No. 4 MBB Readies for Top-5 Showdown at No. 3 Kansas

Saturday, January 11

Lawrence, Kan.

12 p.m.

Baylor

Kansas

Photo by: Baylor Photography

No. 4 MBB Readies for Top-5 Showdown at No. 3 Kansas

1/9/2020 1:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

This is the fourth top-5 matchup in school BU history



	4/4 BAYLOR BEARS (12-1, 2-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	BAYLOR (12-1, 2-0) at KANSAS (12-2, 2-0) Jan. 11, 2020 • Noon CT Lawrence, Kan. • Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: CBS and CBS Sports app Talent: Brad Nessler (pxp), Bill Raftery (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College \| ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:

	3/3 KANSAS (12-2, 2-0) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            In Scott Drew's eyes, it's just a matter of time.
            Fourth-ranked Baylor (12-1, 2-0) is 0-17 all-time in Lawrence, Kan., and has never won in historic Allen Fieldhouse, losing 16 in a row. But, the Bears have already beaten four top-25 teams going into Saturday's 12 p.m. game at third-ranked Kansas (12-2, 2-0), which has won 12 of its last 13 since opening the season with a 68-66 loss to then-No. 4 Duke.
            "It's definitely going to happen at some point, and we'd like it to be now," Drew said. "We've had some really good games up there and just haven't been able to finish. One of these years we will, and hopefully it's this year."
            This is actually the second top-5 matchup between the two teams in the last four years. In 2017, a No. 2-ranked Baylor team fell to No. 3 Kansas, 88-73, en route to the Jayhawks the 13^th of 14-consecutive Big 12 regular-season championships.
            Sophomore guard Jared Butler, who's averaging a team-high 16.3 points per game, said it "just doesn't sit well" with him that Baylor has never won in Lawrence.
            "It doesn't sit well with anybody on our team," Butler said. "That shouldn't be on our resume that we haven't won at Kansas. I'm just looking forward to going there and winning."
            Senior guard Devonte Bandoo (8.0 ppg, 4.6 rebounds) said the Bears are "here to make history."
            "I just found out we've been 0-17 there," Bandoo said. "We've got the pieces, we're very deep. It's going to be a great game; it's 3 versus 4. I think we have the potential to come out with a (win)."
            The Bears are coming off a huge road victory at No. 22 Texas Tech on Tuesday, when they held on to beat the Red Raiders, 57-52, and snapped their 15-game home-court winning streak. Davion Mitchell scored 14 points, Freddie Gillespie was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards and Mark Vital had eight points and 13 rebounds.
            "It shows the personality of our team," Butler said. "We're resilient, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what's going on. If we're making shots, missing shots, we're resilient, we're fearless, and that just shows. Texas Tech is a hostile environment with a great atmosphere, but we just stayed the course and stuck together."
            Baylor's gotten better at closing out games since a 67-64 loss to Washington in Anchorage, Alaska, when the Huskies rallied from a 10-point deficit in the last 5 ½ minutes. Even in wins over Butler and Arizona, Baylor lost bigger leads and had to hold on.
            "We used those games to get us better and help us close out games," Butler said. "A good college team knows how to close out games, how to win one-possession games. That's what we work on in practice. That's big for us."
            Dethroned last year by Texas Tech and Kansas State, who shared the title, Kansas has an inside-out balance with guards Devon Dotson (18.6 ppg, 4.5 assists), Ochai Agbaji (11.6 ppg) and Marcus Garrett (8.9 ppg, 4.2 assists) and the inside duo of 7-footer Udoka Azubuike (13.1 ppg, 8.8 rebounds) and 6-10 DDavid McCormack (8.8 ppg).
            "In college basketball, you have a lot of either great guardd play or inside play, but very few have both," Drew said. "That's why we have both teams in the top five. With (Azubuike), he's such a force down low. Obviously on the perimeter, they have a lot of weapons. But (Azubuike) being back from injuries from last year really changes their team."
            It could be a particularly tough matchup if 6-10 junior forward Tristan Clark is still limited. He's played as many as 20 minutes just once in the last seven games and is averaging just 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds this season after playing at an All-Big 12 level through the last 14 games last season before being sidelined by a knee injury.
            "It really comes down to how he's moving, how he's feeling, how he's able to play," Drew said of Clark, who's scored in double digits just once this year. "We use the approach baby steps, and it can be kind of game-time decisions to see how he's approached."
            Saturday's game will be nationally broadcast by CBS, with Brad Nessler and former Seton Hall coach Bill Raftery calling the action.
            Baylor returns home to host Iowa State (7-7, 0-2) at 7 p.m. next Wednesday and will play two of its next three games at home.

STORY LINES
• No. 4/4 Baylor heads to No. 3/3 Kansas for a top-5 showdown at noon CT Saturday on CBS.
• This is the 4th top-5 matchup in BU history (0-3; 2012 vs. Missouri, 2017 vs. KU, 2017 at KU).
• Baylor has never won at Allen Fieldhouse (0-17) or defeated an AP top-5 team in a road game (0-22).
• Baylor is riding an 11-game winning streak, tied for the 5th-longest streak in program history. It's also the nation's 3rd-longest active streak behind San Diego State (16) and Auburn (14).
• Baylor is the nation's only program with 4 wins vs. AP Top 25 ranked teams this season (4-0).
• BU is looking to win 5 consecutive games vs. ranked teams for the first time in program history. BU has already defeated No. 17 Villanova, No. 12 Arizona, No. 18 Butler and No. 22 Texas Tech.
• Baylor ranks 9th nationally in scoring defense (58.4) and 13th nationally in scoring margin (+15.8).
• Baylor is 35-38 in Big 12 road games since 2012, 2nd-best in the league behind only Kansas (46-28).
• BU is 45-72 against AP-ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first 4 rebuilding seasons.
• Baylor is 12-24 vs. AP Top 10 teams since March 2012. BU started the Drew era 1-26 vs. top-10.
• Baylor has led or been tied for 96% of game time over its last 7 games (269:36 of 280:00).
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 9 of 13 games after doing so in 7 of 34 games last year.
• Baylor has held its last 4 high-major opponents to season-low scoring totals – Arizona (58; 67+ all other games), Butler (52; 60+ other games), Texas (44; 48+ other games), Texas Tech (52; 60+ other games).
• BU is No. 4 in the most recent AP Top 25 and has moved up in the rankings in 7 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor's No. 4 AP ranking is its highest since the Bears were No. 4 on Feb. 13, 2017.
• Baylor's streak of 10 consecutive AP polls ranked is the 6th-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• The Bears have now been ranked in every AP Top 25 spot except No. 8 during the 17-year Drew era.
• BU reached double-digit non-conference for the 6th time in the last 7 seasons and 12th time in 14 years.
• BU won its third tournament title in 4 years by beating Villanova to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
• Baylor is 1 of 6 Power-5 programs to win 18+ games in each of the last 12 seasons since 2008, joining Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina.
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 64-7 this year and all four are currently top-10 ranked (No. 3 VB, No. 4 MBB, No. 6 WBB, No. 7 FB).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 17th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (328-210).
• Drew is coaching his 539th game at Baylor (328-210). His .610 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .676 winning percentage since 2007-08 (294-141).
• Baylor is playing its 225th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since 2008-09, BU has been ranked in 222 of 404 games.
• BU has advanced to the postseason in 8 straight seasons, tied as the nation's 10th-longest active streak.
• BU has ranked top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding pct. in 6 straight seasons (No. 6 this year).
• BU was picked 2nd in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, tying the highest in program history (2012-13). The Bears were picked 9th in last year's poll, but overcame a multitude of injuries to finish in 4th place.

QUICK HITS
• Baylor is 39-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18.
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (157-20).
• BU is 100-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (12-1 this season).
• Baylor is 203-94 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 203 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (248).
• Baylor is 294-141 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• BU returned 8 letterwinners from last season, including 5 players who made at least 7 starts – Mark Vital (34), Jared Butler (21), Tristan Clark (14), Freddie Gillespie (11) and Devonte Bandoo (7).
• Baylor returned 9 players with at least 26 games of Division I experience, including a pair of transfers who are now starters after sitting out last season – Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague.
• Eight of Baylor's 14 players either have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Five after transferring to BU – Flagler, Gillespie, Mitchell, Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Teague, and three as freshmen — Moffatt, Turner and Vital.
• Eight of Baylor's nine starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (14 of last 15 seasons).
• Baylor has defeated 7 top-10 teams in the last 3 seasons, including a 6-3 mark vs. top-10 teams in Waco.
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 10 of the last 12 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• The Bears are one of 11 programs nationally (1 of 6 in Power-5) to win 18+ games in every year since 2008.
• Baylor is 1 of 14 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (6 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• BU is 5-1 all-time in Big 12/SEC Challenges, the best record of any team in either league. Combined with a 3-1 mark in the Big 12/Pac-10 Series and 1-0 in the Big 12/Big East Battle, Baylor is 9-2 in conference challenges.
• Baylor has the nation's 11th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 916 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 29 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
• BU has recorded double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons (all except 2012-13).
• Baylor has won 6 tournament titles under Drew (2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic, 2013 NIT, 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis, 2017 Hall of Fame Classic and 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational).

SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday is the 38th all-time meeting between Baylor and Kansas. BU is 5-32 against the Jayhawks.
• Baylor lost both games against Kansas last year, but the Bears won the final meeting of the 2018 season in Waco.
• Baylor's wins in the series came in 2001 vs. No. 6 Kansas (Waco), in 2009 vs. No. 14 Kansas (Oklahoma City), in 2012 vs. No. 3 (Kansas City), in 2013 vs. No. 4 Kansas (Waco) and in 2018 vs. No. 10 Kansas (Waco).
• The Bears are 0-17 all-time in Lawrence, and 13 of the first 14 meetings were decided by double-digits before single-digit games in each of the last three meetings in Lawrence – 2017 (73-68), 2018 (70-67) and 2019 (78-70).

LAST TIME VS. KANSAS
• Baylor dropped its 2019 regular season finale, 78-70, at No. 13 Kansas on March 9. The Bears turned 18 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, but BU shot 19% (6-of-31) from 3-point range in the loss.
• Freshman Jared Butler had 31 points (the most by a visiting player at Kansas in 2018-19), including 23 in the 2nd half.
• The Bears had 8 more field goal attempts than Kansas, but made 2 fewer. Both teams made 6 3-pointers, despite BU attempting 15 more than KU. Baylor played without Makai Mason, who sat out to rest his foot injury.

NATION'S BEST FOUR WINS VS. AP TOP 25 TEAMS
• Baylor is the nation's only team with four wins against AP Top 25 teams this season. BU is 4-0 with home wins against No. 12 Arizona and No. 18 Butler, a neutral win vs. No. 17 Villanova and a road win at No. 22 Texas Tech.
• Those four opponents all remain top-25 ranked and have a combined 46-7 record in all other games.
• In three of those wins, Baylor held its opponent below 60 points (58 vs. Arizona, 52 vs. Butler, 52 at Texas Tech).
• Baylor led for 79% of game time in those four wins (125:50 of 160:00). BU never trailed Butler, the largest deficit the Bears faced against Arizona was 2 points, against Villanova was 6 points and at Texas Tech was 3 points.