BAYLOR (8-20, 3-12) at OKLAHOMA (17-9, 7-8)
March 6, 2004 - Lloyd Noble Center (Norman, Okla.) - 5:00 p.m. CST

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

RADIO: Baylor Radio Network (KRZI 1660/1580 AM Waco/WBAP 820 AM Dallas)
INTERNET AUDIO: live broadcast at BaylorBears.com
TELEVISION: Sooner Sports Network (Time Warner Cable ch. 15 in Waco)
INTERNET VIDEO: none

THE GAME
Baylor concludes its 2003-2004 season Saturday, March 6 with a game against Oklahoma in Norman. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST at the Lloyd Noble Center and the game will be telecast live regionally by the Sooner Sports Network in Oklahoma and in Central Texas on Time Warner Cable channel 15. The short-handed Bears (seven available scholarship players) play their final game of the season in Norman due to the school's self-imposed postseason ban. The Bears are 8-20, 3-12 in the Big 12 after a thrilling 64-62 loss to Kansas State Wednesday in Waco. The Sooners, 17-9, 7-8, snapped a four-game losing streak with an 86-60 victory over Texas A&M Wednesday in Norman.

FINAL GAME FOR SPECIAL BEAR SQUAD
Saturday's game in Norman will conclude a memorable season in the history of Baylor basketball. Due to its self-imposed postseason ban, the OU matchup is Baylor's final contest and the last game for seniors R.T. Guinn, Matt Sayman and Terrance Thomas. The 2003-2004 edition of the Bears will be fondly remembered for overcoming the tragic events of last summer that included talk of Baylor forgoing the season altogether, the loss by transfer of its top three returning scorers and a top prep recruit, and the late-summer arrival of a new coaching staff. Seven Baylor letterwinners chose to stay at the school and play the 2003-2004 season and were joined by two new recruits and a handful of walk-ons, and the squad was projected by all to not only finish winless in the Big 12 Conference-but many speculated the Bears may not win a game, period. During the season, the undermanned Bears have played with a roster that fluctuated between nine and 12 healthy bodies and five-to-seven scholarship players. Six returnees (and six newcomers) and head coach Scott Drew have defied all the odds and won over the hearts of the hometown Baylor faithful, as well as scores of onlookers nationwide, as they've scrapped their way to eight wins-including three improbable wins over Big 12 opponents-and played seven other contests down to the wire.

BAYLOR TIP-INS
- Baylor is currently playing with 7 active scholarship players and 5 active walk-ons.
- Baylor has been outrebounded in 8 straight games (season long).
- Baylor has dropped 19 straight games to Oklahoma dating back to 1978.
- BU is 2-12 in its last 14 games away from home.
- Bears are 1-5 in games decided by 5 or fewer points.
- Baylor's coaching staff, with an average age of 34 years, is the nation's youngest among major conference schools.
- Saturday is the final collegiate game for seniors R.T. Guinn, Matt Sayman and Terrance Thomas.
- Saturday Matt Sayman will play 118th straight game of career (new BU record).
- Matt Sayman ranks 2nd in conf. in assists (4.5) in league games.
- R.T. Guinn owns the 3rd-best career 3-point shooting % in Baylor history (39.2%).
- Terrance Thomas ranks 6th in Big 12 scoring (16.2 ppg) & 8th in rebounding (7.0).
- Terrance Thomas is 3rd in the Big 12 w/ 2.2 3-pointers per game.
- R.T. Guinn is 6th in the Big 12 with 1.7 steals per game.
- Baylor's Thomas & Thomas duo is only school's 2nd pair in a decade to average more than 15 ppg (Terrance 16.2, Harvey 15.9).
- Terrance Thomas leads BU in scoring (16.2), rebounding (7.0) & 3-pointers (54).
- Carl Marshall has hit 11-of-19 3-pointers the last 10 games.
- Baylor's jerseys include a black stripe in honor of late teammate Patrick Dennehy.

HEAD COACH Scott Drew
Scott Drew is 8-20 in his first season as head coach at Baylor and 28-31 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.

OVERACHIEVING BEARS EXCEEDING ALL EXPECTATIONS
An 8-20 overall and 3-12 Big 12 record may not at first glance impress, but considering that many observers nationwide didn't expect Baylor to win any games - let alone games vs. Big 12 opponents - it is safe to say the short-handed Bears have exceeded expectations this season [Bears have eight wins and five of their losses are by five or fewer points]. As a Baylor team that was a consensus pick to finish last in the conference sits three games out of the cellar, head coach Scott Drew continues to garner praise for his efforts and that of his team.

THE OKLAHOMA SERIES
Baylor and Oklahoma will meet for the 30th time Saturday. The Sooners lead the all-time series 24-5 and have won 19 straight dating back to the 1977-78 season. The Bears trail 11-2 in series games in Norman and have lost eight straight.

THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS
Oklahoma (17-9, 7-8) is in its 10th season under the direction of Kelvin Sampson, who owns a 407-238 career record with stops at Montana Tech (1981-85) and Washington State (1985-94) prior to his days in Norman. Sampson has amassed a 231-90 ledger in nine seasons at Oklahoma, including seven 20-win campaigns.

OU NOTES: The Sooners snapped a four-game losing streak with an 86-60 win over Texas A&M Wednesday... OU is 12-3 at home this season... The Sooners lead the Big 12 in steals (8.81 spg) and turnover margin (+4.46)... Oklahoma is led by senior G Jason Detrick (11.7 points) and freshman G Drew Lavender (11.4 points).

DREW vs. OKLAHOMA
Baylor head coach Scott Drew's teams are 0-1 all-time vs. Oklahoma.

McKENZIE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Baylor student-athlete Robbie McKenzie was named to the 2004 Academic All-Big 12 Men's Basketball first team, the conference office announced Wednesday. The walk-on from Gainesville, Texas, has played in 20 games this season, and scored 18 points and totaled 18 rebounds. McKenzie, a university scholar major who will graduate from Baylor's pre-med program in May, has been named to the Dean's List each semester of his college career. The first-team academic all-league squad consists of 17 members who have maintained a 3.2 or better grade-point average.

ROAD WOES
Baylor owns a 2-12 record in its last 14 games away from home, though the Bears won their last road game, a 67-61 overtime victory over Texas A&M.

BAYLOR'S IRON MAN AND GAMES-PLAYED LEADER
Wednesday against Kansas State Baylor senior Matt Sayman became the school's all-time leader in games played with 117. Sayman, the Bears' co-captain, has played in all 117 games of his career and this season is averaging 8.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and a team-high 35.1 minutes. Sayman is currently sixth on the school's career minutes played chart (2,749).

MILESTONES & RECORDS WATCH
* Matt Sayman is 5 steals shy of 7th place (Darryl Middleton 115) on BU's career list.
* R.T. Guinn is 2 3-pointers shy of 8th place (Kenny Taylor 105) on BU's career list.
* Harvey Thomas is 1 block shy of qualifying (min. 30) for BU's career blocks-per-game Top-10 list (current 1.45 average would rank 2nd all-time).
* Matt Sayman is 14 assists shy of 6th place (Vinnie Johnson 308) on BU's career list.

THOMAS & THOMAS 1-2 PUNCH
Harvey and Terrance Thomas (no relation) have combined to give Baylor a potent offensive duo. The pair is leading the Bears in scoring and rebounding, Terrance with 16.2 points and 7.0 boards and Harvey with 15.9 and 5.5. The Thomas duo will become just the second Baylor twosome (joining Terry Black & DeMarcus Minor in 2000-2001) to average better than 15 points per game for a season.

TERRANCE LEADING THE BEARS
Senior F Terrance Thomas leads the Bears in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg), 3-pointers (54) and double-doubles (6). He also ranks as the sixth-leading scorer and eighth-leading rebounder in the Big 12 Conference and is third in the league with an average of 2.2 3-pointers. Thomas has six double-doubles this season and was named to the Hawai'i Surf N' Slam all-tournament team in December.

SAYMAN IMPRESSIVE IN BIG 12 PLAY
Senior co-captain Matt Sayman has stepped up his play since Big 12 Conference action began. In 15 games of league play, Sayman is ranked second in the conference in assists (4.5) and eighth in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.66).

HARVEY DESERVING OF NEWCOMER MENTION
Junior Harvey Thomas is putting together numbers worthy of Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year mention. The transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M missed the first eight games of the season but over the last 20 games has averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks. Thomas has not played enough games to qualify for overall conference rankings, but in league games he ranks 14th in scoring, 20th in rebounds and fourth in blocks. The former Georgetown player has recorded three double-doubles on the season.

BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
Baylor's current 2003-2004 roster lists 14 players: six returnees and eight newcomers. Of the eight newcomers (six active), 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 early January from a prep school (freshman Nino Etienne), one is a Division I transfer who joined in early January and will sit out the season (sophomore Tim Bush), and one walked on in mid January and is redshirting (forward Mark Shepherd). Seven of Baylor's 12 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]

LAST TIME OUT: KANSAS STATE 64 - BAYLOR 62
Baylor's bid to send its three captains out victorious on senior night and to win its fourth Big 12 game of the season came inches short as R.T. Guinn's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim in the final second and Kansas State defeated the Bears 64-62 at the Ferrell Center. Baylor had made a furious second-half comeback after trailing by 21 points with 12 minutes to go. K-State led 56-37 at the 10 minute mark when Baylor began a 12-1 run ending with a Corey Herring layup to cut the lead to single digits at 57-49 with just under seven minutes left to play. The Wildcats pushed the lead back to 61-51 with five minutes to go, then Baylor went on an 11-3 run capped by Terrance Thomas' 3-pointer off the glass to close the gap to 64-62 with 41 seconds remaining. Kansas State faced a one-and-one foul situation twice in the closing seconds. But Jarrett Hart and Marques Hayden each missed their first free throws, and Baylor snared both rebounds. After Hayden's miss with 15 seconds left, Matt Sayman drove the lane and kicked to Guinn, who pump-faked once before releasing his final shot that bounced long as the game ended. "I thought it was over, and I also got away with a foul. I poked him in the side," KSU's Jeremiah Massey said of Guinn's 3-pointer. Kansas State closed out the final five minutes of the first half with a 10-1 run and led 39-22 at the break.

THE LAST MEETING: No. 25 OKLAHOMA 78 - BAYLOR 67 [Jan. 28, 2004]
Baylor lost its 19th consecutive game at the hands of 25th-ranked Oklahoma, this time a 78-67 decision at the Ferrell Center. Down 33-26 early in the second half, the Bears gave up a 16-3 run over the next seven minutes and trailed by 20. Baylor eventually cut the lead to nine points in the final minute before Oklahoma free throws finished the scoring. The Bears have just seven scholarship players and have lost six of seven games. Oklahoma never trailed after a Drew Lavender 3-pointer five minutes in made it 9-6, but the Sooners didn't put the game away until the second half surge. The Sooners had a 31-21 halftime lead and opened the second-half scoring with a quick basket, and Baylor then scored five straight points before Oklahoma's game-turning spurt. Harvey Thomas led the Bears with 19 points and nine rebounds. Terrance Thomas added 18 points.

WALK-ON CONTRIBUTIONS
Playing behind a current roster of seven active scholarship players, Baylor's five active walk-ons (juniors Robbie McKenzie and Ryan Pryor, sophomore Will Allen and freshmen Nino Etienne and Turner Phipps) 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 as a group in 12 games and has logged 27 minutes together on the floor and has been outscored 55-37. [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 Matthew Driscoll [39], Mark Morefield [27] and Jerome Tang [37]). New Mexico's staff also averages 34 years.

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.

SHEPHERD ADDED TO ROSTER
Baylor added a walk-on to its roster in January, 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.

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

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.

BIG 12 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
Baylor's 2003-2004 edition was projected to finish last in the Big 12 Conference in virtually every preseason poll. The only preseason publication that didn't pick the Bears 12th in the conference was Athlon Sports, which was published prior to the transfers of three Baylor returnees.

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.