Baylor
Cincinnati
MBB Returns Home to Host Cincinnati Tuesday
1/6/2025 3:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears Own a 3-0 lead in the all-time series
 |
RV/RV BAYLOR BEARS (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF ) |
RV/RV CINCINNATI (10-3, 0-2 Big 12) vs. RV/RV BAYLOR (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) Jan. 7, 2024 • 7:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Pete Sousa (pxp), Chris Spatola (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 388 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
 |
RV/RV Cincinnati Bearcats (10-3, 0-2 Big 12) Location: Sal Lake City, Utah Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Wes Miller (North Carolina, 2007) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Playing shorthanded on the road against a third-ranked Iowa State team that's as hot as any team in the country, Baylor coach Scott Drew knew the Bears "were going to have to hit some 3's."
Ranked 25th at the time, Baylor (9-4, 1-1) got plenty of good looks – "like 15 uncontested 3's and shots that we usually make," said point guard Jeremy Roach – but came up empty far more times than not. The Bears were 7-of-29 from 3-point range and had their worst shooting night overall (29.7%) in almost three years, falling to the Cyclones, 74-55.
"Obviously, the shots that we didn't make hurt," Roach said. "But you can't just harp on it and say that was why we lost. We held them below their season average, but we've still got to tighten some stuff up on the defensive end, and I've got to be better, too."
After "flushing" their fourth loss to a ranked team season, the Bears will try to bounce back with a matchup against Cincinnati (10-3, 0-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Foster Pavilion.
"There's some games where you get a lot of good looks and other games where you don't get good looks," Drew said. "We had a lot of good looks. Probably need to do a better job of mixing up and trying to get to the rim more where we could get fouled a little bit more and get to the free throw line. We had good 3's, but we shot a lot of them."
Roach scored a game-high 16 points and was the only Baylor player that had a good night shooting, hitting 4-of-7 from distance. The other six players in the Bears' short rotation were a combined 3-for-22, including 1-of-7 by 6-7 Miami transfer Norchad Omier.
Averaging a double-double with a team-high 15.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, Omier is now just 5-of-24 (20.8%) from 3-point range this season after hitting over 35% last year at Miami.
"As a coach, you feel bad, because he actually made the second-most shots from anyone on the team this summer, from 3 and from outside 15 feet. And he did it at a high percentage," Drew said of Omier. "I thought he was going to go 5-for-7 or 4-for-7, because he had some great looks. As a coach, you want guys to be able to show what they've worked on and improved on. But Norchad is a great teammate, and he knows the importance of balance."
Baylor was missing two of what is usually an eight-man rotation, with 6-7 Cal transfer Jalen Celestine (7.9 ppg) and 6-5 redshirt junior guard Langston Love (6.5 ppg) both out with ankle injuries and still listed as day-to-day going into Tuesday's game versus Cincinnati.
"We're praying it's the sooner day-to-day," Drew said.
Freshman guard Robert Wright III, who is second on the team with 12.8 points per game, said "it was really tough not having (Celestine and Love)."
"Jalen, everybody knows what he brings, just with his shot-making ability and then rebounding, defending," Wright said. "And then Langston, he plays hard, plays tough and he makes shots. So, not having those two is crucial for us."
Baylor turns its attention to a Cincinnati team that was ranked 16th in the AP poll before single-digit losses to Kansas State (70-67) and Arizona (72-67) by a combined eight points. Much like Iowa State, the Bearkats are a well-balanced team, with 11 players averaging double-digit minutes and five players scoring between 9.2 and 13.6 points per game.
"They've been a top-25 team for a reason," Drew said. "Their 4 and 5 (players) are athletic and as good a shot blockers and finishers as you'll find in college basketball. Their wings are really good scorers, and their point guards can really defend. They're a really good team that didn't play bad in either game, just K-State and Arizona played really well, too."
Simas Lukosius, a 6-8 senior guard from Lithuania, is averaging a team-best 13.6 points and ranks seventh in the Big 12 with a 40.5 percentage from 3. Junior guard Dan Skillings Jr. is averaging 12.4 points, followed by 6-8 junior forward Dillon Mitchell (11.8 ppg, 7.7 rebounds), 6-3 sophomore guard Izzie James (11.5 ppg, 5.1 assists) and 7-footer Ziz Bandaogo (9.2 ppg).
"Just make it tough for them, do what we do," Roach said of defending Cincy. "Me, setting the tone defensively, ball pressure, making sure you're keeping guys in front, knowing who the shooters are, knowing who's driving. They've got a big dude (Bandaogo) they love to throw lobs to. That's definitely a factor. But we've just got to go out there and really focus on what we do."
Baylor is 3-0 all-time against the Bearkats, including a 62-59 win last year at Foster and beating them 68-56 in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City.
Tuesday's game will be streamed by ESPN+, with Pete Sousa and Chris Spatola calling the action.
Story lines
• RV/RV Baylor puts its nine-game home winning streak on the line when it hosts Cincinnati at 7 p.m. on ESPN+
• Baylor holds a 3-0 series edge after sweeping two games from the Bearcats last season in Waco and the Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals in Kansas City
• In the last meeting, BU scored just 24 first-half points, but outscored the Bearcats 44-30 in the second half to claim its first win at the Big 12 Championship since 2021
• In the last meeting in Waco, the Bears survived their second-lowest scoring output of the season (62 points)
• Tied at 27 at the half, The Bears outscored Cincy 35-32 behind 14 second-half points from Ja'Kobe Walter
• According to KenPom, BU has played the seventh-hardest schedule in the Power-5
• BU is 164-100 in Big 12 play in 15 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons
• Baylor is 34-19 against ranked teams over the last four seasons, including a 18-16 mark away from home
• Baylor is the only team in the Big 12 with 11+ conference wins in a Power conference in 5-straight seasons
• BU is coming off its first Big 12 loss of the season, 74-55, it's lowest offensive output since scoring 54 in a loss against Oklahoma State on Jan. 15, 2022
• With just eight turnovers against the Cyclones, BU matched its second-lowest turnover total of the season
• The Bears lead the conference and rank 15th nationally with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game
• Sitting at +4.2 BU is third in the Big 12 and 14th in the Power-5 in turnover margin
• Baylor is one of three Big 12 teams with 5+ players averaging double figures (ISU (6), BYU (5))
• Scott Drew secured his 450th win at Baylor and the 470th of his career overall earlier this month against ACU, and now sits just 12 wins shy of 200-career Big 12 wins
• Drew is one of just seven active coaches with at least 450 wins at their current institution (Mark Few, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Greg Kampe, Randy Bennett, Matt Painter)
• One of six active coaches who have won a national title, Drew will see four of the five other coaches as a part of its regular season schedule. Drew has wins against John Calipari & Rick Pitino, with his only loss coming to Dan Hurley in Dec.
• Hailing from basketball families, the Drews are the second winningest father-son combination in NCAA history, compiling 1,382 wins between Scott, Bryce and Homer, trailing only the Iba family (1,624) for the most by a family in NCAA history.
• Over the last six seasons the Bears are 137-39, the second-best record among power-conference teams for the duration of that span
• Baylor is one of five programs to be ranked inside the top-10 in each of the last six seasons
• The Bears are led by Miami transfer, Norchad Omier, The NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,456), double-doubles (75) and rebound average (11.0), while sitting 10th in career points (2,025)
• The senior is just 44 rebounds from becoming the 14th player in NCAA history with 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds
• Freshman Rob Wright ranks second on the team in scoring averaging 12.8 points and has a team-leading 5.1 assists. With 66 assists, Wright is on pace to shatter the freshman assists record held by John Lucas (120)
• Duke Transfer Jeremy Roach is averaging 15.5 points per game in conference play, which leads the Bears and ranks among the top-15 in the Big 12
