Men's Hoops Preview: Feb. 16 at Kansas
2/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BAYLOR (14-10, 4-7) at No. 2 KANSAS (22-2, 11-0)
Phog Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) - Lawrence, Kan.
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2002 - 3:00 p.m. CST
RADIO: Baylor Radio Network
KRZI 1660/1580 AM (Waco)
on-line @ www.GoBaylorBears.com
TELEVISION: ESPN+Plus
KWBU-TV Ch. 34 / 4 (Waco/Temple)
QUICK NOTES
* Baylor is 9-3 in its last 12 games against Big 12 North teams.
* BU is 10-1 when outrebounding its opponent.
* BU is 7th in nation with 9.3 avg. 3-pointers.
* Baylor ranks 1st in the Big 12 in steals (9.18 spg), 2nd in turnover margin (+2.91) and 3rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33) and assists (16.00) in conference games.
* Baylor teams have made at least one 3-point basket in 316 straight games.
* Baylor has lost 14 straight away games.
* In the past two years Baylor is 28-1 when totaling an equal or higher shooting percentage than its opponent (10-0 this year).
* Wendell Greenleaf is third on BU's career steals list with 147.
* Lawrence Roberts has scored in double-digits in in 20 of 24 games this season with six double-doubles.
* Lawrence Roberts ranks 5th among the nation's freshmen in rebounding average.
* Matt Sayman has made 11 straight free throws over the last three games.
THE GAME
Baylor plays its second straight road game Saturday, traveling to Lawrence, Kan., for a showdown with No. 2 Kansas. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CST at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Baylor (14-10, 4-7) is coming off a 90-65 loss Wednesday night at Texas Tech. Kansas (22-2, 11-0) used overtime to defeat Texas 110-103 Monday night at Austin. This is the first meeting between Baylor and Kansas since the Bears knocked off the then-sixth-ranked Jayhawks 85-77 in Waco last February. Saturday's game will be televised as a part of the Big 12 Conference's ESPN Regional package. The game will be aired in the Waco-Temple-Bryan area on KWBU-TV, channel 34 over the air and channel 4 on Time-Warner Cable. Fred White will handle play-by-play duties, and Paul Splittorff will provide color analysis.
HEAD COACH DAVE BLISS
Dave Bliss, in his third season at Baylor, is a 27-year coaching veteran and ranks 17th among active Division I coaches in victories with 512. The former head coach at New Mexico, Southern Methodist and Oklahoma owns a career record of 512-308 (.624). He has led teams to 15 postseason tournament appearances, including 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament. Five times Bliss has been honored as his conference's coach of the year, and he is one of only 23 Division I coaches ever to have taken three different schools to the NCAA Tournament (UNM, SMU, OU).
Bliss took over the reigns of Baylor basketball on March 23, 1999, and was given the task of rebuilding a program that had finished the 1998-99 season without a Big 12 Conference win. Bliss proceeded to guide the Bears to a 14-15 record in 1999-2000 and in his second year led Baylor to a 19-12 mark and into the NIT.
BLISS A MEMBER OF COACHING'S 500 CLUB
Baylor's Dave Bliss became the 92nd collegiate head coach to reach 500 career victories Nov. 21 when the Bears defeated Texas-Arlington 88-64. In 27 years as a head coach, Bliss has averaged more than 19 wins per season.
THE KANSAS SERIES
Saturday marks just the eighth time Baylor has met Kansas on the hardwood, KU leads the series, which dates back to 1951, by a 6-1 margin. The lone Baylor victory came in the teams' last meeting as the Bears upset then-No. 6 Kansas 85-77 last February in Waco. KU has won all four previous meetings at Lawrence, including an 80-70 decision two years ago.
THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS
Kansas (22-2, 11-0) is led by the Roy Williams, in his 14th year as a collegiate head coach, all at Kansas. Williams has amassed a record of 377-91 (.806) while in Lawrence, a winning percentage that ranks first nationally among active Divsion I coaches and fourth all-time.
KU NOTES: Kansas established a Big 12 Conference record with its 11th consecutive conference victory Monday night, defeating Texas 110-103 in overtime... The Jayhawks are led by Naismith Award Finalist Drew Gooden, the junior forward is averaging 20.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, both tops in the Big 12... Junior forward Nick Collison, also a Naismith finalist, is averaging 15.6 points and 8.0 boards per contest... KU has one Texas native on its roster, sophomore forward Bryant Nash is a product of Turner High School in Carrollton.
BLISS vs. KANSAS
Dave Bliss is 5-15 all-time against Kansas and 1-1 while at Baylor. Bliss compiled a 4-10 record vs. KU as a head coach at fellow-Big 8 school Oklahoma and was 0-4 vs. Kansas while head coach at SMU.
ROBERTS TABBED NABC ALL-DISTRICT 9
Freshman Lawrence Roberts, who leads the Bears in scoring, rebounding and blocks, was named second-team all-District 9 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches earlier this week. The Houston, Texas, native was one of 10 athletes selected from District 9, joining 140 other athletes nation wide on all-district teams. Those players are now eligible for the NABC/Pontiac Division I all-America team. Roberts was one of four Big 12 players selected from the Texas-Arkansas district, joining Texas guard T.J. Ford as the only freshmen honored.
BEARS ENDURE ROUGH STRETCH
The Bears are in the middle of perhaps the toughest portion of their schedule, as Saturday's game against No. 2 Kansas is one of five against nationally ranked opponents in a six-game stretch. Baylor dropped the first game in the stretch, falling 70-57 Feb. 6 at No. 4 Oklahoma, but the Bears rebounded for an 81-80 win at home last Saturday over 22nd-ranked Missouri. Following Kansas on Baylor's schedule are No. 4 OU again, and No. 15 Oklahoma State.
BEARS SUCCESSFULL vs. BIG 12 NORTH
Including a 3-1 mark this year, Baylor has won nine of its last 12 games against teams from the Big 12 North (dating back to last season).
ROAD BEARS
Though the Bears have earned a 4-10 record in their last 14 games away from the Ferrell Center, Baylor has dropped 14 straight decisions in games played on their opponents' home court. That 13-game losing streak dates back to a 63-55 victory at Kansas State on Jan. 13, 2001.
GREENLEAF CLIMBS TO THIRD ON STEALS LIST
With three steals Wednesday at Texas Tech, junior Wendell Greenleaf moved into third place all-time at Baylor in career steals. Greenleaf passed David Wesley, who tallied 145 swipes from 1990 to 1992, and his total of 147 trails former teammate Terry Black (153) by just eight thefts. Greenleaf leads the Big 12 with 2.54 steals per game.
3-POINT BARRAGE
Baylor is averaging 9.29 3-point shots made per game (223) this season, a figure that ranks first in the Big 12 Conference and seventh nationally. The Bears are on pace to break the school's single-season record of 265 3-pointers in 1994-1995. Projected over a 30-game season, the Bears are on track to make 278 3s this year. Baylor has made 10 or more 3s in in 13 of 23 games this season.
3-POINT MISCELLANY
Leading the Bears' charge in 3-pointers made is junior Wendell Greenleaf with 57, freshman John Lucas has hit 47. In all, nine Bears have made at least 10 shots from 3-point range this season. Prior to this season, no Baylor team has ever had more than seven players make at least 10 3-pointers in a season... With six 3-pointers Wednesday at Texas Tech, the Bears have made at least one 3-pointer in 316 consecutive games. That streak dates back to Feb. 21, 1990, when Baylor was 0-for-8 from long range at home against Texas Tech.
THE LAST MEETING, BAYLOR 85-KANSAS 77, FEBRUARY 2001
Terry Black scored 20 points as Baylor rode a nearly flawless first half to an improbable 85-77 victory over No. 6 Kansas. The Bears scored the game's first 10 points and led by 25 after the first half, marking the biggest halftime deficit Roy Williams faced in13 years of coaching Kansas. Although the Jayhawks staged a furious second-half comeback to eventually pull within four, Baylor hit 16-of-21 free throws down the stretch to hold on for its first win over a Top-10 team since beating third-ranked Arkansas in 1990 and its first win over Kansas in seven tries. The Bears also ended a 17-game losing streak to ranked teams and gave the sixth-largest crowd (9,523) ever at the Ferrell Center something huge to celebrate. Thousands of fans wearing gold T-shirts stormed the court, amidst a shower of gold and green confetti. Wendell Greenleaf scored 20, behind a team-high three 3-pointers. The Bears shot 41 percent (7-for-17) from the 3-point arc. But Black stole the show with six highlight-variety dunks on the night, including an exclamation point alley-oop slam off a Greenleaf assist with 2:14 remaining. At no point, from the tip to the buzzer, did Dave Bliss' Bears shoot below 50 percent from the field. Baylor finished 28-of-54 (51.9 percent) from the floor on the night.
THE LAST TIME OUT, TEXAS TECH 90-BAYLOR 65
Andre Emmett scored 30 points and Kasib Powell had a double-double as Texas Tech defeated Baylor 90-65 at the United Spirit Arena. Tech took control of the game in the first half and passed the ball deftly throughout. The Red Raiders spotted open teammates and zipped and lofted the ball through Baylor's zone defense. On 36 shots from the field, Tech had 30 assists, many that led to easy baskets inside. Lawrence Roberts scored 26 points and R.T. Guinn added 12 to lead the Bears. The Bears turned the ball over 20 times and Tech had 12 steals. The coaching matchup was the first between Bob Knight and Baylor coach Dave Bliss, who are longtime friends. Bliss worked with Knight at West Point in 1967 and when Knight became Indiana's coach in 1971, he hired Bliss as his assistant coach. It was Knight who helped Bliss land his first head coaching post at Oklahoma in 1975. Tech led 49-26 at halftime and held the Bears scoreless for five minutes. Tech, meanwhile, was hot offensively and defensively. The Red Raiders had nine steals, 18 assists and carved out a 19-2 run to take a 22-7 lead. They had another run of 9-0 a few minutes later and shot just better than 63 percent on 21-of-33.
BEAR FANS SHATTER ATTENDANCE MARKS
With two home games remaining, Baylor has already established a new Ferrell Center record for attendance in a single-season of 92,973. The previous record of 91,421 was set last season in 17 home games. Baylor is averaging 6,641 fans per game this season (14 games), which is on pace to set a new average attendance record as well (previous high is 5,856 in 1992-93). Additionally, Baylor fans broke the single-game attendance mark in January, when 10,496 were on hand against Texas.
GOLD DOME BRINGS OUT BEST IN BEARS
The Bears once again hit the road, where they have struggled to match the success they've enjoyed at home in the Ferrell Center. The following chart illustrates the difference between Baylor's play at home vs. other venues in key stat categories:
HOME-AWAY COMPARISON Ferrell Center Road Record 12-2 2-8 Points per game 83.7 71.7 Scoring Margin +18.1 -6.1 Rebounding Margin -0.9 -7.0 Opp. 3-Pt FG Pct. 33.3% 41.6% Blocks per game 4.9 2.6 Lucas 3-Pt FG Pct. 44.9% 27.3% Roberts FG Pct. 48.5% 40.2%
GREENLEAF SEES SCORING STREAK END
Wendell Greenleaf failed to score in double figures Wednesday night at Texas Tech, ending a streak of 14 consecutive games in which the junior had scored at least 10 points. Greenleaf's seven points against the Red Raiders was his second-lowest output of the season, he was held to just two points Dec. 1 at Rice.
BEARS GREEDY WITH BALL
Baylor has shown a strong sense of court awareness this season, evidenced by the fact that the Bears rank second in the Big 12 Conference in steals (10.17 per game), turnover margin (+3.29) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.26), and third in assists (17.79). However, BU is just as solid in conference contests. According to the Feb. 14 conference rankings, the Bears lead the league in steals (9.18), rank second turnover margin (+2.91), and rank third assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33) and assists (16.00) in Big 12 games.
BAYLOR LED BY ITS CUBS
Baylor's three true freshmen (John Lucas, Lawrence Roberts, and Kenny Taylor) have made an immediate impact on this year's team. Through 24 games, the three freshmen have combined for 41 percent of the team's points, 31 percent of the rebounds, 33 percent of the steals and 32 percent of the assists.
ROBERTS AMONG FRESHMAN BOARD LEADERS
Freshman Lawrence Roberts has made his presence felt in virtually every aspect of the game this season, however, perhaps nowhere moreso than in the rebounding department. He leads the Bears and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 8.2 rebounds per game. Through games of Feb. 12, Roberts is tied for fifth nationally in rebounding average among freshmen.
COOL HAND LUCAS
In the waning minutes with the game on the line, who better to have on the line than freshman John Lucas? Through 24 games, Lucas is 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the charity stripe in the final three minutes of games. Overall, Lucas is shooting 81.5 percent (44-of-54) from the free throw line, second on the team.
ROBERTS ENJOYING STELLAR FROSH SEASON
Lawrence Roberts has hit the ground running in his first season of college basketball. In 23 games, the true freshman has compiled six double-doubles, been honored a second-team NABC All-District 9 selection, been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week and to the San Juan Shootout all-tournament team, and leads the team in several categories, including: scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounds (8.2 rpg), blocks (28), field goals (132), free throws made (105) and free throws attempted (152). The Houston, Texas, native is also second on the team in steals (43). According to the Feb. 14 Big 12 rankings, Roberts is eighth in scoring, sixth in rebounding, tied for third in steals, ninth in blocks, fifth in defensive rebounds and tied for eighth in offensive rebounds.
YOUNG LUCAS LEADING THE BEARS
Freshman point guard John Lucas III (son of Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas Jr.) has adequately assumed the Bears' point guard position. Lucas is shooting 38.5 percent on 3-point shots (47-of-122). The Houston, Texas, native has scored 20-plus points three times and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.10 (101-to-48), 12th in the conference. According to the Feb. 14 rankings, Lucas is 24th in the Big 12 in scoring, ninth in assists and 11th in 3-pointers. He has twice been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Dec. 10, Jan. 7).
BEARS ON TV
Saturday's contest at Kansas is Baylor's 12th game this season in front of a television audience. The Bears are 4-7 this season in TV games. Baylor is 13-25 in televised games under Dave Bliss.
BIG 12 ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Three of 10 Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors this season have gone to Baylor true freshmen. Forward Lawrence Roberts was selected Nov. 27, and guard John Lucas was honored Dec. 10 and Jan. 7. Roberts received the award following his performance in season-opening wins over Hardin-Simmons, UT-Arlington and Sacred Heart. He averaged a double-double and led Baylor in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounds (12.0 rpg), steals (12), blocks (7), free throws made (13) and free throws attempted (20). Lucas was initially honored after the Bears' 95-81 victory over North Texas, in which he had career highs with 27 points and 11 field goals. Lucas earned his second selection after averaging 17.5 points in wins over Colorado State and Iowa State.
BEAR FAMILY LOSES ECHOLS
The Baylor basketball program lost one of its own in January, when letterman Ben Echols died following surgery. Echols, who transferred to Baylor from Centenary, played for the Bears from 1997 to 2000. Echols started every game at center in 1999-2000, Dave Bliss' first season, and led the team in blocks and averaged 6.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. Following graduation from Baylor in May 2000, Echols had played overseas in Lebanon and Russia.
PLENTY OF NEW BRUINS
The 2001-2002 Baylor roster includes four new players: three true freshmen (John Lucas, Lawrence Roberts and Kenny Taylor) and one junior college transfer (Rod Nealy). Also seeing their first game action in the Green and Gold this season are former transfers R.T. Guinn and Kevin Henry. The pair, both former New Mexico players, sat out last season at Baylor to gain eligibility.
THE LOBO TRANSFERS
As has been well documented, the Baylor roster includes three former players from the University of New Mexico, where Dave Bliss and his staff previously coached. The players, senior Greg Davis, sophomore R.T. Guinn and senior Kevin Henry, were all recruited by Bliss' UNM staff. Guinn (who was recruited by-but never played for-Bliss at UNM) and Henry sat out last year due to NCAA transfer policy. All three players were starters at New Mexico.
NATION'S LONGEST-STANDING COACHING DUO
Baylor boasts Division I basketball's longest-tenured current coaching tandem. Bear assistant coach Doug Ash has been Dave Bliss' top aide for all 27 years Bliss has been a collegiate head coach. The Bliss and Ash duo began at Indiana University in the early 1970s when both were assistants under Bobby Knight. When Bliss became head coach at Oklahoma in 1975, he took Ash with him. The pair has been together ever since, at SMU, New Mexico and Baylor.
BEARS ADD 3 EARLY SIGNEES
Baylor has signed three early signees, all from the state of Texas, to national letters of intent during the early signing period: Ellis Kidd Jr., a guard from Seminole (Okla.) State College, Tommy Swanson, a forward from North Crowley (Texas) High School, and Terrance Thomas, a forward from Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas.
Kidd, a 6-4, 185-pound guard, is in his first season at Seminole State after transferring from Oklahoma State. He redshirted the 2000-2001 season at OSU after playing only 10 minutes in two early games and will have three seasons of eligibility at Baylor. A former Dallas Morning News all-area selection at James Madison High School in Dallas, Kidd was named a USA Today honorable mention all-American as a senior in 2000.
Swanson, a 6-9, 215-pound forward, played only seven games as a junior last season at North Crowley following a head injury. He averaged 14 points and nine rebounds before a hairline fracture to his skull sidelined him for the season. Texas Hoops rated Swanson the state's No. 24 player prior to his senior season. He is listed among the nation's top 300 prep seniors by Athon Sports and was named an honorable mention all-American by Street & Smith's College Basketball.
Thomas, a 6-7, 220-pound forward, was highly recruited after being named to the All-Region XIV team as a freshman last season at Lon Morris. Thomas averaged 19.3 points and 12 rebounds last season, and is rated No. 4 among junior college small forwards by The Sporting News in its preseason preview. He is also listed as the 22nd-best junior college recruit by Mike Mitchell's Midwest Report and is rated the No. 27 juco player nationally by Greg Swaim's scouting service. A native of Waco, Thomas attended Maceo Smith High School in Dallas. He averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds as a senior in 2000 and was named a USA Today honorable mention all-American.
BAYLOR EARLY SIGNEESName Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (High School)Ellis Kidd Jr. G 6-4 185 So. Dallas, Texas (Madison HS/OSU/Seminole St.)Tommy Swanson F 6-9 215 Fr. Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley HS)Terrance Thomas F 6-7 220 Jr. Dallas, Texas (Maceo Smith HS/Lon Morris)
OVER THE AIR
Bear basketball games can be heard live on the Baylor Radio Network. The flagship station is KRZI-AM (1660/1580) in Waco. Selected Baylor games will be broadcast on Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate WBAP News/Talk 820, which covers 80 percent of the nation during night games. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his seventh season. Former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley is in his 20th season as color analyst for Bear broadcasts.
BAYLOR GAMES ON THE NET
The radio broadcast from all Baylor basketball games can be heard live on the internet on Baylor's official online website, www.GoBaylorBears.com, or at www.yahoo.broadcast.com.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.
BIG-12 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
Baylor's 2001-2002 edition has been projected in preseason polls to finish anywhere from seventh to 10th in the Big 12 Conference. The league's coaches picked the Bears to finish ninth in preseason balloting, and the conference media projected Baylor eighth. The highest projected finish for Baylor was seventh, by Lindys magazine.
UP NEXT...
Baylor returns home Tuesday, Feb. 19, for a 7 p.m. CST game against No. 4 Oklahoma at the Ferrell Center. The Sooners won the first meeting this season, defeating the Bears 70-57 Feb. 6 at Norman.
