Baylor
Central Arkansas
No. 2 MBB Hosts Central Arkansas
12/28/2020 6:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Baylor is 2-0 vs. UCA
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (6-0, 1-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (6-0, 1-0) vs. CENTRAL ARKANSAS (1-6) Dec. 29, 2020 • 3 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10.284) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp) and King McClure (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas Talent: Dave Rosselli (pxp) and David Kaye (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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NR/NR CENTRAL ARKANSAS BEARS (1-6, 0-0) Location: Conway, Ark. Head Coach: Anthony Boone (Ole Miss, 1998) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
After having seven games postponed or canceled in the first month of the season, Christmas will come a few days late for a second-ranked Baylor basketball team that will play three games in the next five days.
Coming off a seven-day break for the holidays, the Bears (6-0) will host Central Arkansas (1-6) at 3 p.m. Tuesday and Alcorn State (0-4) at 2 p.m. Wednesday before going on the road to face Iowa State (2-4, 0-2) at 12 noon Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
"I'm not going to complain about it," said freshman guard LJ Cryer, who is averaging 9.2 points per game. "I'm just ready to play at any time, any day. We haven't been able to play a lot of games this year, so I'm just looking forward to every game and every opportunity we get to play."
Baylor coach Scott Drew said playing back-to-back games is a "great opportunity for (the players) to experience what it's like to get ready for a Big 12 tournament when you play multiple games in multiple days."
With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling last year's Big 12 Championship before Baylor's opening game, senior forward Mark Vital and juniors Jared Butler and Matthew Mayer are the only players who have even played in the conference tournament.
"You definitely shorten what you do and just try to make sure you don't overload them, and they get what's important," said Drew, who brought the team back for COVID tests on Saturday and practices on Sunday and Monday. "As you know, sometimes you schedule two games to try to get one game. If you're blessed to get both games, it gets you ready for the Big 12 tournament."
Cryer is part of a deep Baylor bench that has scored at least 33 points in every game and has outscored opposing benches on average, 41-17. Led by Cryer's team-high 15 points, the Bears had a 55-0 edge in bench points in a 99-42 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their last game before the break on Dec. 21.
"I think any time you have a good game, it helps your confidence," Cryer said. "But, I feel like even in the games where I wasn't able to contribute as much,, I never got down on myself, because I'm confident in what I'm able to do. In the future, I know I'll have more opportunities to do that. But now, whenever I get my opportunity to do something, that's what I'm going to do."
The Big 12's last undefeated team, Baylor leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally with 93.7 points per game and ranks second in scoring margin (32.7). Through the first six games, the Bears are also the only team to win every game by 13 or more points, winning five of six by at least 30 points.
Baylor's balanced attack features five double-figure scorers, led by MaCio Teague and Adam Flagler with 15.3 apiece. Butler (14.8 ppg, 6.5 assists), Davion Mitchell (13.2 ppg, 6.0 assists) and sophomore forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (10.5 ppg, 7.2 rebounds) also sport double-digit averages.
Cryer, who has stepped into the sixth-man role with Flagler missing the last two games, said he goes into every game with a "next-man-up mentality."
"With everything going on, in the middle of the pandemic, anybody could be out," he said. "You just have to be prepared for your moment at any given time."
BYU transfer Ryan Bergersen (15.3 ppg) leads a veteran lineup that includes senior forward Jared Chatham and Pittsburgh grad transfer Samson George. The visiting Bears were winless until blowing out Champion Christian, 92-28, on Dec. 18, but have played a brutal schedule with Arkansas, Memphis, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
"Anytime you have that kind of experience, you have a chance to be a much more successful team, obviously, than when you have a bunch of freshmen," Drew said. "In all their games, they've been very competitive. Memphis had a six-point lead in the second half. Arkansas, it's a nine-point game with eight minutes to go. . . . This is a team that has a chance to be real successful come conference time."
Baylor is 2-0 all-time in the series, including last year's 105-61 win in the season opener, when Butler had a game-high 30 points in 28 minutes.
Tuesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of Bears" John Morris and former Baylor standout King McClure calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to action after a 7-day break by hosting Central Arkansas at 3 pm CT Tuesday.
• BU is facing UCA for the third time in the last four seasons. Baylor opened the 2017-18 season with a 107-66 win vs. UCA and opened the 2019-20 season with a 105-61 victory vs. UCA.
• Baylor is the Big 12's final undefeated team. The Bears lead the league in scoring (93.7), scoring margin (+32.7), field goal pct. (.521), 3-point pct. (.470), 3-pointers made (11.7/gm), assists (21.5/gm), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84), rebounding margin (+10.7) and steals (9.0/gm).
• Baylor has scored 80+ points in 6 straight games for the first time since 1994.
• Baylor has won 6 consecutive games by double-digits for the first time since December 2016.
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 13+ points this season (min. 3 games played).
• BU is looking to start a season 7-0 for the first time since starting 15-0 on its way to No. 1 in 2016-17.
• Baylor leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.470) and ranks 6th in 3-pointer made (11.7/game).
• BU ranks 2nd nationally in scoring margin (+32.7) and has won 5 of 6 games by 30+ points.
• BU is 6th nationally in scoring (93.7), assists (21.5) and AST-TO ratio (1.84) and 7th in TO margin (+7.8)
• Baylor's bench has 33+ points in every game and is out-scoring opposing benches 41-17 on average.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 17 straight weeks top-5 ranked (previously 6 straight in 2017).
• BU's streak of 26-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 5th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has been ranked top-5 for 17-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• Baylor's defense forced 15+ turnovers in 21 of 36 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• BU's bench out-scored UAPB's bench 55-0 in the Dec. 21 win. LJ Cryer led all Bears with 15 points.
• BU became the first team since 1992 to score 100 points in Manhattan in the Dec. 19 win at K-State.
• BU forced a Ferrell Center-record 35 turnovers with 40 points off turnovers in the Dec. 9 win over SFA.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in 36 straight games and built a double-digit lead in 30 of 36 games.
• Baylor returned four All-Big 12 players from a 2019-20 team which went 26-4 and spent five weeks ranked No. 1 nationally. The Bears finished last season ranked No. 4 in the coaches poll (No. 5 in AP).
• Among BU returners is Jared Butler, who is the first preseason AP All-American in program history.
• BU also welcomes back MaCio Teague, an all-conference pick in all 3 of his collegiate seasons.
• BU returns two players who were semifinalists for the 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Mark Vital was 1 of 4 finalists, while Davion Mitchell joined Vital among the 10 semifinalists.
• Baylor is playing its 248th 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 245 of 427 games.
• Baylor is 52-11 in games against non-Big 12 teams over the last 5 seasons since 2016-17.
• Baylor is 106-8 in non-conference home games since 2007-08, including 67-4 since December 2012.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (348-213).
• Baylor signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) earlier this month. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
QUICK HITS
• BU was picked to win the Big 12 in the league's preseason coaches' poll for the first time.
• Baylor is 57-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons since 2017-18 (21-2 in 2019-20, 6-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (175-21).
• BU is 120-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (32-3 since 2019-20).
• Baylor's 23-game winning streak last season was the longest ever by a Big 12 team (previously 22 by 1996-97 KU).
• BU's 13-game conference winning streak was the longest in school history (previously 11 in 1946 SWC).
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 11 of the last 13 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• Baylor is 223-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 223 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (272).
• Baylor is 314-144 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• BU returned 8 players with at least 30 games of DI experience, including a pair of sophomore transfers who joined the rotation after sitting out last season – Adam Flagler and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua.
• Eight of Baylor's players either have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Four after transferring to BU – Flagler, Mitchell, Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Teague, and four as freshmen — Moffatt, Turner, Vital and Dainja.
• Nine of Baylor's 10 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (15 of last 16 seasons).
• Baylor is 1 of 14 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (6 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor has the nation's 10th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 938 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 30 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday is the third series meeting between Baylor and Central Arkansas.
• The first Battle of the Bears was the 2017-18 season opener on Nov. 10, a 107-66 Baylor win in Waco.
• The second meeting was the 2019-20 season opener on Nov. 5, 2019, a 105-61 Baylor win in Waco.
• Mark Vital is the only player on Baylor's roster to have faced UCA in both previous meetings.
