Baylor
Michigan State
No. 6 MBB Hits the Road for a Showdown with Michigan State
12/15/2023 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears aim for seventh 10-0 start in program history, and third in the last four years
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6/6 BAYLOR BEARS (9-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
6/6 BAYLOR (9-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (4-5, 0-2 Big Ten) vs Dec. 16, 2023 • 1:00 p.m. CT Detroit, Mich. • Little Caesars Arena (20,332) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: FOX Talent: Gus Johnson (pxp), Jim Jackson (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 81 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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MICHIGAN ST. SPARTANS (4-5, 0-2 Big Ten) Location: East Lansing, Mich. Conference/Affiliation: Big Ten Head Coach: Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, 1977) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Scott Drew doesn't see the Michigan State team that has dropped three of its last four and sits at the bottom of the Big Ten rankings at 0-2.
What Drew sees is a blue-blood program led by Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, who won a national championship in 2000 and has led the Spartans to eight Final Fours and 25-consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
"This is a team that was preseason top-5, returned five of their top six scorers," said Drew, whose sixth-ranked Bears (9-0) will face Michigan State (4-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Continental Tire Motor City Invitational at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
"At the end of the day, we know they're going to be right there. Even though they're probably not off to the start they envisioned, we know it's a really good team and Coach Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach."
Ranked fourth in the AP and coaches' preseason polls, the Spartans got off to a rough start with a season-opening 79-76 loss at home to James Madison. Former Northeastern transfer Tyson Walker scored 35 points in that game and ranks 20th nationally, averaging 20.3 points per game.
Michigan State led new No. 1 Arizona by three with under four minutes to play in a 74-68 loss and trailed then-No. 9 Duke by three with less than six minutes left.
"They've had chances," Drew said, "they just haven't finished."
This will be a homecoming for Baylor junior guard Jayden Nunn (10.8 ppg), a VCU transfer from Flint, Michigan, which is an hour north of Detroit. Nunn went to Michigan and Michigan State basketball camps growing up and listed them as his "dream schools."
"As a kid, those were my dream schools," Nunn said. "So, being able to play them is just a dream come true, just to show them. They have a great team, an older team, but I feel like we can compete with them, for sure."
Nunn said he talks to three-time All-American Mateen Cleaves, another Flint native who led Michigan State to that 2000 national championship, "all the time."
"Every time I go back to Flint, I work out with him and his son (Mateen Cleaves Jr.) all the time every day," Nunn said. "(Cleaves) is going to be at the game, for sure."
Seniors Malik Hall and A.J. Hoggard both average 10.3 points per game, while five-star recruits Jeremy Fears Jr. and Xavier Booth are logging limited minutes for the Spartans.
Fifth-year senior guard RayJ Dennis (14.2 ppg, 6.6 assists) scored 13 points in Toledo's 81-68 loss at Michigan State two years ago and "grew up with Malik Hall." Dennis, Hall and Fears are all Illinois natives.
"They've basically got the same team now, give or take a few guys," Dennis said. "Just playing pickup (basketball) and knowing those guys, I've absolutely watched them."
Starting off 9-0 for the third time in four years, the Bears took a break for final semester exams and are playing their first game since a 78-60 win over Seton Hall on Dec. 5 in the penultimate game at the Ferrell Center. Dennis had 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win, while freshman Ja'Kobe Walter hit four 3-pointers and scored 15 points.
Baylor is playing the first of back-to-back neutral site, high-profile games, meeting 21st-ranked Duke (7-3) next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
"That's the stuff you dream of as a kid, playing Michigan State and Duke in NBA arenas and play on national television," Dennis said. "And you get to do it with your brothers."
Going directly from Michigan to New York, Drew said the trip will be a great chance to "grow closer as a team before we all head home for Christmas break."
"You're playing marquee teams, great venues, two NBA arenas," Drew said. "This is what high school players dream of."
Saturday's game will be broadcast by FOX, with Gus Johnson and former Michigan All-American and 14-year NBA veteran Jim Jackson calling the action.
Story lines
• No. 6/6 Baylor heads to Detroit to face off against Michigan State in the Continental Tire Motor City Invitational.
• The Bears are seeking the seventh 10-0 start in program history and the third in the last four years. (1911-12, 2000-01, '11-'12, '16-'17, '20-'21, '21-'22).
• This will be the third all-time meeting between BU and MSU, with BU holding a 2-0 series edge on the strength of two neutral site wins against the Spartans at the 2016 and 2021 Battle '4' Atlantis.
• Baylor is 5-0 against Big Ten teams since 2016 with the two wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin, along with a win over Illinois.
• BU and MSU are two of the eight teams nationally who have made at least 11-straight postseason appearances.
• Scott Drew (449) and Tom Izzo (691) have combined for 1,140 career wins and are two of the five active power-conference head coaches with 400+ wins at their current school.
• The Bears are 2nd in the nation in 3-point FG% (43.2), offensive efficiency (122.8) and rank fifth in points per game (91.1)
• The game will be played at Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, the third of four scheduled games at NBA Arenas this season, the most in program history.
• The matchup is one of eight on BU's schedule against an opponent that has played in the Final Four since 2019.
• BU enters this contest winners of 15 of its last 16 regular-season neutral-site contests (3-0 this year).
• Winners of nine-straight games, BU is tied for the third-longest active winning streak in the nation.
• Baylor is off to a blistering start and is ranked 6th in the NET rankings, one of three Big 12 teams in the top six.
• The Bears are 9-0 for the third time in the last four years.
• Baylor has posted a combined 195-37 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 121-15 mark in November and December games since 2013.
• Ranked No. 6 this week, the Bears have now been ranked in the top-10 for a fifth-straight year, one of just four programs (Duke, Kansas and Gonzaga) to accomplish that feat.
• Last time out, BU helped the Big 12 clinch the Big East-Big 12 Battle (7-4) with a 78-60 win over Seton Hall.
• Baylor improved to 14-3 against the Big East in the Scott Drew Era, including a 3-1 mark in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
• Baylor's 14-4 record in conference challenges (Big 12-Big East, Big 12/SEC, Big 12/Pac-12) is best in the Big 12.
• The win over Seton Hall was Baylor's 400th at the Ferrell Center, in its final season hosting Baylor basketball.
• RayJ Dennis ranks 11th in the nation in assists per game, with the Bears getting 14.9 points per game from Ja'Kobe Walter to lead the offense.
• Six Bears are averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis (14.2), Langston Love (12.0), Jalen Bridges (11.1), Jayden Nunn (10.8) and Yves Missi (10.0). Missi leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.
• The Bears are a nations-best 27-11 vs. AP top-25 teams over the last four years, with 16 of those wins coming away from home.
