 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Wednesday, Feb. 10 | 7:15 p.m. CT | | Location | Manhattan, Kan.; Bramlage Coliseum (12,528)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | ESPNEWS and WatchESPN | | TV Talent | Adam Amin (pxp), Miles Simon (color)
| | Satellite Radio | Sirius 108 / XM 199
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas and TuneIn App | | BU Talent | John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | Kansas State
| | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 17-6, 6-4 | | Ranking | 21 (AP), 19 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 265-177 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 245-166 (13th season)
| KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
| | Record | 14-9, 3-7
| | Ranking | nr (AP), nr (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Bruce Weber
| | Career: 389-202 (19th season)
| | KSU Record: 76-47 (4th season)
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STORYLINES
- Wednesday is the 34th series meeting. Baylor is 16-17 all-time against K-State, including 6-10 in Manhattan.
- Baylor has won 4 of its last 5 games against K-State.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € The teams split two meetings last season.
- Baylor won 79-72 in double overtime when the teams met inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco on Jan. 20 this season.
- Baylor is looking to win four Big 12 road games in a season for a 3rd consecutive season. Four road wins would tie 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015 for 2nd-most in program history, trailing only the 6-3 Big 12 road mark in 2012.
- Baylor is 17-0 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
- Baylor is 12-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 5-1 in games following a loss.
- Baylor is 17-1 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-5 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor's 6-4 Big 12 record trails only the 8-2 start of 2012 for BU's best-ever record through 10 Big 12 games.
- All of Baylor's losses are against current top-20 RPI teams (at Oregon, at TAMU, at Kansas, vs. OU, vs. UT, at WVU).
- Baylor's losses have all been against teams currently ranked in the APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Top 25 -- at No. 11 Oregon, at No. 15 Texas A&M, at No. 6 Kansas, vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, vs. No. 24 Texas and at No. 10 West Virginia.
- Baylor is 9-10 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season, including a 5-3 home record.
- Baylor is 11-12 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons, tying the league's best road record in that span.
- Baylor is 20-21 in Big 12 road games over the last 5 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 24-17.
- Baylor has a 75% defensive rebound percentage in the last 5 games, allowing 29 offensive rebounds on 117 misses.
- Baylor is No. 21 in the AP Top 25 and No. 19 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 26 consecutive weeks.
- Baylor ranks top-10 nationally in assists per game (2nd), offensive rebound percentage (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (8th), steal percentage (10th) and rebound margin (10th).
- Six BU players are averaging 8+ ppg in Big 12 play (Prince, Gathers, Motley,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Medford, Freeman and Maston).
- 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 120 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (134).
- Baylor is 79-67 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 years.
- Baylor is 95-11 when leading at the half since 2011-12, including 13-0 this season.
- Baylor has trailed at halftime in each of its last 6 games (3-3 record), but the Bears have won 39% of their games (25-39) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-6 this season.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
- Scott Drew is coaching his 412th game at Baylor (245-166). His .596 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .685 winning percentage (211-97) since 2007-08.
- Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12's top-10 in scoring (5th), rebounding (9th) and steals (10th).
- Rico Gathers ranks 20th on Baylor's all-time scoring list (1,140) and has a school record 1,083 career rebounds.
- Gathers is tied with Missouri's Arthur Johnson (1,083) for 3rd on the Big 12's all-time rebounding list.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers trails only Kansas' Nickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Collison (1,143) and Texas'à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Damionà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € James (1,318)
- Al Freeman has 14 double-figure scoring games this season. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 19-2 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman's 20 career games with 10+ points.
- Lester Medford has 29 career starts at point guard and has 195 assists and 55 turnovers in those games (3.5 A-T ratio).
- Medford joins Iowa State's Monte Morris as the nation's only players ranked in the NCAA top 40 in assists (6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (14th) and steals (36th). Morris ranks 5th in assists, 3rd in A-T ratio and 28th in steals.
- Medford ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in assists (7.0), steals (2.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4).
- Ishmail Wainright has 122 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
- King McClure is averaging 6.9 ppg in the last 8 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
- McClure has made 11-of-21 from 3-point range in his last 8 games, scoring 55 points in 117 minutes.
- Jake Lindsey has 53 assists and 14 turnovers, and his 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio trails only Iowa State's Monte Morris (5.3) among all Big 12 Conference players.
- Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston combine to average 17.2 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 69 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (396 of 575 points).
- Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th seasons).
TEAM QUICK HITS
- Wednesday's game will be televised on ESPNEWS,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 161st straight televised game.
- Baylor has a .706 winning percentage over the last five seasons (120-50).
- Baylor is 41-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 11-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
- BU's bench is averaging 27.6 ppg in the last 9 games, led by Motley (99 pts), Maston (71 pts) and McClure (55 pts).
- Baylor is 53-19 in its last 72 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fifteen of the 19 losses have been away from home (10 road, 5 neutral) and 13 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
- Baylor is 332-76 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 211-97 (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 was picked 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas.
- 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 789 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas Tech.
SECOND-MOST WINS IN BIG 12 SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 120-50 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (134-36) among Big 12 teams (thru 2/8/16).
- Iowa State (117-46) is 3rd, Oklahoma (103-52) is 4th, Oklahoma State (99-67) is 5th, Kansas State (98-58) is 6th, Texas (96-65) is 7th, West Virginia (93-63) is 8th, TCU (67-86) is 9th and Texas Tech (59-89) is 10th.
LINEUP NOTES
- Baylor has used the same starting lineup in every game this season -- 1 of 2 Big 12 teams to do so (BU, OU).
- Baylor's starting lineup has 451 games of combined experience, including 202 starts.
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers and Lester Medford have both started 57 consecutive games.
- Gathers has played in all 132 games during his Baylor career. The Big 12 consecutive games played record is 142 by Texas' Damion James, and Gathers can reach 140 consecutive games entering the Big 12 Championship.
KEYS TO VICTORY
- Baylor is 13-0 this season when leading at the half and 95-11 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
- Baylor is 15-1 this season when posting 16+ assists and 2-5 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
- Baylor is 16-3 this season when holding opponents below 35 rebounds and 1-3 when allowing 35+à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € boards.
- Baylor is 17-1 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-5 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor is 12-1 when holding opponents below 70 points and 16-2 when holding teams below 80 points.
- BU is 12-0 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 12-1 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 19-2 when Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 12-2 mark this season.
- Baylor is 16-3 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including a 9-2 mark this season.
- Baylor is 25-4 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 15-3 mark this season.
- Baylor is 10-0 when Ishmailà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Wainright records 5+ assists, including a 6-0 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Give Baylor 4 Big 12 road wins in a season, tying the program's 2nd-most in the league's 20-year history. BU won 6 Big 12 road games since 2012 and won 4 Big 12 road games in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015.
- Improve Baylor's record to 17-17 all-time against Kansas State, including a 7-10 record in Manhattan.
- Be Baylor's 3rd straight against K-State, equaling the Bears' longest winning streak in the series (2000-2002).
- Make Baylor 7-4 through 11 Big 12 games, one game back of the program's best 11-game start (8-3 in 2012).
- Improve Baylor's Big 12 road record to a league-leading 12-12 since 2014. The Bears would improve to 21-21 in Big 12 road games since 2012, which trails only Kansas (24-17).
- Give Baylor a season sweep against K-State for the 2nd time in 5 seasons since the league went to a double-round robin schedule. The Bears also swept K-State in 2014.
- Give Baylor a 54-19 record over its last 73 games, including a 12-13 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
- Make Baylor 91-42 during Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers' and Taurean Prince's 4-year careers.
- Give Baylor a 121-42 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 212-97 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
- Wednesday is the 34th series meeting betweenà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor and Kansas State, and the Bears trail the series 16-17.
- BU is 6-10 against K-State in Manhattan. The teams split last season, with each winning on their home court. K-State won 63-61 in Manhattan on Jan. 17, and Baylor won 69-42 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco on Feb. 21.
- BU is 9-10 against K-State in the Drew era, including a 4-1 mark since 2014.
SERIES IN MANHATTAN
- Baylor is 6-10 all-time in Manhattan, but the Bears are 6-6 in Big 12 games in the Little Apple.
- Baylor's 6 wins in Manhattan came in 1997, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2012 and 2014.
- Three of the last four series meetings in Manhattan have been decided by 2 points.
- Baylor won 75-73 in 2012 and 76-74 in 2014, and K-State won 63-61 in 2015.
LAST SEASON VS. KANSAS STATE
- BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € and K-State split last season's series. KSUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € won by 2 points in Manhattan and BU won by 27 points in Waco.
- Baylor had a 9-point halftime lead inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Manhattan, but the Bears shot just 30% in the second half and K-State rallied to take its first lead with 6:24 left. Kenny Chery missed a runner at the buzzer that could've tied it.
- Baylor led 39-25 at the break inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco, and the Bears held K-State to 17 second-half points on their way to a 69-42 win. The Wildcats went 1-for-16 from 3-point range, while the Bears made 8-of-16 treys.
- Taurean Prince averaged 17.0 points, 4.5 steals, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in last year's games vs. K-State.
THIS SEASON VS. KANSAS STATE
- Baylor trailed by 10 points with 2 minutes left in the first half, but the Bears closed it to 34-28 at the break and started the second half on a 15-7 run to regain the lead at 43-41.
- The lead went back and forth the rest of the way, with neither team leading by more than 4 points until Baylor took a 73-67 lead with 3:19 left in the second overtime. à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € went on to win 79-72.
- Baylor had chances to win at the buzzer in both regulation and the first overtime, but Lester Medford missed a fadeaway at the end of regulation and Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman's jumper missed at the end of the first overtime.
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince had team-highs with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Johnathan Motley added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks off the bench. Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman scored all 11 of his points in the extra periods.
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. 21, football is No. 13 and women's basketball is No. 4.
- Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 8 in men's basketball and No. 17 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 3 in men's basketball and No. 21 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.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
- Baylor ranks top-10 nationally in assists per game (2nd, 19.5), offensive rebound percentage (5th, 40.5), assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, 1.57), steal percentage (10th, 11.9) and rebound margin (10th, +9.5).
- Individually, Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (19.1) and ranks 31st in defensive rebound percentage (26.5), while Lester Medford ranks 19th in assist rate (36.4) and 51st in steal percentage (3.6).
STRONG START TO BIG 12 PLAY
- Baylor's 6-4 start to Big 12 play ties its second-best record through 10 games in the league's 20-year history, trailing only the 8-2 start in 2012. Baylor also started 6-4 in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
- Baylor is 3-2 in Big 12 road games, and with a win vs. K-State, can tie the program's second-most Big 12 road wins in a season. The Bears won 6 Big 12 road games in 2012 and 4 in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015.
MEDFORD RUNNING EFFICIENT OFFENSE
- Lester Medford joins ISU's Monte Morris at the nation's only players ranked in the NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € top-40 in assists/gm (6th, 7.0), steals/gm (36th, 2.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (14th, 3.4).
- Medford's current 6.96 assists per game ranks 5th in Baylor single-season history, and his 4.67 career assists per game ranks 5th on Baylor's all-time list. His 160 assists this year are 1 shy of Baylor's single-season top-10.
- 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 21 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 150 assists and 37 turnovers (4.1 A-T ratio).
- Medford has five double-digit assist games this season, including a pair of games with 11+ assists and 0 turnovers.
- In 29 career starts as point guard, Medford has 195 assists and 55 turnovers, posting a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
PRINCE DOING IT ALL
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince is the only player ranked in the Big 12's top 10 in points, rebounds and steals. Prince ranks 5th in scoring (14.9), 9th in rebounding (6.0) and 10th in steals (1.5).
- Prince was 1 of 10 players named a Karlà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Malone Award finalist on Feb. 4.
- Prince has made 27-of-30 free throws in Big 12 play, good for 3rd in the league at .900.
- Prince has scored in double figures in 35 of the last 41 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.
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 1,083 career rebounds, which ranks tied for 3rd on the Big 12's career list. He's tied with MU's Arthur Johnson (1,083) and trails KU's Nickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Collison (1,143) and UT's 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 17.2 points per game off the bench. They've accounted for 69 percent of Baylor's bench scoring (396 of 575 points).
- Motley leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage in conference play at .651. Gathers and Maston don't qualify for the Big 12 rankings (min 4.0 fgm/gm), but Maston's .586 would rank 2nd and Gathers' .514 would rank 7th.
- Motley leads the Big 12 with a .625 field goal percentage, which is a 21% improvement from last year's 42%. He ranks 2nd among Big 12 reserves with 10.4 points in 19.4 minutes per game, including 10 double-digit scoring games.
- Maston is averaging 8.2 points in 17.1 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 4 times in Big 12 play.
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.
- Gathers (1,140 career points) is tied withà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Brady Heslip for 20th on BU's all-time scoring list, 19 points back of Coryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Jefferson (1,159) in 19th place.
- Prince (1,124 career points) ranks 22nd on BU's scoring list, 16 points back of Gathers and Heslip in 20th.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 9-10 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 28-50 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 2-5 vs. ranked teams this season with wins over No. 16 Vanderbilt and at No. 13 Iowa State, and losses at No. 25 Oregon, at No. 24 Texas A&M, at No. 2 Kansas, vs. No. 1 Oklahoma and at No. 14 West Virginia.
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 26 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
SIX AVERAGING 8+ PPG IN BIG 12 PLAY
- Baylor has six players averaging 8+ points per game in Big 12 Conference play, tying K-State for the league lead.
- Taurean Prince (14.4 ppg), Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers (10.5), Johnathan Motley (10.1), Lester Medford (10.0), Al Freeman (9.3) and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston (8.2) all average at least 8.0 points per game in league play.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 95-11 when leading at the break in that stretch (13-0 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 39% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 25-39 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 106 of 170 games over the last five seasons. With wins in 95 of those 106 games, and victories in 25 of 64 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 120-50 since 2011-12.
FREEMAN GROWING INTO STARTING ROLE
- Sophomore Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman has moved into the starting shooting guard role after coming off the bench last year.
- Freeman has nearly doubled his assist-to-turnover ratio from 0.87 last year to 1.56 this season.
- Freeman already has 14 double-digit scoring games, doubling his total (7) 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 19th in the Big 12 in scoring (11.5), 8th in free-throw percentage (.819), 9th in 3-point pct. (.392) and 10th in 3-pointers made (1.7/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 4 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 (122) than his first two seasons combined (103).
- Wainright has made 15 3-pointers this season, tripling the total from his first two seasons combined (5-of-20).
- Wainright has already posted season highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He's made 15-of-41 from 3-point range (36%) 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 12.3 minutes per game.
- Lindsey has 53 assists and just 14 turnovers on the season, averaging a team-best 20.3 minutes per turnover.
- Lindsey's 3.8 A-T ratio ranks 2nd among all Big 12 players, trailing only Iowa State's Monte Morris.
- 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 implated as a precaution for his HCM in August, and he was cleared to resume basketball activities on Oct. 1.
- McClure is averaging 6.9 ppg in the last 8 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
- McClure has made 11-of-21 from 3-point range in his last 8 games, scoring 55 points in 117 minutes.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 245 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .596 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
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. 11 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.
BEST BIG 12 ROAD RECORD SINCE 2014
- Baylor is 11-12 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons, tying the league's best road record in the span.
- Baylor is 20-21 in Big 12 road games over the last 5 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 24-17.
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 332-76 in that span, giving Baylor 79 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 8 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 324-81).
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.
UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS
- Baylor returns home for back-to-back games against Texas Tech (Feb. 13) and Iowa State (Feb. 16). The TTU game is Military Appreciation Night and Scout Night, and Red Panda will perform at halftime of the ISU game.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Whether it's Oklahoma State beating Kansas by 19, Kansas State knocking off top-ranked Oklahoma or TCU and Texas Tech both picking up early wins against Texas, nothing really surprises the Big 12 coaches anymore.
"That's why we've had the No. 1-ranked league in the country the last three years, RPI-wise," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "It's not because of one team or two teams, it's because of the depth in the league. Coaches understand that, we know how tough it is to win against quality teams like K-State, let alone do it on the road. After they get a win against Oklahoma, fans look at it and say, `How did that happen.' Coaches aren't surprised at all. That's why our league is so good, because top to bottom, it's very good."
Despite their first back-to-back losses of the season, the No. 19/21 Bears (17-6, 6-4) find themselves just one loss back in the Big 12 standings going into Wednesday's 7:15 p.m. game against K-State (14-9, 3-7) in Manhattan.
The Wildcats had lost four of their last five conference games - all against top-20 teams - before Saturday's 80-69 win at home over the Sooners. Junior guard Wesley Iwundu had 22 points, seven assists and three steals and helped limit Buddy Hield to 23 points on 17 shots.
"I was really starting to have a fear that our players were losing belief that they could win a tough game," K-State coach Bruce Weber said. "To our players' credit and our fans' credit, we had great energy in the building and finally finished a game. We didn't make unbelievable plays, but we made simple passes to open guys to make shots. Our defense was good the whole game."
That's K-State's calling card. The Wildcats have allowed just 66.4 points per game and lead the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 28.9.
"They take away the 3 really well," said Baylor senior forward Taurean Prince, who is averaging 14.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. "They're good defensively, so we've got to get easy shots and then do what we can on defense to stop them and get out in transition."
In the first matchup last month in Waco, the Bears had to claw back from a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat K-State, 79-72, in double overtime. But that just continued a trend that has seen five of the last six games come down to a single possession or overtime.
"That's what you have in the Big 12, a lot of close games," Drew said. "They're a very physical team. Defensively, they do a really good job of making everything tough on you, make you earn everything you get. You'd like to get some easy baskets, if you could, and that means you've got to get turnovers or steals, transition on misses. But you've got to get some easy baskets at some point."
Baylor's defense has struggled, particularly in Big 12 play, allowing a league-worst 48.1 field goal percentage. Over the last five games, including losses to Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia, the Bears have given up 43 3-pointers and 47 percent shooting from outside the arc.
"We have to have more high hands on defense and stop the pass from going into the post so easily," Prince said. "We worked on that a lot the past two days, and I think we've become a much better defensive team just in that short amount of time."
With West Virginia falling at Kansas Tuesday night and dropping into a three-way tie for first at 8-3, Baylor can move within a game of the leaders with a win at K-State.
"You look how close the race is at the top, one or two games change everything," Drew said. "We need to get back to winning, and we need to do it sooner rather than later. It's not always the easiest thing to go on the road and snap a losing streak. But that's the position we're in and what we need to do."
