 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Saturday, Feb. 27 | 7:00 p.m. CT | | Location | Fort Worth, Texas; Schollmaier Arena (6,800)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | ESPNU and WatchESPN | | TV Talent | Mitch Holthus (pxp), Bryndon Manzer (color)
| | Satellite Radio | Sirius 81 / XM 81
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas and TuneIn App | | BU Talent | John Morris (pxp), Nick Joos (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | TCU
| | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 20-8, 9-6 | | Ranking | 19 (AP), 16 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 268-179 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 248-168 (13th season)
| TCU HORNED FROGS
| | Record | 11-17, 2-13
| | Ranking | nr (AP), nr (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Trent Johnson
| | Career: 275-260 (17th season)
| | TCU Record: 49-75 (4th season)
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STORYLINES
- Saturday is the 179th all-time series meeting, the 3rd-most-played rivalry in Baylor history, dating back to 1908.
- Baylor has won all 8 series meetings against TCU as Big 12 opponents, by an average of 19.9 points per game.
- Baylor defeated TCU 82-54 when the teams met inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco on Jan. 13, improving to 8-0 vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € TCU in Big 12 play.
- Baylor is 20-1 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
- Baylor is 14-1 this season when winning the turnover battle and 14-1 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 20-2 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-6 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor's 9-6 mark ties its 3rd-best record through 15 Big 12 games. The Bears started 10-5 in 2010 and 2012.
- Baylor is 5-2 in Big 12 Conference road games this season, the best road record of any Big 12 team.
- Baylor needs one more road win to tie the most Big 12 road victories in program history (6-3 in 2012).
- Baylor is 13-12 in Big 12 road games since 2014, which trails only Kansas (24-12) for the league's best.
- Baylor is 22-21 in Big 12 road games since 2012, joining Kansas (25-17) with the league's only winning records.
- Baylor is the nation's only team no losses outside the RPI top-25. BU losses: at Kansas (1), vs. Kansas (1), vs. Oklahoma (4), at Oregon (5), at West Virginia (13), vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas (22), at Texas A&Mà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (23) and vs. Texasà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tech (24),
- Baylor's average RPI loss is No. 12, which is the nation's best mark.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (12), Villanova (13) and West Virginiaà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (14) and are the only other teams with average RPI losses of 20 or better.
- Baylor is 16-1 this season when leading at the half and 98-12 when leading at the half since 2011-12.
- Baylor is 6-0 this season in games decided by 5 or fewer points or in overtime.
- Baylor has won 18+ games in 9 straight seasons, more than the program's previous 101 seasons combined (8).
- Baylor has 20+ wins for a 5th straight season and 8th time in the last 9 years; BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € had 3 previous 20-win seasons.
- Baylor is 11-11 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Baylor is No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 16 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 28 consecutive weeks.
- Baylor ranks top-12 nationally in assists per game (2nd), offensive rebound percentage (3rd), steal percentage (10th), rebound margin (12th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (12th).
- Baylor is 1 of 3 schools nationally ranked by the AP in football, men's basketball and women's basketball (Mich. St., OU).
- Baylor has won 123 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (139).
- Baylor is 82-69 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 years.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
- Scott Drew is coaching his 417th game at Baylor (248-168). His .596 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .684 winning percentage (214-99) since 2007-08.
- Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th season).
- Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12's top-14 in scoring (5th), rebounding (12th) and steals (11th).
- Prince has scored in double-digits in 11 straight games and is averaging 15.5 points per game in that span.
- Rico Gathers ranks 20th on Baylor's all-time scoring list (1,160) and has a school record 1,103 career rebounds.
- Gathers (1,103 boards) ranks 3rd in Big 12 history behind KU's Nickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Collison (1,143) and UT'sà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Damionà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € James (1,318).
- Al Freeman has 17 double-figure scoring games this season. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 21-3 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman's 24 career games with 10+ points.
- Lester Medford has 34 career starts at point guard and has 230 assists and 67 turnovers in those games (3.4 A-T ratio).
- Medford is 1 of 3 players ranked in the NCAA top 50 in assists (9th), AST-TO ratio (19th) and steals (46th), joining Iowa State's Monte Morris (4th A-T, 6th asts, 46th stls) and Oakland's Kahlilà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Felder (1st asts, 29th stls, 46th A-T).
- Medford leads the Big 12 in steals (1.9) and ranks 2nd in the league in assists (7.0) and AST-TOà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € ratio (3.3).
- Ishmail Wainright has 159 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
- Wainright is 9-of-15 on 3-pointers in the last 6 games -- more 3-pointers made than his first two seasons combined (5).
- King McClure is averaging 5.4 ppg and shooting .400 from 3-point range (12-of-30) in the last 13 games.
- Jake Lindsey has 62 assists and 19 turnovers, and his 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 3rd among all Big 12 Conference players behing Iowa State's Monte Morris (4.5) and Medford (3.3).
- Sophomore forwards Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston combine to average 17.8 points per game. They've accounted for 67 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (431 of 645 points).
- Motley was named USBWA Nationalà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Player of the Week on Feb. 22 after scoring 51 points in wins over No. 13 Iowa State (27) and at No. 24 Texas (24). He was making just his 2nd and 3rd starts of the season.
TEAM QUICK HITS
- Saturday's game will be televised on ESPNU,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 166th straight televised game.
- Baylor has won 38% of its games (25-40) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-7 this season.
- Baylor has a .703 winning percentage over the last five seasons (123-52).
- Baylor is 41-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 12-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
- Baylor is 56-21 in its last 77 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fifteen of the 21 losses have been away from home (10 road, 5 neutral) and 14 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
- Baylor is 339-77 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 214-99 (24 wins per season) over the last 9 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 one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine 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 794 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's game marks the 179th meeting in the series with TCU. Baylor leads the all-time series, 97-81, which dates back to a 37-6 Baylor win in Waco on Dec. 18, 1908.
- Baylor has won the eight series meetings since TCUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € joined the Big 12 by an average of 19.9 points per game.
- TCU is Baylor's 3rd-most played rival, trailing only Texas (246) and Texas A&M (207).
LINEUP NOTES
- Baylor has used the same starting lineup in 24 of 28 games this season -- the lone exceptions were whenà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Rico Gathers missed starts while recovering from illness in 4 of the last 5 games.
- Baylor's projected starting lineup has 474 games of combined experience, including 223 starts.
- Lester Medford has started all 62 games at Baylor since joining the team prior to the 2014-15 season.
- Rico Gathers played a school-record 132 straight games before missing the Feb. 10 game at K-State due to illness. He ranks 3rd on Baylor's games played list (135) and needs 6 more to tie A.J.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Walton's record (141).
- Johnathan Motley, who typically comes off the Baylor bench, has 38 career starts (4 this season).
KEYS TO VICTORY
- Baylor is 16-1 this season when leading at the half and 98-12 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
- BU is 14-1 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 14-1 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 20-2 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-6 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor is 17-1 this season when posting 16+ assists and 3-7 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
- Baylor is 13-2 when holding opponents below 70 points and 18-3 when holding teams below 80 points.
- Baylor is 21-3 when Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 14-3 mark this season.
- Baylor is 18-4 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including an 11-3 mark this season.
- Baylor is 27-6 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 17-5 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Give Baylor double-digit wins in Big 12 play for the 4th time (11 in 2010, 12 in 2012, 11 in 2015).
- Be Baylor's 21st win this season, tying the 10th-most in program history.
- Make Baylor 98-81 in the all-time series against TCU (9-0 in Big 12 play) and even the series in Fort Worth at 40-40.
- Be Baylor's 9th straight win against TCU, tying the 2nd-longest winning streak in the series (1977-80), trailing only the 14-game winning streak from 1934-42.
- Give Baylor a 57-21 record over its last 78 games, including a 14-14 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
- Make Baylor 93-44 during Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers' and Taurean Prince's 4-year careers.
- Give Baylor a 124-52 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 215-99 since 2007-08.
LAST SEASON VS. TCU
- Baylor beat TCU twice last season, extending its winning streak in the series to seven straight.
- BU won 66-59 in overtime in the game in Fort Worth on Jan. 10 and 77-57 in Waco on Feb. 4.
- Baylor averaged a rebounding advantage of 46-35 in those games.
- BU won in Fort Worth despite shooting 29.8% from the field, its lowest in a win during the Drew era. The Bears also had a season-low 5 assists. BU made 4 fewer field goals than TCU, but went 31-of-46 on free throws.
- The Bears return 69% of their points (98 of 143) and 75% of their rebounds (69 of 92) from last season's games.
- Rico Gathers averaged 15.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in 33.0 minutes per game against TCU.
- Taurean Prince averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in 28.0 minutes per game off the bench against TCU.
THIS SEASON VS. TCU
- Baylor won 82-54 when the teams met inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco on Jan. 13.
- TCU was out-scored 41-23 in the 2nd half, marking the fewest 2nd-half points by a Baylor opponent this season.
- Baylor nearly doubled TCU's rebounding total, 36-19, and the Bears won the bench scoring battle 43-13.
- Baylor shot .633 from the field (31-of-49), including .731 in the first half (19-of-26).
- Terry Maston scored a game and career-high 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench, while making 8-of-11 shots.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers (11 points) and Johnathan Motley (10 points) also scored in double-digits, and Lester Medford recorded 11 assists with just 2 turnovers.
FIFTH-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
- Baylor has won 20+ games in each of the last five 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 won 18+ games in 9 consecutive seasons, surpassing the total number of 18-win seasons in the program's prior 101 seasons combined (8; 1946, 1948, 1969, 1971, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2001).
- Baylor's 9-season streak of 18+ wins trails only Kansas among Big 12 teams. The next closest is Iowa State (5).
- Scott Drew is responsible for 8 of Baylor's 11 seasons of 20+ wins and half of BU's 14 postseason appearances.
SECOND-MOST WINS IN BIG 12 SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 123-52 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (139-36) among Big 12 teams (thru 2/26/16).
- Iowa State (119-49) is 3rd, Oklahoma (105-54) is 4th, Kansas State (99-62) is 5th, Texas (98-67) is 6th, West Virginia (95-66) is 7th, Oklahoma State (90-70) is 8th, TCU (67-90) is 9th and Texas Tech (64-89) is 10th.
ONE OF THREE RANKED IN FB, MBB AND WBB
- Baylor joins Michigan State and Oklahoma as the only schools ranked in the APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Top 25 in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
- Baylor men's basketball is ranked No. 19, football is No. 13 and women's basketball is No. 4.
- Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 6 in men's basketball and No. 20 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 3 in men's basketball and No. 23 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.
TOP-12 NATIONALLY IN REBOUNDING, ASSISTS AND STEALS
- Baylor ranks top-12 nationally in assists per game (2nd, 18.9), offensive rebound percentage (3rd, 40.9), assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 1.52), steal percentage (10th, 11.9) and rebound margin (12th, +8.3).
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (20.1) and ranks 30th in defensive rebound percentage (26.4), while Lester Medford ranks 19th in assist rate (36.1).
STRONG START TO BIG 12 PLAY
- Baylor's 9-6 start to Big 12 play ties its 3rd-best record through 15 games in the league's 20-year history. The only times the Bears had a better 15-game record were when they started 10-5 in 2010 and 2012 (Elite Eight years).
- Baylor is 5-2 in Big 12 road games, the program's second-most Big 12 road wins in a season (6-3 in 2012).
- The Bears' 5-2 record in Big 12 road games is the league's best, and Kansas (5-3) and West Virginia (4-3) are the only other teams with winning records in Big 12 road games.
MEDFORD RUNNING EFFICIENT OFFENSE
- Lester Medford is 1 of 3 players ranked in the NCAA top 50 in assists (9th), AST-TO ratio (19th) and steals (46th), joining ISU's Monte Morris (4th A-T, 6th asts, 46th stls) and Oakland's Kahlilà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Felder (1st asts, 29th stls, 46th A-T).
- Medford's 195 assists this year rank 4th on BU's single-season list. His current 6.96 assists per game ranks 5th in Baylor single-season history, and his 4.85 career assists per game ranks 5th on Baylor's all-time list.
- Medford has two game-winning shots this season. He hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to give Baylor a 69-67 win against No. 13 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6, then made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win 63-60 at Texas Tech on Jan. 16.
- In 26 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 185 assists and 49 turnovers (3.8 A-T ratio).
- Medford has five double-digit assist games this season, including a pair of games with 11+ assists and 0 turnovers.
- In 34 career starts as point guard, Medford has 230 assists and 67 turnovers, posting a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
PRINCE DOING IT ALL
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince is the only player ranked in the Big 12's top 14 in points, rebounds and steals. Prince ranks 5th in scoring (15.0), 12th in rebounding (5.6) and 11th in steals (1.4).
- Prince was 1 of 10 players named a Karlà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Malone Award finalist on Feb. 4.
- Prince ranks 6th in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.830) and 8th in offensive rebounds per game (2.4).
- Prince has scored in double figures in 11 straight and 40 of the last 46 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.
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 1,103 career rebounds, which ranks 3rd on the Big 12's career list. He trails Kansas' Nickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Collison (1,143) and Texas' Damionà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € James (1,318).
- Gathers has 31 career double-doubles, 2nd-most in Baylor history and 3 back of Skinner's school record of 34.
MOTLEY AND MASTON PROVIDING FRONTCOURT DEPTH
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston combine to average 17.8 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 67 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (431 of 645 points).
- Motley's .638 field goal percentage leads the Big 12 in conference play. Maston doesn't qualify for the Big 12 rankings (min 4.0 fgm/gm), but his .582 would rank 2nd in the conference in league play.
- Motley leads the Big 12 with a .624 field goal percentage, which is a 20% improvement from last year's 42%. He ranks 2nd among Big 12 reserves with 11.4 points in 20.7 minutes per game, including 13 double-digit scoring games.
- Maston is averaging 7.1 points in 14.3 minutes per game in league play, up from 5.8 points and 11.7 minutes in non-conference action. He's scored in double-digits 5 times in Big 12 play.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 11-11 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 30-51 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 4-6 vs. ranked teams this season with wins over No. 16 Vanderbilt, at No. 13 Iowa State, vs. No. 13 Iowa State and at No. 24 Texas, and losses at No. 25 Oregon, at No. 24 Texas A&M, at No. 2 Kansas, vs. No. 1 Oklahoma, at No. 14 West Virginia and vs. No. 2 Kansas.
GATHERS AND PRINCE JOIN 1,000-POINT CLUB
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers became Baylor's 29th 1,000-point scorer (11th of Drew era) on Dec. 23 vs. New Mexico State.
- Taurean Prince became Baylor's 30th 1,000-point scorer (12th of Drew era) on Jan. 9 at Iowa State.
- Prince (1,202 points) ranks 19th and Gathers (1,160 points) ranks 20th on BU's all-time scoring list.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 248 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .596 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
PICKED FIFTH IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
- Baylor was picked to finish fifth in the 2016 Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll in a vote by the league's head coaches in October. It's the fifth time in the last six seasons BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € has been picked in the top half of the league.
- In the last nine 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) and 5th (2015-16).
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 28 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 98-12 when leading at the break in that stretch (16-1 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 25-40 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 110 of 175 games over the last five seasons. With wins in 98 of those 110 games, and victories in 25 of 65 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 123-52 since 2011-12.
FREEMAN SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
- Sophomore Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman has moved into the starting shooting guard role after coming off the bench last year.
- Freeman has improved his assist-to-turnover ratio from 0.87 last year to 1.40 this season.
- Freeman has improved his free throw shooting by 15% from last season (.852 from .702) and has improved his 3-point shooting by 10% from last season (.418 from .323).
- Freeman has doubled his points total (331 from 163) and his steals total (20 from 10) from last season.
- Freeman already has 17 double-digit scoring games, more than double his total (7) from all 34 games last season. He's posted five 20-point games, including a career-high 22 points at No. 25 Oregon.
- Freeman ranks 18th in the Big 12 in scoring (11.8), 3rd in free-throw percentage (.852), 7th in 3-point pct. (.418) and 10th in 3-pointers made (1.6/gm).
WAINRIGHT FILLING STAT SHEET
- Junior forward Ishmail Wainright stepped into the starting small forward role with the graduation of Royce O'Neale.
- Wainright, who lost 30 pounds in the offeseason to improve his quickness, has scored in double-figures 5 times this season after not doing so in any of his 63 games played in his first two seasons.
- Wainright has more points this season (159) than his first two seasons combined (103).
- Wainright has made 22 3-pointers this season, more than he attempted in his first two seasons combined (5-of-20).
- Wainright has already posted season highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He's made 22-of-54 from 3-point range (41%) 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 13.0 minutes per game.
- Lindsey has 62 assists and just 19 turnovers on the season, averaging a team-best 19.1 minutes per turnover.
- Lindsey's 3.3 A-T ratio ranks 3rd among all Big 12 players, trailing Monte Morris and Lester Medford.
- Lindsey, the son of Utah Jazz GMà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Dennis Lindsey, has also played a crucial role as a reserve shooting guard and small forward. He locked down Georges Niang late in the game in a triangle-and-2 defense in the Jan. 9 win at Iowa State.
MCCLURE COMING ON STRONG
- Freshman guard King McClure missed the majority of preseason workouts after being diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) in June. He had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrilator (ICD) surgically implanted as a precaution for his HCM in August, and he was cleared to resume basketball activities on Oct. 1.
- McClure is averaging 5.4 ppg in the last 13 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
- McClure has made 12-of-30 from 3-point range in his last 13 games, scoring 69 points in 184 minutes.
UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS
- BU has two home games and two road games before heading to the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
- Baylor's only remaining home games are against Kansas (Feb. 23) and West Virginia (March 5).
- Baylor's road games are at TCUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (Feb. 27)à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € and at Oklahoma (March 1).
LATEST BRACKETOLOGY
- ESPN: No. 6 seed in St. Louis vs. Vanderbilt/Cincinnati (Midwest Region) -- Feb. 25
- USAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Today: No. 5 seed in Oklahoma City vs. UALR (East Region) -- Feb. 25
- Yahoo!: No. 5 seed, No. 18 on S-curve -- Feb. 25
- CBS: No. 4 seed in Denver vs. Stony Brook (Westà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Region) -- Feb. 25
- Realà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Time RPI: No. 6 seed in Pittsburgh vs. Connecticut/Michigan (Eastà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Region) -- Feb. 25
- Bracket Matrix: No. 5 seed, No. 19 on S-curve -- Feb. 25
BEST IN TEXAS
- Baylor is 40-8 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced as deep into postseason play as any of Texas' 21 Division I team in each of the last four seasons.
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is a 54-12 against Lone Star State teams over the last seven seasons (7-3 this season) after going 10-27 against in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor ... (10-1 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 2013-14, 7-1 in 2012-13, 10-0 in 2011-12, 5-3 in 2010-11 and 9-1 in 2009-10).
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. 9 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.
SEEKING BIG 12'S BEST ROAD RECORD SINCE 2014
- Baylor is 13-12 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons. With a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € TCU, Baylor would tie Kansas for the Big 12's best record record since 2014.
- Baylor is 22-21 in Big 12 road games over the last 5 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 27-17.
- Baylor (5-2) and Kansas (5-3) are the only teams with winning Big 12 road records this season, and they're also the only teams with winning Big 12 road records over the last 3 years and over the last 5 years.
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 339-77 in that span, giving Baylor 82 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 10 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 329-82).
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
- Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last seven seasons under 13th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 214-99 (24 wins per season) and has made seven postseason appearancesà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (NCAA -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; 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 14 postseason appearances (seven 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. 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.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Already holding the Big 12's best record in conference road games, the 19th-ranked Baylor Bears will try to match their most-ever Big 12 road wins with Saturday's game at last-place TCU.
The Bears (20-8, 9-6) will play TCU (11-17, 2-13) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth, followed by a road matchup at No. 4 Oklahoma (22-5, 10-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and then close out the regular season against No. 14 West Virginia (21-7, 10-5) at 1 p.m. next Saturday, March 5, at home.
"Road games are always difficult in the Big 12," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team has a Big 12-best 5-2 mark in conference road games this season and a chance to tie the 6-3 mark set by the 2011-12 team. "We've been good on the road. We need to be good, finish up strong, get some momentum. Obviously, you want to be seeded as high as possible and you want to finish in a that you're playing your best basketball."
The Bears seem to be doing just that, winning back-to-back games against nationally ranked Iowa State and Texas before Tuesday's 66-60 loss at home to No. 2 Kansas. They had a one-point lead before getting outscored 13-5 in the closing four minutes against the Jayhawks.
"Down the stretch, our shot selection was not what it needed to be," Drew said. "But we shot 28 percent in the second half and still had a chance to win. Our guys did a good job getting us some second-chance opportunities, because when you're shooting that poorly you have to have those. . . . I think there were some shots, especially in the last four minutes, that we wish we could take over."
Drew credits the upperclassmen's leadership for the Bears' road success, "making sure the younger guys know how tough each and every game on the road is."
"I think their experience has really been the difference," he said. "They've set the tone and had our team ready to play. And we've gotten off to good starts, which is important, too, on the road."
TCU has lost four in a row and ranks last in the Big 12 in points per game (67.3), field goal percentage (40.3), rebounding margin (-2.0) and assists-to-turnover ratio (0.81). But the Horned Frogs found some offense in their last two games, falling 92-83 at Iowa State and 83-79 at Texas Tech.
Sophomore guard Chauncey Collins is averaging a team-best 11.7 points per game and poured in a career-high 29 at Tech, while 6-8 freshman forward JD Miller made his first start at Iowa State and posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
In the first matchup in Waco, sophomores Terry Maston and Johnathan Motley combined for 27 points off the bench for Baylor in an 82-54 blowout of the Horned Frogs.
"From a coaching standpoint, it's always tough if you played well the first time to make sure your guys are focused and determined," Drew said. "You make adjustments and obviously you're more determined to have a better showing. (TCU's) record doesn't indicate where they are. Coach (Trent) Johnson is a great coach. If they're in a different league, maybe they're above .500 and on the bubble or headed to the NCAA Tournament. They're a team that's lost a lot of close games, and that's usually the difference between a good record and a bad record."
Conversely, the Bears are 6-0 in games decided by five or fewer points or in overtime, including road victories at Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
Senior forward Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12 that ranks in the top 15 in the league in scoring (5th, 15.0), rebounds (12th, 5.6) and steals per game (11th, 1.39).
Rico Gathers, who announced Friday that he plans to work out for NFL teams as a prospective tight end following the basketball season, is averaging 12.0 points and a league-high 9.8 rebounds per game. But he has been slowed by flu-like symptoms for the last two weeks and has played limited minutes.
"I would think if what the doctors say is accurate, probably next week would be when he should be back to normal, where he can practice full time and be able to do everything," Drew said. "And that's when you need him is to make a run at the end of the year."
Gathers, who hasn't played football in eight years, said he "never lost my heart to play football." The Buffalo Bills have scouted the 6-8, 275-pound power forward at least twice this season.
"That's why I always play with a certain type aggression on the court," he said. "I'm ready to unleash that aggression on the football field and show everybody I am one of the best football players to never do it in college."
Now that he's made his decision public, Gathers said he can "just move forward with my teammates and focus on what we really need to focus on. And that's bringing a Big 12 championship to Baylor and trying to make a deep run in (the NCAA Tournament)."
