Baylor
Florida
No. 13 MBB Set to Face Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game
11/23/2023 11:08:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Bears aim for fifth regular-season tournament title in last six events
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13/12 BAYLOR BEARS (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
13/12 BAYLOR (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. nr/rv FLORIDA (4-1, 0-0 SEC) Nov. 24, 2023 • 4:30 p.m. CT New York, N.Y. • Barclays Center (19,000) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN Talent: Kevin Brown (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 84 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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nr/rv FLORIDA GATORS (4-1, 0-0 SEC 12) Location: Gainesville, Fla. Conference/Affiliation: SEC Head Coach: Todd Golden (St. Mary's, 2008) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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Story lines
• No. 13/12 Baylor meets Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game.
• Baylor is 41-13 in regular-season tournaments during the Drew era, and is seeking it's fifth regular-season tournamnent title in it's last six appearances.
• The Bears and Gators meet for the fourth time, with Baylor holding a 2-1 series advantage.
• In the last meeting, No. 1 Baylor beat Florida 72-61 to match the best start in school history at the time (1/25/20).
• The Bears are 19-11 against SEC spponents during the Drew era, including 14-7 since 2012-13, and five of the last six meetings.
• BU has won 14 of its last 15 regular-season neutral-site contests.
• Baylor improved to 5-0 for the fourth time in the last six seasons with a 88-72 win over Oregon State in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
• With the win, the Bears improved to 12-1 against their last 13 Pac 12 opponents, with wins in each of their last 7 meetings against teams from out west.
• With his third 20-point performance of the season (24), Ja'Kobe Walter became the highest scoring freshman through five games in the Scott Drew era (96 points).
• Walter is averaging 19.2 points per game, which ranks in the top-3 among freshman in Division I.
• Walter is the first freshman in program history to collect Big 12 Player of the Week honors (11/13).
• The Bears won four games in eight days to start a season for the first time since 1992-93.
• Friday's game marks the second of four regular-season games in an NBA Arena, the most in program history.
• Baylor is replacing four of its five starters and 68% of its scoring from a season ago.
• Only one returning player averaged more than 20-minutes per game last season (Jalen Bridges).
• BU erased a nine-point halftime deficit in the season opener against Auburn to win 88-82 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
• The nine-point halftime deficit matched BU's largest halftime deficit overcome in a win since coming back from 11 down to beat Texas in overtime on Feb. 27, 2019 in Waco.
• Five-star freshman Walter burst out of the gates against Auburn with 28-points, the most by a freshman in a debut in program history.
• Walter is one of four freshman in Big 12 history to score at least 28 points in his debut, and the only one to do it against a power conference opponent.
• Baylor is 82-13 vs. unranked teams over the last four seasons (.862%).
• BU is 83-20 over the last four seasons, tied for the nation's best record by a Power-6 team in that span.
• Baylor is 109-24 over the last four-plus seasons, the nation's best winning percentage among Power-6 teams in that span.
• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 55 of 77 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (52-3 record).
• The Bears opened the season as a ranked team for the fifth-straight season, and 11 of the last 14 seasons since its first preseason ranking in 2010-11.
• The Bears have been ranked in 75 of the last 76 AP Polls.
For the full version of Baylor's game notes, click here.
