Baylor
Mississippi Valley State
No. 10 MBB Returns Home to Close Down the Ferrell Center
12/21/2023 12:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
About 80 MBB alumni are expected in attendance for the venue's final game
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MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (0-11, 0-0 SWAC) Location: Itta Bena, Miss. Conference/Affiliation: SWAC Head Coach: George Ivory (MVSU, 1988) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (0-11, 0-0 SWAC) vs. 10/10 BAYLOR (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) Dec. 22, 2023 • 6:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,7284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp), King McClure (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: Ryan Boyd (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 200 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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10/10 BAYLOR BEARS (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
In its farewell to Ferrell, 10th-ranked Baylor (9-2) will host Mississippi Valley State (0-11) at 6 p.m. Friday at the 35-year-old Ferrell Center.
"For me, it's going to be sad, a sad moment," said Baylor Director of Player Development Tweety Carter (2006-10), a 2022 Hall of Fame inductee and the program's first McDonald's All-American, "because a lot of history at the Ferrell Center. I played all of my games at the Ferrell Center. But I'm also happy about the growth that's happening, just to see the new pavilion get bult."
The Bears, coming off neutral-site losses to Michigan State and No. 21 Duke, will christen the new Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion when they host Cornell (8-2) on Jan. 2.
"It's going to be emotional, that last game in the Ferrell Center," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I know for a lot of us, so many good memories, and we want to close it out the right way. But college basketball is one of those sports that the fans have such an impact. And the atmosphere we're going to have at the pavilion, the fans being closer to the action, more compact, is going to help us."
Baylor is 400-169 all-time at the Ferrell Center and 60-6 at home over the last five seasons. In last year's season opener, the Bears defeated Mississippi Valley State, 117-53, coming one point shy of the team's Ferrell Center scoring record of 118 set against Savannah State in 2017.
Undefeated through the first month of the season, Baylor dug an early hole against Michigan State and never recovered, losing 88-64 last Saturday at the Detroit Pistons' Caesars Arena. And then on Wednesday, Duke used a late 14-1 run to beat the Bears, 78-70, at Madison Square Garden.
"The good thing is we've got guys that want to get better and will get better throughout the year," Drew said. "We will get better the more we get a chance to play together. A lot of blending, lot of trusting that goes into that. But really proud of how our guys bounced back and played a much tougher game. Credit Duke, they executed, played better."
Baylor boasts one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the country, with six players averaging between 10.0 and 14.4 points per game. Freshman Ja'Kobe Walter and Toledo transfer RayJ Dennis lead the way with 14.4 and 14.2, respectively, while freshman 7-footer Yves Messi is averaging 10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
"Cutting down nets, winning the NIT championship in 2013, is something that the Baylor family will always remember," Drew said of a previous trip to MSG, where the Bears are now 3-3. "In basketball, you win some, you lose some. But the opportunity to play in the mecca of basketball is something that I know is a great opportunity. We're blessed to be able to do that."
Mississippi Valley State has made five NCAA Tournament appearances all-time, but has had 11-straight losing seasons since a 21-13 finish and First Four loss to Western Kentucky in 2012.
This year, the Delta Devils have the fourth-toughest schedule in NCAA Division I, playing the likes of LSU, Oklahoma, UConn, TCU and Gonzaga. Rayquan Brown, a 6-6 senior who spent one year in Waco at McLennan Community College, leads MVSU with 15.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
All Baylor men's basketball alumnus in attendance will be recognized in a halftime ceremony.
Friday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and BU alum King McClure calling the action.
Story lines
• No. 10/10 Baylor returns home for the final game at the Ferrell Center against Mississippi Valley State.
• Over 80 former players are expected to be in attendance to help close down the home of Baylor basketball for the last 35 years.
• The Bears have played in the Ferrell Center since 1988, and hold a 400-169 record in the building.
• The team scoring record at the Ferrell Center is 118 points by BU against Savannah State on 12/17/2017. The Bears got within one point of that in a 117-53 win over MVSU in the season opener last season (11/7/22).
• The Bears are 4-0 all time against the Delta Devils with their most-recent win coming last year in Waco. The 64-point win ranked as the third largest margin of victory in program history.
• Baylor is 87-15 vs. unranked teams over the last four seasons (.853%).
• Baylor is 60-6 in home games over the last five seasons.
• Baylor is 86-4 in its last 90 non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 12, 2012.
• Entering on just one day of rest, Baylor is third in the nation with a 26-4 record when faced with a rest disadvantage since 2020-21.
• The Bears are 2nd in the nation in 3-point FG% (42.3), 4th in offensive efficiency (120.7) and rank 13th in points per game (86.7).
• Last time out, the Bears fell to No. 21 Duke 78-70, dropping its second-straight game.
• The matchup with Duke was BU's third game this season against a team that has made the Final Four since 2019. They will have five more this season when they get to conference play.
• The Bears are 126-101 following a loss under Scott Drew
• BU is 87-22 over the last four seasons, the nation's second best record by a Power-6 team in that span.
• Baylor has posted a combined 195-39 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 121-17 mark in November and December games since 2013.
• RayJ Dennis ranks 12th in the nation in assists per game (6.4), with the Bears getting 14.4 points per game from Ja'Kobe Walter to lead the offense, the most among Big 12 Conference Freshmen.
• Six Bears are averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis (14.2), Langston Love (10.5), Jalen Bridges (10.5), Yves Missi (10.2) and Jayden Nunn (10.0). Missi leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game.
• Missi's 2.3 blocks per game are tops among freshman in Division I.
• BU has had six players win Big 12 Sixth-Man of the Year, no other conference school has more than two.
• Baylor is 113-26 over the last five seasons, the nation's second-best winning % among Power-6 teams in that span (.819%).
• BU is playing its 358th game as a ranked team under Scott Drew — Baylor was ranked in just two of 2,197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew.
• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 59 of 84 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (56-3 record).
• BU has won 86-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).
