No. 23 MBB Hosts South Carolina
11/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| 23/25 Baylor (1-0) vs. South Carolina (1-0) Nov. 12, 2013 | 2 p.m. CT Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284) TV: ESPN Radio: ESPN Central Texas |
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STORY LINES
• Baylor is ranked No. 23 in the AP €ˆpoll, marking the seventh straight year the Bears have been ranked.
• Head coach Scott Drew is seeking his 200th career win in Tuesday's game (would be 180th at Baylor).
• Baylor is one of only two Big 12 schools to be ranked in each of the last seven seasons (Kansas).
• Tuesday will be the 5th all-time meeting between €ˆBaylor and South Carolina. €ˆThe road team has won all four previous meetings, with €ˆBU winning in Columbia in 2007 and 2010, and SC winning in Waco in 2006 and 2009.
• Baylor is 9-1 in home openers under Drew -- the lone loss was vs. Oklahoma State in 2005-06, when €ˆBU didn't play a non-conference schedule as part of NCAA sanctions for infractions committed prior to Drew's arrival.
• Baylor's game against South €ˆCarolina is the first of 18 it will play on ESPN €ˆnetworks this season, which will increase its number of ESPN appearances to 104 in the last seven seasons.
• The Bears played a school-record 26 games on the ESPN family of networks in 2012-13.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 18 games on the ESPN €ˆfamily of networks. The South €ˆCarolina game will be Baylor's 67th consecutive televised contest.
• BU has five 20-win seasons in the last six years. BU had only three 20-win seasons prior to Drew's arrival.
• Baylor F Cory €ˆJefferson and C Isaiah €ˆAustin were both named to the 6-player Preseason All-Big 12 team, marking the first time the Bears have had multiple players honored.
• Baylor's frontcourt is ranked No. 2 nationally by Lindy's and No. 6 by CBSSports.com.
• Baylor's four NBA €ˆDraft picks over the last two years ranks third nationally behind Kentucky and North Carolina.
• Baylor has the nation's best postseason winning percentage over the last five years (15-3; .833).
• Baylor has won 23 of 24 and 44 of its last 46 games when leading at the half over the last two seasons.
• Baylor was picked 3rd in the 2013-14 Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Baylor is one of only 10 schools nationally to play in the Elite Eight in two of the last four seasons.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 145-69 (24 wins per season) and has made five postseason appearances €ˆ(2008 NCAA, 2009 NIT, 2010 NCAA, 2012 NCAA; 2013 NIT) with five 20-win seasons.
• Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last six seasons (53-47) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is coming off a 2013 NIT €ˆtitle, which was the program's first-ever national tournament championship.
• Jefferson €ˆ(USA) and Brady €ˆHeslip (Canada) played for their national teams in the 2013 World University Games.
• Baylor's last five recruiting classes have all been ranked in ESPN's top 25 nationally (2009 -- 21st; 2010 -- 22nd; 2011 -- 18th; 2012 -- 5th; 2013 -- 13th).
• Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 695 consecutive games.
• Jefferson (70-23) is 8th on Baylor's career wins list and has the highest winning percentage (.753) in BU history.
• Baylor has signed nine top-50 national recruits in the last seven years -- LaceDarius Dunn (2007), Anthony Jones (2008), Nolan Dennis (2009), Perry Jones III €ˆ(2010), Quincy €ˆMiller (2011), Deuce Bello (2011), Isaiah Austin (2012), Rico €ˆGathers (2012) and Ish €ˆWainright (2013).
• Head coach Scott Drew is coaching his 318th game at Baylor (179-138). His .565 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with four or more seasons, and his teams have a .678 winning percentage since 2007-08.
• Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the second-longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference. Drew, who is in his 11th season at Baylor in 2013-14, is second only to Texas' Rick Barnes (16th season at UT).
SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday's game will break a 2-2 tie in the all-time series. Baylor lost to South €ˆCarolina both times the teams met in Waco (2006 and 2009), but the Bears won both times the teams played in Columbia (2007 and 2010).
• Tuesday's will be Baylor's 67th consecutive televised game, including 41 on the ESPN family of networks.
DREW CLIMBING CAREER WINS CHART
• Scott Drew ranks second in Baylor history with 179 career wins as the Bears' head coach. Drew needs 22 wins to tie Bill Henderson (201) for the all-time wins record.
• Drew's .565 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with four or more years at the helm.
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
• Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last six seasons under 11th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 145-69 (24 wins per season) and has made five postseason appearances €ˆ(2008 NCAA, 2009 NIT, 2010 NCAA, 2012 NCAA, 2013 NIT) and posted five 20-win seasons.
• Prior to 2007-08, Baylor won only 135 games in the first 11 seasons of the Big 12 era (12.3 wins per season).
• Baylor has made 12 postseason appearances (five under Drew) and won 20+ games just eight times (five under Drew) in the program's first 107 seasons.
THIRD-LONGEST ACTIVE WINNING STREAK
• baylor's 6-game winning streak is tied for the nation's third-longest active streak.
• Baylor trails only Louisville (17) and Texas Southern (13), and the Bears are tied with East Carolina (6).
ONE OF NATION'S BEST FRONTCOURTS
• Headlined by fifth-year senior Cory €ˆJefferson and sophomores Isaiah €ˆAustin, Rico Gathers and Taurean €ˆPrince, Baylor's frontcourt has been ranked as one of the nation's best entering the 2013-14 season.
• Lindy's ranked Baylor's frontcourt No. 2 nationally behind only Kentucky, and CBSSports.com ranked BU No. 6.
• Lindy's also picked Jefferson as the nation's No. 4 power forward and Austin as the nation's No. 4 center.
• Baylor's frontcourt combined for 25 double-doubles last season. Austin led the way with 11, while Jefferson had 10, Gathers added three and Prince had one. Those players combined for 12 double-doubles in €ˆBig 12 Conference play.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE
• For the second consecutive season, all 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised in 2013-14.
• Baylor has 18 games on the ESPN €ˆfamily of networks, eight games on FOX €ˆSports Southwest and five games on the Big 12 Network. Baylor set a program record with 37 televised games last season.
• With 18 games on ESPN €ˆnetworks this season, Baylor will have 104 ESPN games in the last seven seasons.
BU BLOCK PARTY
• Cory €ˆJefferson and Isaiah Austin are both in the top 10 in program history in blocks per game.
• Austin is third with 1.67 blocks per game and Jefferson is seventh at 1.26.
• Jefferson's 117 blocks are seventh-most in BU history, while Austin need 25 blocks to crack the top 10.
UP NEXT
• Baylor hosts Louisiana-Lafayette at 4 p.m. €ˆCT €ˆSunday in an opening round game of the 2013 EA €ˆSports Maui Invitational. The game will be televised on FOX €ˆSports Southwest as part of Baylor Vision on FOX €ˆSports.
• BU leads the all-time series 6-3, including a 3-0 mark in games played in €ˆWaco. The teams have met just twice since 1979, with BU winning in Waco in 1994 and in Lafayette in 1994.
• Sunday's will be Baylor's 68th consecutive televised game.
