 | | MEDIA INFORMATION | | Date | Thursday, March 10 | 11:30 a.m. CT | | Location | Kansas City, Mo.; Sprint Center (18,972)
| | Tickets | Purchase Tickets Online | | TV | ESPN2 and WatchESPN | | TV Talent | Brent Musburger (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (color), Holly Rowe (reporter)
| | Satellite Radio | Sirius 93 / XM 199
| | BU Radio | ESPN Central Texas and TuneIn App | | BU Talent | John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (color) | | Stats | | | Game Notes | Baylor | Texas
| | Social Media | @BaylorMBB | BAYLOR BEARS
| | Record | 21-10, 10-8 | | Ranking | 22 (AP), 20 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Scott Drew
| | Career: 269-181 (14th season)
| | BU Record: 249-170 (13th season)
| TEXAS LONGHORNS
| | Record | 20-11, 11-7
| | Ranking | 23 (AP), 22 (Coaches)
| | Head Coach | Shaka Smart
| | Career: 183-67 (7th season)
| | UT Record: 20-11 (1st season)
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STORYLINES
- Thursday is the 248th all-time series meeting, the most-played rivalry in Baylor history, dating back to 1905-06.
- Baylor is 10-7 in its last 17 games against UT after snapping a 24-game losing streak in the series in 2009.
- The teams split this year's season series with Texas winning 67-59 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco and Baylor winning in Austin 78-64.
- Baylor is 15-18 all-time in the Big 12 Championship, including 11-11 under Drew and a 10-7 record since 2009.
- Baylor is 3-2 in Big 12 Championship games against Texas, including 3 straight wins (2009, 2010, 2014).
- Baylor's 3 Big 12 tournament wins against Texas are its most against any opponent.
- The Bears are 5-4 all-time in conference tournament games vs. UTà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (2-2 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Southwest Conference).
- Baylor's No. 5 seed ties its 4th-best at the Big 12 Championship, trailing No. 3 in 2010 and No. 4 in 2012 and 2015.
- Baylor is 28-12 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last seven seasons.
- Baylor has gone 94-46 during Rico Gathers' and Taurean Prince's four years, averaging 24 wins per season.
- Baylor is 21-2 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
- Baylor is 14-2 this season when winning the turnover battle and 14-2 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 21-3 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-7 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor's 10 wins in Big 12 play were its 4th-most in the league's 20-year history (12 in 2012, 11 in 2010 and 2015). The previous three double-digit Big 12 win totals all earned No. 3 seeds in the NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament.
- Baylor is 11-13 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Scott Drew is seeking his school-record 250th win at Baylor. The previous BU record was 201 wins.
- Baylor finished 6-3 in Big 12 road games this season, which tied for the league's best road record.
- Baylor is 14-13 in Big 12 road games since 2014, which is one game back of Kansas (15-12) for the league's best road mark in the span. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 23-21 in Big 12 road games since 2012, also second-best behind Kansas (28-17).
- Baylor is the nation's only team no losses outside the RPI top-40. BU losses: at/vs. Kansas (1), at Oregon (4), at/vs. Oklahoma (5), at/vs. West Virginia (10), at Texas A&Mà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (22), vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas (23) and vs. Texasà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tech (26).
- Baylor's average RPI loss is No. 11, which is the nation's best mark.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylorà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (11), Villanova (14) and West Virginiaà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (16) are the only other teams with average RPI losses of 20 or better.
- 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 No. 22 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 30 consecutive weeks.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
- Scott Drew is coaching his 420th game at Baylor (249-170). His .594 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .680 winning percentage (215-101) since 2007-08.
- Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th season).
- Four BU players earned All-Big 12 honors. Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince was on the coaches' first team, Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers was on the APà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € second team, Johnathan Motley earned coaches' third team and Lester Medford was honorable mention.
- Prince is the only player in the Big 12's top-15 in scoring (4th), rebounding (10th), steals (14th) and blocks (14th). He has scored in double-digits in 14 straight games and is averaging 16.4 points per game in that span.
- Gathers ranks 20th on Baylor's all-time scoring list (1,176) and has a school record 1,112 career rebounds.
- Gathers (1,112 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).
- Medford has 37 career starts at point guard and has 247 assists and 80 turnovers in those games (3.1 A-T ratio).
- Medford is 1 of 2 high-major players ranked in the NCAA top 70 in assists (9th), AST-TO ratio (30th) and steals (69th), joining Iowa State'sà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Monte Morris (7th assists, 69th steals, 3rd assist-to-turnover ratio).
- Medford ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in assists (6.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9) and tied for 4th in steals (1.7).
- Al Freeman has 18 double-figure scoring games this season. BUà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € is 21-4 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman's 25 career games with 10+ points.
- Ishmail Wainright has 187 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
- Wainright is shooting 56% on 3-pointers in the last 9 games (14-of-25).à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € He entered this season 5-of-20 on treys.
- King McClure is shooting 43% from 3-point range (17-of-40) in the last 16 games.
- Jake Lindsey has 65 assists and 24 turnovers, and his 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 4th among all Big 12 Conference players behing Iowa State's Monte Morris (4.1), Medford (2.9) and Texas Tech's Toddrickà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gotcher (3.0).
- Sophomore forwards Motley and Terryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Maston combine to average 17.3 points per game. Motley came off the bench all season before starting 6 of the last 8 games, and Maston has come off the bench in every game.
- 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
- Thursday's game will be televised on ESPN2,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Baylor's 169th straight televised game.
- Baylor ranks top-15 nationally in assists per game (4th, 18.4), offensive rebound percentage (3rd, 40.9), rebound margin (14th,+8.2) and steal percentage (13th, 11.6).
- Baylor is 39-33 in March/April games under Drew, including 14-7 in its last 21 March games.
- Baylor has won 124 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (142).
- Baylor is 83-71 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 years.
- Baylor is 17-1 this season when leading at the half and 99-12 when leading at the half since 2011-12.
- Baylor has won 37% of its games (25-42) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-9 this season.
- Baylor has a .697 winning percentage over the last five seasons (124-54).
- Baylor is 41-23 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 12-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
- Baylor is 57-23 in its last 80 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Sixteen of the losses have been away from home (11 road, 5 neutral) and 16 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
- Baylor is 345-79 in football and men's and women's basketball since 2011-12, the nation's best record in that span.
- Baylor is 1 of 3 schools nationally ranked by the AP in football, men's basketball and women's basketball (Mich. St., OU).
- Baylor is 215-101 (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 has won 18+ games in 9 straight seasons, more than the program's previous 101 seasons combined (8).
- Baylor's 5 NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Draft picks in the last 4 years ranks 8th nationally.
- Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 797 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texas Tech.
KEYS TO VICTORY
- Baylor is 17-1 this season when leading at the half and 99-12 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
- BU is 14-2 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 14-2 when getting more points off turnovers.
- Baylor is 21-3 this season when shooting 40%à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € or better from the field and 0-7 when shooting less than 40%.
- Baylor is 18-2 this season when posting 16+ assists and 3-8 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
- Baylor is 13-3 when holding opponents below 70 points and 19-5 when holding teams below 80 points.
- Baylor is 21-4 when Alà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 14-4 mark this season.
- Baylor is 19-4 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including a 12-3 mark this season.
- Baylor is 28-7 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including an 18-6 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Be Baylor's 22nd win this season, the 10th-most in program history. It would be a 5th straight season of 22+ wins.
- Prevent Baylor from losing 3 straight games for the first time since losing 5 straight from January 15-28, 2014.
- Make Baylor 11-7 in its last 18 games against Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
- Improve Baylor's all-time Big 12 Championship record to 16-18, including a 4-2 mark against Texas.
- Give Baylor a 29-12 record in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last eight seasons.
- Advance BU to the Big 12 Championship semifinals for a 7th time (2001, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016).
- Advance Baylor to the Big 12 Championship semifinals for a 3rd straight season and 6th time in the last 8 years.
- Make Baylor 95-46 during Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers' and Taurean Prince's 4-year careers.
- Give Baylor a 125-54 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 216-101 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
- Thursday is the 248th all-time meeting between Baylor and Texas, the most-played rivalry for both schools.
- Baylor has won 10 of the last 17 games in the series after snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
- Baylor is 85-162 all-time against Texas, including a 7-8 mark in neutral site games.
- Baylor is 3-2 all-time against Texas at the Big 12 Championship, including 3 straight wins (2009, 2010, 2014).
THIS SEASON VS. TEXAS
- Baylor and Texas split the season series. UT won 67-59 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco on Feb. 1 and BU won 78-64 in Austin onà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Feb. 20.
- Inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco, BU had season-lows in points (59), shooting percentage (.352), points off turnovers (7) and bench points (7).
- UT had a 35-29 halftime lead in Waco, and though the Bears tied it at 43-43, UTà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € didn't trail the rest of the way.
- In Austin, the Bears jumped out to a 40-22 lead at the break and built their lead as high as 27 points at 60-33.
- Baylor shot .627 from the field and attempted a season-low five 3-pointers in the win in Austin.
LINEUP NOTES
- Baylor has used only two starting lineups all season. Taurean Prince, Lester Medford, Ishmailà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Wainright and Al Freeman have started all 30 games. Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers has started 25 games and Johnathan Motley has 6 starts.
- Baylor's projected starting lineup has 416 games of combined experience, including 214 starts.
- Lester Medford has started all 65 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 (138) and needs 3 more to tie A.J.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Walton's record (141).
- Johnathan Motley, who has come off the bench most of this season, is now in the projected starting lineup after starting 6 of the last 8 games. Motley has 40 career starts over his first two seasons.
FOUR BEARS EARN ALL-BIG 12 RECOGNITION
- Four Baylor players picked up 2016 All-Big 12 recognition. Taurean Prince was named All-Big 12 First Team, Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers and Johnathan Motley were Third Team, and Lester Medford earned Honorable Mention.
- Theà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Bears' four selections tied 2012 for the most in program history.
- Prince became the 5th player in program history to earn All-Big 12 First Team recognition from the coaches, joining Terry Blake (2001),à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Curtis Jerrells (2008),à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € LaceDarius Dunn (2011) and Gathers (2015).
- Gathers and Prince both repeated as All-Big 12 honorees, while Motley and Medford were first-time selections.
- Baylor has had a junior college transfer point guard earn All-Big 12 recognition in five straight seasons.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Medford (2016) joined Kenny Chery (2014, 2015) and Pierre Jackson (2012, 2013).
SECOND-MOST WINS IN BIG 12 SINCE 2011-12
- Baylor is 124-54 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (142-36) among Big 12 teams (thru 3/8/16).
- Iowa State (121-50) is 3rd, Oklahoma (107-55) is 4th, Kansas State (100-64) is 5th, Texas (100-68) is 6th, West Virginia (98-66) is 7th, Oklahoma State (90-73) is 8th, TCU (67-93) is 9th and Texas Tech (65-91) is 10th.
BAYLOR'S BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
- Baylor is the No. 5 seed for the third time in Big 12 Championship history (1998, lost in quarterfinals to No. 4 seed Nebraska; 2008, lost in first round to No. 12 seed Colorado).
- Baylor plays Texas for the sixth time in Big 12 Championship history.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € The Bears are 3-2 in previous meetings.
- Baylor is 15-18 all-time in the Big 12 Championship and 11-11 under head coach Scott Drew.
- Baylor is 7-7 all-time at Sprint Center and 11-14 in Big 12 Championship games held in Kansas City.
- BU is 6-3 in Big 12 Championship play as the higher seed and 9-15 as the lower seed.
- Baylor is the only team to defeat three No. 1 seeds at the Big 12 Championship (2001, 2009, 2012), and Iowa State (2014, 2015) is the only other program with multiple wins over No. 1 seeds at the Big 12 Championship.
BAYLOR VS. TEXAS IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
- Baylor is 5-4 all-time against Texas in conference tournamens, both Big 12 and Southwest Conference.
- BU is 3-2 against Texas in Big 12 Championships and 2-2 against Texas in the Southwest Conference Tournament.
- Baylor has won 3 straight confereence tournament games against Texas, including semifinal games in 2009 and 2014. Prior to that stretch, UTà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € won 4 straight tournament games against Baylor, dating back to 1991.
BEST IN TEXAS
- Baylor is 41-8 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 55-12 against Lone Star State teams over the last seven seasons (8-3 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).
STRONG NCAA TOURNAMENT RESUME
- Baylor is the nation's only team with zero losses outside the RPI top 40.
- Baylor is 21-3 against teams currently ranked outside the RPIà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € top 10.
- Baylor's worst RPI loss of the season was to No. 26 Texas Tech.
- The Bears' average RPI loss is No. 11, which is the nation's best mark. Only two other teams have average RPI losses of 20 or better -- Villanova (14) and West Virginia (16).
- Baylor's best wins are at Iowa State (No. 20 RPI), at Texas (No. 23), at Texas Tech (No. 26), vs. Iowa State (No. 20) and vs. Vanderbilt (No. 49).
- Five of Baylor's non-conference opponents went on to win their leagues -- Oregon (14-4 in Pac-12), New Mexico State (13-1 in WAC), SFAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (16-0 in Southland), Texas A&M (13-5 in SEC) and Texas Southern (16-2 inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € SWAC).
- Baylor notched double-digit wins in Big 12 play for the 4th time in program history.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € The Bears earned No. 3 seeds in the NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament in each of the three previous double-digit Big 12 wins seasons.
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 topped 21 wins in each of the past 5 seasons and is averaging 24.8 wins per season in that span.
- 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.
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. 22, football is No. 13 and women's basketball is No. 4.
- Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 2 in men's basketball and No. 16 in women's basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football,à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € No. 6 in men's basketball and No. 24 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.
ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
- Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 249 career wins as head coach.
- Drew's .596 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
TOP 15 NATIONALLY IN REBOUNDING, ASSISTS AND STEALS
- Baylor ranks top-15 nationally in assists per game (4th, 18.4), offensive rebound percentage (3rd, 40.9), rebound margin (14th, +8.2) and steal percentage (13th, 11.6).
- Ricoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Gathers leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (19.1) and ranks 45th in defensive rebound percentage (25.1), while Lester Medford ranks 26th in assist rate (35.2).
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS IN BIG 12 PLAY
- Baylor's 10 Big 12 wins marked the 4th time (all in last 7 years) that Baylor has posted double-digit Big 12 victories.
- Baylor's only other seasons with double-digit Big 12 wins were 2010, 2012 and 2015. The Bears were No. 3 seeds in the NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament in all three of those seasons.
- Baylor went 6-3 in Big 12 road games, tying the program's most Big 12 road wins in a season (6-3 in 2012).
- The Bears' 6-3 record in Big 12 road games tied the league's best, equaling Kansas (6-3) and West Virginia (6-3) as the only other teams with .500 or better records in Big 12 road games.
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 30 consecutive weeks ranked.
- Baylor is one of 13 schools to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
LATEST BRACKETOLOGY
- ESPN: No. 6 seed in Denver vs. Sanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Diegoà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State (South Region) -- March 8
- USAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Today: No. 6 seed in Denver vs. Syracuse/Tulsa (Midwest Region) -- March 7
- Yahoo!: No. 6 seed, No. 23 on S-curve -- March 7
- CBS: No. 6 seed in Denver vs. Saint Mary's (Southà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Region) -- March 7
- Tim O'Donnell (KXXV-TV inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Waco): No. 6 seed in Brooklyn vs. South Carolina/Tulsa (Midwest Region) -- March 7
- Realà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Time RPI: No. 6 seed in Louisville vs. Saint Mary's (Southà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Region) -- March 6
- Bracket Matrix: No. 6 seed, No. 23 on S-curve -- March 8
MEDFORD RUNNING EFFICIENT OFFENSE
- Lester Medford is 1 of 2 high-major players ranked in the NCAA top 70 in assists (9th), AST-TO ratio (30th) and steals (69th), joining Iowa State's Monte Morris (7th assists, 69th steals, 3rd assist-to-turnover ratio).
- Medford's 212 assists this year rank 4th on BU's single-season list. His current 6.84 assists per game ranks 5th in Baylor single-season history, and his 4.89 career assists per game ranks 5th on Baylor's all-time list.
- Medford's 318 career assists rank 8th in program history, and he needs 3 more to pass Aaron Bruce for 7th place.
- 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.
- Medford has six double-digit assist games this season, including a pair of games with 11+ assists and 0 turnovers.
- In 37 career starts as point guard, Medford has 247 assists and 80 turnovers, posting a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
PRINCE DOING IT ALL
- Taureanà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Prince is the only player ranked in the Big 12's top 15 in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. Prince ranks 4th in scoring (15.5), 10th in rebounding (6.0), 14th in steals (1.3) and 14th in blocks (0.7).
- Prince is the 5th player in program history named All-Big 12 First Team by the league's coaches.
- Prince ranks 11th in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.767) and 7th in offensive rebounds per game (2.5).
- Prince has scored in double figures in 14 straight and 43 of the last 49 games dating back to Jan. 17, 2015.
- Prince has 11 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 1,112 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 17.3 points per game. Motley came off the bench all season before starting 6 of the last 8 games, and Maston has come off the bench in every game.
- Motley leads the Big 12 with a .613 field goal percentage, which is a 19% improvement from last year's .417. He's scored in double-figures 14 times, including seven 20-point games.
- Motley's .617 field goal percentage led the Big 12 in conference play. Maston didn't qualify for the Big 12 rankings (min 4.0 fgm/gm), but his .573 would've ranked 2nd in the conference in league play.
- Maston averaged 6.7 points in 13.1 minutes per game in league play, up from 5.8 points and 11.7 minutes in non-conference action. He scored in double-digits 5 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.
- Prince (1,260 points) ranks 14th and Gathers (1,176 points) ranks 20th on BU's all-time scoring list.
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 1.33 this season.
- Freeman has improved his free throw shooting by 16% from last season (.865 from .702) and has improved his 3-point shooting by 7% from last season (.397 from .323).
- Freeman has doubled his points total (353 from 163) and his steals total (24 from 10) from last season.
- Freeman's current .865 free-throw percentage is the 5th-best in a season in program history
- Freeman already has 18 double-digit scoring games, more than double his total (7) from all 34 games last season.
- Freeman ranks 3rd in the Big 12 Conference in free-throw percentage (.865), 8th in 3-point pct. (.397) and 10th in 3-pointers made (1.5/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 6 times this season after not doing so in any of his 63 games played in his first two seasons.
- Wainright has scored 84 more points this season (187) than his first two seasons combined (103).
- Wainright shot .472 from 3-point range in conference play (17-of-36), which was the 2nd-best mark among all Big 12 players with at least 15 attempts, trailing only Texas Tech's Justin Gray at .500 (18-of-36).
- Wainright has made 27 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 27-of-64 from 3-point range (42%) this season, after shooting 5-of-20 from long range (25%) over his first two years combined.
- Wainright's current .422 3-point percentage is the 6th-best single-season mark in program history, but he needs 11 more attempts to meet the 75-attempt minimum.
LINDSEY STEADY AS BACKUP POINT GUARD
- Freshman Jake Lindsey serves as the backup point guard to Lester Medford, averaging 12.5 minutes per game.
- Lindsey has 65 assists and just 24 turnovers on the season, averaging 16.1 minutes per turnover.
- Lindsey's 2.7 A-T ratio ranks 4th among all Big 12 players, trailing ISU's Monte Morris (4.1), Baylor's Lester Medford (2.9) and Texasà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tech's Toddrick Gotcher (3.0).
- 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 had a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in Baylor's 2-point loss at No. 6 Oklahoma.
- McClure is averaging 6.1 ppg and shooting 43% from 3-point range (17-of-40) in the last 16 games.
- McClure has made 17-of-40 from 3-point range in his last 16 games, scoring 95 points in 242 minutes.
DREW VS. RANKED TEAMS
- Baylor is 11-13 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
- Drew is 30-53 against ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in his first four rebuilding seasons at Baylor.
- Baylor is 4-8 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, vs. No. 2 Kansas, at No. 6 Oklahoma and vs. No. 10 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).
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
- Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 99-12 when leading at the break in that stretch (17-1 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 37% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 25-42 in those.
- BU has led at halftime in 111 of 178 games over the last five seasons. With wins in 99 of those 111 games, and victories in 25 of 67 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 124-54 since 2011-12.
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. 10 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency this season.
- Baylor was No. 18 in 2014-15, No. 9 in 2013-14, No. 14 in 2012-13, No. 8 in 2011-12, No. 3 in 2009-10, No. 11 in 2008-09 and No. 11 in 2007-08.
- Most times ranked inà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € nation's top-20 from 2007-08--2014-15: Duke-8, Baylor-7, Arizona-5, Kansas-5, Kentucky-4, Northà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Carolina-4, Ohioà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State-4.
NATION'S 4TH-BEST POSTSEASON RECORD
- Baylor's 17-5 postseason record over the past seven seasons is the nation's fourth-best among teams with three or more NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament berths since 2009.
- The Bears' 17 postseason wins trail only Kentucky (24), North Carolina (20), Michiganà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € State (20), Duke (19) and Louisville (18) during that span.
- 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.
BIG 12'S BEST ROAD RECORD
- Baylor's 6-3 Big 12 road record this season tied Kansas and West Virginia for the league's best.
- Baylor is 14-13 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 15-12.
- Baylor is 23-22 in Big 12 road games over the last 5 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 28-17.
- Baylor and Kansas are the only teams with winning Big 12 road records over the last 3 and 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 345-79 in that span, giving Baylor 83 more wins than any other Big 12 team, and 10 more than the next closest team nationally (Notre Dame at 335-84).
PRODUCING PROFESSIONALS
- In the Scott Drew era, 21 former players have gone on to play professional basketball -- either in the NBA, NBAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Development League or internationally.
- Fifteen former Baylor players are currently playing professionally -- Quincy Acy (NBA, Sacramento Kings), Tweety Carter (Lithuania), Kenny Chery (Hungary), Deng Deng (NBADL), LaceDarius Dunn (Kosovo), Brady Heslip (Italy), Pierre Jacksonà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (NBADL), Coryà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Jefferson (NBA), Curtis Jerrells (Russia), Anthony Jones (Hungary), Perry Jones III (NBA), Quincy Miller (NBA), Royce O'Neale (Germany), Ekpe Udoh (Turkey) and A.J.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Walton (Poland).
- Other former players to have gone on to play professionally include Aaron Bruce (Australia), Henry Dugat (Mexico), Kevin Rogers (Greece), Harvey Thomas (D-League), Terranceà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Thomas (D-League, Mexico, Turkey) and Tommy Swanson (England, France, Japan).
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 215-101 (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.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The winner of the Baylor vs.à ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Texasà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € game will advance to the semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinal game pitting No. 1 seed Kansas against either No. 8 seed Kansas State or No. 9 seed Oklahoma State.
- Baylor is expected to receive an NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament bid for a 3rd straight season. Last year marked the first time in program history that the Bears earned back-to-back NCAAà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € Tournament berths.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After splitting the season series, with both teams winning on the road, 22nd-ranked Baylor and No. 23 Texas will settle things with Thursday's 11:30 a.m. quarterfinal at the Big Championship.
It's a rivalry that has amped up recently, reaching a boiling point in last year's overtime game in Austin when seven players were ejected for leaving the bench after Baylor's Royce O'Neale and the Longhorns' Isaiah Taylor collided while scrambling for a loose ball.
"We don't like them and they don't like us," said Baylor senior forward Taurean Prince, who is averaging 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. "We've got to do what we can to control things and try to win the game."
Since a decade of dominance that saw Texas (20-11) win 24 in a row between 1999 and 2009, Baylor (21-10) has won 10 of the last 17 and has beaten the Longhorns three straight times at the Big 12 tournament.
"I think what starts a rivalry is competition," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "They're beaten us and we've beaten them. The second thing is anytime you have schools close together, you know each other more, you compete against each other in high school and AAU. Those are long-time rivalries, and familiarity makes it more intense. They know each other well."
In the first meeting this season, Baylor shot just 35.2 percent on its home floor while Texas drained 8-of-17 from outside the arc in beating the Bears, 67-59. Baylor then returned the favor, blowing out to an early lead by feasting on transition buckets in knocking off the Longhorns, 78-64, in Austin.
"Texas is one of those teams that really defend you well in the half court," Drew said. "They get some turnovers with their press, and then offensively they take great care of the ball, so they get high-percentage shots. Last game, we did a great job getting a lot of transition buckets and playing from the lead. You'd love to do that, because then they have to spread their half-court offense up."
Sophomore forward Johnathan Motley (11.0 ppg, 5.2 rebounds) came up big in the second matchup, scoring 24 points on 12-of-13 shooting and adding four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Asked whether Motley or senior Rico Gathers (11.3 ppg, 9.1 rebounds) would start against UT, Drew said he would make that call before the game.
Texas could get a boost from 6-10 senior center Cameron Ridley (12.7 ppg, 10.0 rebounds), who has missed the last 20 games after suffering a fractured left foot in a Dec. 27 practice and having surgery two days later. He was cleared to practice this week, but UT coach Shaka Smart was non-committal on whether the big man would play in the Big 12 tournament.
Asked what Ridley would bring to the table, Drew quipped, "About 300 pounds."
"He's a great offensive weapon, can really score it, can block shots and rebound, and obviously a big guy," he said. "He's a very good player. And if he plays, we know a lot about him because we've played against him for several years now."
After battling with Ridley in the post area for the previous three seasons, the 6-8, 270-pound Gathers said he has missed the Texas center this year "because he made me better."
Playing without Ridley throughout league play, Texas became more of a guard-oriented team with Taylor (15.0 ppg, 4.8 assists) and senior Javan Felix (11.0 ppg). Senior Prince Ibeh stepped up in Ridley's absence, leading the team in rebounds (6.3) and blocked shots (51) while averaging 5.6 points over the last 20 games.
Drew credits the Longhorns' resurgence under Smart, a first-year head coach who led VCU to the Final Four five years ago, to a veteran lineup that has four seniors and a junior.
"Anytime you have a good team, you start with OK, who do you return?" Drew said. "You've got Isaiah Taylor, who's a three-year starter at point guard. You've got Javan Felix, who has started off and on for four years now at the 2 guard. You've got (Demarcus) Holland, who's started for a couple years. You've got Connor Lammert, who has started for four years at the 4. And then you had two guys that coming out people thought could be one-and-done or two-and-done in Cam Ridley and Prince Ibeh.
"That's a lot of talent that are seniors, and then you bring in two top-50 guards (Eric Davis Jr. and Kerwin Roach Jr.). That's why the coaches all picked them fourth in the preseason poll."
The winner advances to Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal against top-ranked Kansas (27-4) or eighth-seeded Kansas State (17-15), which held off a second-half rally by Oklahoma State, 75-71. TCU upset seventh-seeded Texas Tech, 67-62, in Wednesday's other first-round matchup at the Sprint Center and advances to face ninth-ranked and second-seeded West Virginia (24-7).
