Men's Hoops Preview: vs. Iowa State Jan. 24
1/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BAYLOR (5-11, 0-3) vs. IOWA STATE (11-3, 2-1)
Jan. 24, 2004 - Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas) - 7:00 p.m. CST
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RADIO: Baylor Radio Network (KRZI 1660/1580 AM Waco)
INTERNET AUDIO: live broadcast at BaylorBears.com
TELEVISION: ESPN Regional
INTERNET VIDEO: none
THE GAME
Baylor is back home to face Iowa State Saturday, Jan. 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST at the Ferrell Center. The Bears are 5-11, 0-3 and have dropped five straight, most recently a 76-47 loss at Nebraska Wednesday. The Cyclones are 11-3, 2-1 and coming off an 84-76 victory over in-state rival Iowa Wednesday. The game will be televised live regionally on ESPN Regional and can be viewed in Central Texas on Time-Warner Cable channel 15 (for complete listing check BaylorBears.com).
BAYLOR TIP-INS
- Baylor is currently playing with 7 active scholarship players and 6 walk-ons.
- Baylor is 11-11 vs. Big 12 North schools the last 3-plus seasons (6-28 vs. South).
- Baylor has held every opponent under 80 points this season.
- BU is shooting 43% on 3-pointers in conference play (29% in non-conf. play).
- Baylor's coaching staff, with an average age of 34 years, is the nation's youngest among major conference schools.
- Baylor teams have made at least one 3-point basket in 365 straight games.
- After fouling out of his first 2 games at Baylor and totaling 9 points, Harvey Thomas is averaging 19.2 points and 6.5 rebounds over the last 6 games.
- Terrance Thomas ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in scoring (18.5 ppg) and 10th in rebounding (7.6 rpg).
- Terrance Thomas leads BU in scoring (18.5), rebounding (7.6), 3-pointers (30) & minutes (35.1).
- Terrance Thomas has scored 20+ points in 6 of 13 games.
- Senior Matt Sayman has played in all 105 games of his career.
- R.T. Guinn owns the 3rd-best career 3-point shooting % in Baylor history (41.6%).
HEAD COACH Scott Drew
Scott Drew is 5-11 in his first season as head coach at Baylor and 25-22 in two seasons as a head coach. He came to Waco after 10 seasons coaching at Valparaiso, the final as head coach. Drew led the Crusaders to a 20-11 record and into the NIT in 2002-2003. Valpo earned the Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship with a 12-2 league record last season.
The previous nine seasons, Drew served as an assistant at Valpo under his father Homer Drew. During Drew's decade at Valparaiso, the Crusaders earned six NCAA Tournament berths, including the magical 1997-1998 squad that shocked the nation by advancing to the Sweet 16. Valpo made five straight NCAA appearances from 1996-2000. An outstanding recruiter, Drew was responsible for three national Top-20 recruiting classes the last five years. He was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision and helped produce what HoopScoop named the nation's sixth best recruiting class in 2001, the 13th best in 1999 and the 19th best in 2003 (including four Top-100 national recruits).
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
Baylor's current 2003-2004 roster lists 14 players: six returnees and eight newcomers. Of the eight newcomers, two are scholarship recruits (junior Harvey Thomas, freshman Carl Marshall), two arrived as walk-ons prior to the fall semester (junior Ryan Pryor, freshman Turner Phipps), one earned a spot during open walk-on tryouts in October (junior Robbie McKenzie), one was added in January from a prep school (freshman Nino Etienne), one is a Division I transfer who joined in January and will sit out the season (sophomore Tim Bush), and one walked on in late January (forward Mark Shepherd). Seven of Baylor's 13 active players are on scholarships (five returnees & two newcomers). [note: Ellis Kidd Jr. was dismissed from the team in December for violation of team policy; senior football letterman Joe Simmons played five games before leaving to focus on football]
THE IOWA STATE CYCLONES
Iowa State (11-3, 2-1) is led by Wayne Morgan, in his first year at ISU and his seventh year as a head coach. Morgan owns a career record of 102-87 with a stint at Long Beach State (1996-2002) prior to ISU; he is 11-3 with the Cyclones.
ISU NOTES: The Cyclones are 1-3 on the road this season... Senior C Jackson Vroman leads the Big 12 in rebounding, averaging 10.2 boards per game... Iowa State is led by freshman G Curtis Stinson, who averages 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game... The Cyclones shoot 40.6 percent on 3-pointers as a team.
THE IOWA STATE SERIES
This is the 12th meeting between Baylor and Iowa State with the Cyclones holding a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series. The Bears have won two of the last three meetings, but dropped a 74-40 decision last season in Ames. Baylor has a 3-1 series edge in games played in Waco.
DREW vs. IOWA STATE
Baylor head coach Scott Drew has never coached against Iowa State.
BEARS SUCCESS vs. BIG 12 NORTH
Baylor is 11-11 over the last three-plus seasons in games against schools from the Big 12 North (9-10 in regular reason, 2-1 in the Big 12 Tournament). The Bears are 6-28 vs. Big 12 South teams during that same span.
TERRANCE LEADING THE BEARS
Senior F Terrance Thomas leads the Bears in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg) and minutes played (35.1 mpg) despite having missed three of the last five games. He also ranks as the second-leading scorer and the seventh-best rebounder in the Big 12 Conference. Thomas and fellow senior R.T. Guinn sat out three games in January due to academically ineligibility but were granted waivers and reinstated by the NCAA. Thomas was named to the Hawai'i Surf N' Slam all-tournament team in December.
HARVEY POSTING BIG NUMBERS
Junior Harvey Thomas has played eight games for Baylor since becoming eligible in late December. The transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M fouled out of each of his first two games. In the six games since, the former Georgetown player has averaged 19.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and recorded two double-doubles.
SAYMAN, BAYLOR'S IRON MAN
Matt Sayman is the Bears' most veteran player and captain. The fourth-year senior provides leadership and consistent play as Baylor's most experienced player (105 games played). He is averaging 7.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 2003-2004. Sayman is on pace to break the school's games played record (116, Jamie Kendrick 1997-2000) and is currently ninth on the school's career minutes played chart (2,312).
SHEPHERD ADDED TO ROSTER
Baylor added another walk-on to its roster this week, Mark Shepherd, a three-year letterman from St. Michael's Academy in Austin, Texas. The 6-8, 210-pound forward led the Crusaders to a 28-7 record and the 2003 TAPPS 5A state championship as a senior. Shepherd averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks and was named to the TABC All-State Large School second team. Shepherd averaged 11.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 blocks as a junior in 2002 for St. Michaels 31-6 district championship team.
WALK-ON CONTRIBUTIONS
Playing behind a current roster of seven active scholarship players, Baylor's six walk-ons (juniors Robbie McKenzie and Ryan Pryor, sophomore Will Allen and freshmen Nino Etienne, Turner Phipps and Mark Shepherd) have played an important role, and the quintet has quickly become crowd favorites at home in the Ferrell Center. Though they log minutes individually as reserve subs (typically Allen and McKenzie), the unit has been utilized by head coach Scott Drew as an entire five-man substitution team to both rest and energize the regulars. The entire walk-on "team" has appeared in six games and has logged 19 minutes together on the floor and has been outscored 42-24. [note: five of the walk-ons are new this season, Allen is a second-year sophomore]
NATION'S YOUNGEST COACHING STAFF
Baylor's coaching staff is the youngest among the nation's major college conferences (tallied by average age). The Bears staff averages 34 years of age (head coach Scott Drew [34] and assistants Mathew Driscoll [39], Mark Morefield [27] and Jerome Tang [37]). New Mexico's staff also averages 34 years.
NEW STAFF GUIDING BEARS
Head coach Scott Drew is joined on the Baylor coaching staff by new assistants Matthew Driscoll, Mark Morefield and Jerome Tang. Driscoll and Morefield followed Drew from his staff at Valparaiso, and Tang joined Baylor after 10 years as a prep coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT: NEBRASKA 76 - BAYLOR 47
A cold shooting night doomed Baylor from the start as the Bears lost 76-47 to Nebraska at the Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers held Baylor without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes to open the game. But Nebraska struggled to score as well, taking its first double digit lead on Nate Johnson's 3-pointer that made the score 12-1 with 8:55 remaining. Nebraska led by nine at the half and saw Baylor score to open the period to come within seven. Then the Huskers went on an 11-2 run that put the lead at 39-21 with 15:40 remaining. The Bears had a five-point flurry to cut the lead to 13. But Nebraska countered with 13 straight points to take a 52-26 lead. Nebraska did much of its damage from the 3-point line where the Huskers hit 11 of 18 shots. The Huskers also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Bears 39-25 Terrance Thomas had 16 to lead Baylor.
THE LAST MEETING: IOWA STATE 74 - BAYLOR 70 [Feb. 1, 2003]
Kenny Taylor scored 20 points but it wasn't enough to lead the Bears past a hot-shooting Iowa State squad as the Cyclones downed Baylor 74-70 at Hilton Coliseum. Baylor took a 57-55 lead on a layup by John Lucas with 8:17 remaining and went up 62-59 on a 3-pointer by Carlton Dotson with 6:22 remaining. But the Bears didn't make another field goal until there were 24 seconds left and Iowa State was ahead 71-65. Taylor hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 71-68, but the Cyclones put the game out of reach on a free throw by Marcus Jefferson with 19.2 seconds left and two free throws by Jake Sullivan with 4.9 seconds to play. Iowa State led throughout the first half, including a 35-29 advantage at halftime. Iowa State's biggest lead of the game was 27-16 with 5:23 to play in the half. The Cyclones led by 10 points, 40-30, on Sullivan's first 3-pointer of the second half before Baylor started its comeback. After Baylor cut the lead to 47-44 on Dotson's 3-point basket, Sullivan scored on a traditional 3-point play to give the Cyclones a 50-44 lead with 12:06 remaining. Sullivan then hit another 3-pointer to make it 53-47. The Bears tied the game at 55-55 on 3-pointers by Ellis Kidd and Taylor and a regular basket by Taylor. Baylor had four players in double figures, led by Taylor's 20 points. Lawrence Roberts scored 13, Kidd had 12 and Lucas finished with 10 points. Baylor was 22-of-47 from the field after hitting just 8-of-19 attempts in the first half.
REMEMBERING PATRICK
Baylor's jerseys include a black stripe across the left shoulder in honor of the late Patrick Dennehy, a former teammate who was a redshirt at Baylor during the 2002-2003 season after transferring from New Mexico.
LSU TRANSFER JOINS BEARS
Tim Bush, a freshman F at LSU in 2002-2003, joined the Bears in January and is practicing with the team. The 6-5 forward will be eligible to play after the fall 2004 semester as a sophomore with three years of eligibility. As a true freshman last season at LSU, Bush appeared in 10 games, averaging 0.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest. Coming out of high school, Bush was ranked the No. 137 prospect in the class of 2003 by HoopScoop. Bush averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game as a junior at Shaw High School in New Orleans. Bush won MVP honors at the 2001 Michael Jordan camp in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was also a top-10 prospect at the 2001 Great American Shootout in Denton, Texas.
BAYLOR PRAISED FOR PAIR OF EARLY SIGNEES
Baylor has inked two prep athletes to national letters of intent during the early signing period: center Mamadou Diene of Senegal and guard Aaron Bruce of Australia. The pair are ranked as the 39th-best recruiting class to date by HoopScoop. Diene, a 7-footer, is rated as the top NBA prospect in Africa and the sixth-best international prospect in the world by NBAdraft.net. The analysts at HoopScoop said that if Diene were playing high school basketball in the United States, he would rank among the top 40 players in the nation. HoopScoop also reported that Diene was ranked as the top player in camp when he attended the Babacar Sy Basketball Camp in July. Bruce spent last summer playing for the Australian junior national team in the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece. The 6-2 guard led Australia with 25 points as the Aussies upset Team USA 106-85. HoopScoop reports that if Bruce were playing high school basketball in the United States, he would rank among the top 50 seniors in the country.
BAYLOR SIGNEES:Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. HometownAaron Bruce G 6-2 190 Fr. Horsham, VictoriaMamadou Diene C 7-0 210 Fr. Yeumbeul, Senegal
FERRELL CENTER'S 16th YEAR
The Bears are enjoying their 16th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center. Baylor is 4-6 at home in 2003-2004 and owns a 140-95 all-time record in the arena, which opened in November 1988. The Ferrell Center is a golden-domed structure that seats 10,284 for basketball games.
BAYLOR GAMES ONLINE - AUDIO AND VIDEO
For the first time, Bear fans can both watch and listen to live video and audio of Baylor basketball online in 2003-2004. The radio broadcast of all Baylor basketball games can be heard live on-line on Baylor's official website, BaylorBears.com, or at www.broadcast.com. Live video is available at baylorbears.nmnathletics.com; all home games that are not scheduled to be televised are included in the package. Subscriptions are available for $6.95 per game, or $49.95 for a season pass that covers both men's and women's games.
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, College Sports TV and the College Channel (Waco Time Warner cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on Fox Sports Net Southwest. Each show is archived online at BaylorBears.com and BaylorTV.com.
NEXT UP...
Baylor plays a second straight home game Wednesday, Jan. 28, when it hosts No. 20 Oklahoma in Waco. Tipoff at the Ferrell Center is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the game will be telecast live regionally on Fox Sports Net Southwest.
