MBB: BU Vies For NIT Championship

Men's Basketball 4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

April 1, 2009

NIT GAME CENTER: GAME 39 (NIT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME)
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tip-off: 6 p.m. CDT/7 p.m. EDT
Location: New York, N.Y.
Arena: Madison Square Garden (19,786)
Television: ESPN
Talent: Ron Franklin (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (color), Bill Raftery (color)
Radio: Baylor ISP Sports Network (ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM/Sirius Satellite Ch. 161)
Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (color)
Live Stats: BaylorBears.com
Web Stream: ESPN360.com and BaylorBears.com (live audio)
Series: Baylor leads 1-0 (1990 Dr Pepper Invitational; Waco, Texas)

BAYLOR NIT HISTORY (4-3) 1987 UALR 42, Baylor 41 (First Round)
1990 - Mississippi State 84, Baylor 75 (First Round)
2001 - New Mexico 83, Baylor 73 (First Round)
2009 - Baylor 74, Georgetown 72 (First Round)
Baylor 84, Virginia Tech 66 (Second Round)
Baylor 74, Auburn 72 (Quarterfinals)
Baylor 76, San Diego State 62 (Semifinals)

BAYLOR CLAIMS FIRST WIN IN NEW YORK CITY SINCE 1948
Baylor's 76-62 win over San Diego State in the NIT Semifinals Tuesday was the Bears' first win in New York City since March 27, 1948. That day, the Bears defeated New York University 59-57 in the Olympic Basketball Trials.

BAYLOR FIRSTS...
• Baylor makes first NIT finals appearance in program history (0-3 prior to this season's NIT run)
• Baylor's 74-72 win vs. Georgetown was its first postseason win since 1950
• Baylor's win Tuesday was first win in New York City since 1948
• If Baylor wins NIT, it will be the program's first men's basketball championship of any kind since the 1950 Southwest Conference title (which was shared)
• Back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history

NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP STORY LINES
• Baylor's memorable 2008-09 season will have one final chapter to write Thursday when the Bears face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden.
• Thursday will be Baylor's first game played in the month of April in program history.
• Thursday is also Baylor's first NIT championship game appearance.
• Baylor has won seven of its last eight games, including six wins away from home.
• Baylor's four postseason wins tie for the most in school history - along with the 1947-48 squad that won four and lost in the NCAA championship game to Kentucky at Madison Square Garden.
• Tuesday's win was Baylor's 24th of the season, which matches the 1947-48 national runner-up squad (24-8) as the second-most wins in school history.
• Baylor is 12-4 over the last 2 seasons in tournament play (9-2 this season).
• Baylor's senior trio of Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat and Kevin Rogers are the winningest class in school history with 64 career wins.
• Baylor has won four straight nationally televised games (and five of the last six). Baylor is 10-8 on national TV (9-8 on ESPN family of networks) this season.
• Baylor leads the brief series 1-0 after defeating Penn State 72-70 in the Baylor-hosted Dr Pepper Invitational on Dec. 1, 1990.
• Baylor is 2-5 all-time vs. the Big Ten Conference
• Baylor head coach Scott Drew is 11-1 this season vs. first-time opponents.
• Scott Drew is 101-105 in seven seasons as head coach (20-11 in one season at Valparaiso and 81-94 in six seasons at Baylor).
• Scott Drew is 4-2 as a head coach in postseason games (4-1 NIT, 0-1 NCAA).
• Baylor is 7-10 all-time in the postseason, including a 3-7 record in the NCAA Tournament and a 4-3 mark in the NIT.
• Baylor is 20-2 this season when leading or tied at halftime.
• Baylor shot 50 percent (11-22) from 3-point range vs. San Diego State, its highest percentage since shooting 55.6 percent on Feb. 23, 2008, in a win over Kansas State.
• Baylor has made at least one 3-point field goal in 550 straight games.
• With 23 points Tuesday vs. San Diego State, LaceDarius Dunn became the 23rd player in Baylor history to amass 1,000 career points, joining teammates Curtis Jerrells, Kevin Rogers and Henry Dugat, as well as former teammate Aaron Bruce and current student manager David Wesley.
• Baylor is one of only three Division I schools to have three different players record 30-point games this season against Division I opponents (Virginia Tech, VMI).

DANCING IN APRIL FOR THE FIRST TIME
• Baylor's NIT championship game vs. Penn State will be the Bears' first game played in the month of April in program history.
• Entering the tournament, the latest date Baylor had ever played a game was March 31 (at 1948 U.S. Olympic Basketball Trials).

BEARS MARCHING ON
• Thursday's NIT championship game vs. Penn State will be only Baylor's 15th game to be played on or after March 18th in school history (Baylor is 8-6 in those contests thus far).
• Baylor played a school-record six games after March 18th during its NCAA runner-up finish in 1948.

BAYLOR AND THE "BIG APPLE"
• Baylor is 3-3 all-time in New York City after posting its first win in the "Big Apple" since 1948. In 1948, Baylor lost to Kentucky in the NCAA title game 58-42 at Madison Square Garden, but later beat NYU in the Olympic Basketball Trails in NYC.

THE LUCKY CHARM
• Baylor is 7-1 in non-Big 12 Conference games while wearing its green jerseys away from Waco.
• Six of those seven wins have occurred since the conclusion of the regular season (Baylor wore its home white jerseys vs. Georgetown on March 18).
• Baylor's only other non-conference game away from Waco was a 58-52 win at Washington State on Dec. 6.

BAYLOR IN NCAA/NIT POSTSEASON PLAY
• Baylor is 7-10 all-time in the postseason, including a 3-7 record in the NCAA Tournament and a 4-3 mark in the NIT.
• Before this season, Baylor was 3-10 all-time in eight postseason appearances.
• Baylor's four postseason wins this season tie the 1948 team's record for postseason victories (BU won two games in the NCAA Division Six Playoffs before winning two games in the West Regional).

BAYLOR/PENN STATE SERIES
Overall Series Record vs. Penn State: Baylor leads 1-0
• Baylor won 72-70 in Dr Pepper Invitational (Dec. 1, 1990) Baylor vs. Big Ten Conference: 2-5
• last game vs. Big Ten member was a loss to Purdue in 2008 NCAA Tournament Drew vs. Penn State: 0-0
Drew vs. first-time opponents in 2008-09: 11-1

BAYLOR AIMING FOR BIG 12'S FIRST CROWN IN NIT
• The Bears are the first Big 12 team (since the league's inception in 1996-97) to advance to the NIT championship game. BU is the third conference squad to play in the semifinals, following Texas Tech (2003) and Iowa State (2004).
• In the history of the NIT, only three current Big 12 members have captured the title - Colorado (1940), Texas (1978) and Nebraska (1996).

BAYLOR ADVANCES TO THIRD TOURNAMENT TITLE GAME IN 2008-09
• With Tuesday's 76-62 win over San Diego State, Baylor advanced to its third tournament title game of the 2008-09 season.
• Baylor is 0-2 in its previous tournament title game appearances.
• Baylor lost 87-74 to NCAA Tournament participate Wake Forest in the title game of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
• More than two weeks ago, Baylor's magical run in the Big 12 Championship came to a close with a 73-60 loss to Missouri.

BIG TIME BEARS
• Baylor is 6-2 this season vs. high-major conferences (excluding Big 12 play).
• Baylor has defeated teams from the BIG EAST (Providence, Georgetown), Pac-10 (Arizona State, Washington State), ACC (Virginia Tech) and SEC (Auburn).
• The Bears lost to the ACC's Wake Forest in November and the SEC's South Carolina in January.

WINNING AWAY FROM HOME
• Tuesday's win over San Diego State was Baylor's 10th away from home this season - the most combined road/neutral site wins of the Scott Drew era. Last season, Baylor won nine games away from Waco.
• Baylor's 10 wins away from home are the most since the Bears won 11 during the 1987-88 season.
• It is only the fifth time in school history Baylor has won 10 or more games away from home - 1945-46 (15), 1947-48 (15), 1968-69 (12), 1987-88 (11), 2008-09 (10).
• Baylor's six neutral site victories this season are the second-most in school history (7 in 1947-48).

Curtis Jerrells IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
• With his next game played Thursday vs. Penn State, senior guard Curtis Jerrells will become the school's career leader with his 119th games played. Jerrells, also the school's all-time leader in games started, is the only player in school history to start every game of his college career.

AND, THAT'S HOW IT'S DUNN: LACE DUNN BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON 3-POINT RECORD
Sophomore LaceDarius Dunn enjoyed a record-setting night Tuesday vs. San Diego State as the Monroe, La., native set the new Baylor single-season record for 3-point field goals made, draining five triples. Dunn's 105 treys surpassed Aundre Branch's record of 104 set during the 1994-95 season.

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