas A&M last season.

RANKED NO. 4 IN THIS WEEK'S AP TOP 25
- Baylor climbed to No. 4 in the Dec. 5 AP Top 25, just three weeks after receiving no votes in the poll.
- The Bears are top-5 ranked for the first time since they were No. 3 on Jan. 16, 2012.
- This is the 5th week in program history in which the Bears have been ranked in the AP Top 5, and BU is 4-2 all-time when playing as a top-5 team. BU is 4-0 all-time when ranked No. 4 in the AP poll (all in January 2012).
- Baylor has now been ranked in each of the last 10 seasons - one of 13 teams nationally to make that claim.

HISTORY OF SUCCESS WITH REDSHIRTS
- Baylor has a track record of success when players redshirt under Scott Drew. Ekpe Udoh, Cory Jefferson, Brady Heslip and Royce O'Neale have all gone on to professional careers after redshirting while at BU.
- Four players in Baylor's current starting lineup have redshirted while at Baylor for various reasons.
- Al Freeman and Johnathan Motley redshirted in 2013-14 due to the Bears' depth on a Sweet 16 team.
- Manu Lecomte (transfer), Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. (medical issues) and Wendell Mitchell (depth) all redshirted last season.

EXPERIENCED DESPITE ONLY ONE SENIOR
- Baylor may have only one senior on this year's roster, but eight of nine rotation players are at least 20 years old.
- All five players in Baylor's projected starting lineup are in their fourth or fifth years of college. Manu Lecomte (21), Johnathan Motley (21) and Al Freeman (22) are fourth-year juniors, Ishmail Wainright (22) is a fourth-year senior and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. (22) is a fifth-year junior.
- The Bears also have sophomore guards King McClure (20) and Jake Lindsey (20) and junior forward Terry Maston (21), who have all played in 42 consecutive games.

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.
- This season, Baylor is No. 15 in adjusted offensive efficiency as of Dec. 11.
- 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.

DEFENSE IS THE KEY
- Baylor is known for its efficient offense, but defensive efficiency has the been key in its best seasons under Drew.
- The Bears have been top-100 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency in seven straight seasons, but the three top-50 years in that span all resulted in the best NCAA Tournament seeds in program history.
- BU was No. 23 in 2015, No. 37 in 2012 and No. 42 in 2010 - the Bears were NCAA No. 3 seeds all three years.
- The Bears were No. 64 in 2013, No. 70 in 2014, No. 79 in 2011 and No. 84 in 2016.
- This season, Baylor is No. 11 in adjusted defensive efficiency as of Dec. 11.

DREW ERA HIGHLIGHTS
- Drew is coaching his 431st game at Baylor (258-172). His .600 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and he's the program's all-time wins leader.
- Baylor has a .685 winning percentage (224-103) since Drew's first year with no scholarship restrictions in 2007-08.
- BU has graduated 92 percent of its scholarship seniors since Drew took over in 2003 (24 of 26).
- In Drew's first 13 seasons, 25 players have gone on to professional careers.

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.

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.

TWENTY-FIVE PRO PLAYERS IN DREW ERA
- In Scott Drew's first 13 years at Baylor, 25 of his players went 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 eligibility have graduated from Baylor.
- Players recruited by Drew who have graduated 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.

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.

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), Tweety Carter (2010), Curtis Jerrells (2007, 2008, 2009) and Aaron Bruce (2005, 2006, 2007) have been named All-Big 12.

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).

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 133-56 record since 2011-12 trails only Kansas (157-38) among Big 12 teams (thru 12/13/16).
- Iowa State (129-55) is 3rd, Oklahoma (118-60) is 4th, Kansas State (110-66) is 5th, West Virginia (108-69) is 6th Texas (105-74) is 7th, Oklahoma State (97-76) is 8th, TCU (77-95) is 9th and Texas Tech (73-94) is 10th.

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 104-13 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 40% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 29-43 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 117 of 189 games over the last six seasons. With wins in 104 of those 117 games, and victories in 29 of 72 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 133-56 since 2011-12.

SECOND-HALF COMEBACKS
- Baylor has trailed at half four times this season (VCU by 8, Michigan State by 3, Louisville by 15, Xavier by 3).
- The Bears out-scored all four opponents by at least 16 points in the second halves. BU out-scored VCU 43-27, out-scored No. 24 Michigan State 43-25, out-scored No. 10 Louisville 42-24 and out-scored No. 7 Xavier 45-27.
- Baylor has trailed by 8+ points in four games this season and has come back to win each time - BU trailed VCU by 8 points, trailed Michigan State by 10 points, trailed Louisville by 22 points and trailed Xavier by 9 points.

RANKED IN 10 STRAIGHT SEASONS
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last 10 seasons.
- BU went from receiving no votes in the week 1 AP poll to No. 20 in week 2, No. 9 in week 3 and No. 4 in week 4.
- 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.

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 (46) is joined by Xavier's Chris Mack (46), Arizona's Sean Miller (48), 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 (64), North Carolina's Roy Williams (66), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (69) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (72).
- Baylor is one of 15 teams to make three Sweet 16 appearances since 2010.

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
- Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last 10 seasons under 14th-year head coach Scott Drew.
- Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 224-103 (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.

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.

UP NEXT
- BU heads to Fort Hood for Saturday's game against Jackson State. The Bears then host John Brown the following day and face Texas Southern on Dec. 21 before opening Big 12 play on Dec. 30 at Oklahoma.

Even after an 8-0 start, three wins over top-10 teams, a No. 4 national ranking and a No. 1 seed in the latest NCAA Tournament bracket projections, the Baylor Bears still have a chip on their shoulders.

"We're still the same team no one gave a vote to," sophomore guard Jake Lindsey said of the Bears receiving no votes in the preseason polls. "I carry a chip every day. A lot of guys in our locker room carry a chip. . . . None of us have guaranteed money coming our way. None of us see our name in the top five on a draft board. We still have to come in and put in work every day."

The Bears (8-0) return from a 10-day break for final exams to face Southern (4-5) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center. That's the start of a stretch that has them playing four games in eight days, facing Jackson State on Saturday at Fort Hood and hosting John Brown on Sunday and Texas Southern next Wednesday.

"I think the guys really like that, because otherwise they'd be practicing," coach Scott Drew said. "And they'd always rather play than practice."

Not that they've exactly taken these last 10 days off. After a three-day break, the team has practiced the last three days to prep for Wednesday's game.

"Guys have still come up here and played 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3," said senior forward Ishmail Wainright. "Practice has been good. We're still having fun out there on the court."

One of the points of emphasis has been rebounding. Baylor has a slight rebounding advantage, at plus-4.2 per game, but the Bears are tied for 210th nationally with just 36.1 rebounds per game despite the inside presence of 7-footer Jo Lual-Acuil and 6-10 junior forward Johnathan Motley.

"We spent some time trying to become a better defensive rebounding team," Drew said. "We haven't had much time to do anything besides that, other than just making sure we're staying sharp with normal shooting."

Baylor's balanced attack is led by Motley, who is averaging 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The backcourt tandem of Manu Lecomte (13.9 ppg, 5.3 assists) and Al Freeman (11.6 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points, while Lual-Acuil is averaging 9.4 points and 7.8 rebounds and ranks second nationally with 4.4 blocks per game.

"It's kind of the culture Coach Drew sets. Everyone's positive and it kind of feeds down from Ish and all the older guys who are willing to sacrifice," said Lindsey, part of a four-man bench that's averaged 18.5 points per game. "No one gets down. Maybe it wasn't their night. If it wasn't their night, our record has told us that it was probably someone else's night."

Southern is the first of three opponents from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a league that Baylor is 50-0 against. But recent history shows the Jaguars are no pushovers.

Just two years ago, the Bears trailed late in the first half and led by just three in the final seconds before holding on for a 70-66 lead.

"Last time they came here, it was a one-possession game with under 15 seconds to go," Drew said. "It was a team that was in the NCAA Tournament last year; traditionally, top three in their league. They do a good job taking transition buckets and controlling tempo and putting themselves in position to win the game."

The Jaguars have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a six-point loss to top-seeded Gonzaga in 2013 and last year's 59-55 loss to Holy Cross in a First Four game.

This year's team is led by 6-4 senior guard Shawn Prudhomme, a former standout at McLennan Community College who is averaging 18.8 points per game and 6.1 rebounds and ranks among the national leaders with a 51.0 3-point shooting percentage.

Senior guard Tre'lun Banks, who had 13 points in that 2014 matchup against Baylor, is averaging 12.7 points and 5.8 assists. The Jaguars also have size inside with a starting front line of 6-10 junior forward Jared Sam (13.0 ppg, 7.8 rebounds) and 6-7 junior forward Patrick Smith and 6-10 freshman Isaiah Fontaine off the bench.

"I think why we're off to an 8-0 start is we've approached every game and been ready to play and ready to go," Drew said. "That starts with the leadership from our only senior, Ishmail Wainright, and our upperclassmen. Hopefully, that continues. I know the last game, we had a great crowd, the guys were really motivated and played hard. And hopefully, we can come out and do that again."