MBB Faces Iowa State for Big 12 Title
3/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| Baylor (24-10) vs. Iowa State(25-7) March 15, 2014 | 8:00 p.m. CT Kansas City, Mo. | Sprint Center (18,972) TV: ESPNWeb Video: WatchESPN Radio: ESPN Central Texas |
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STORY LINES
• Saturday is the 4th series meeting at the Big 12 Championship - ISU won in 2000 and 2005, BU won in 2001.
• Baylor is playing in the Big 12 Championship title game for the 3rd time (2009, 2012; both losses to €ˆMissouri).
• BU is the only team to make a Big 12 Championship title game as a 6 seed or lower (No. 7 in 2014, No. 9 in 2009).
• Baylor has trailed for only 1:37 of game time out of 120 minutes played in this year's Big 12 Championship.
• Baylor is looking to become the first team to win 4 games at a Big 12 Championship - all 4 previous teams to reach the title game with 3 straight wins ended up losing in the title game, including Baylor in 2009.
• Baylor's win Friday vs. Texas was Scott Drew's 202nd victory at BU, breaking Bill Henderson's all-time wins record.
• Baylor is 10-1 since Kenny Chery returned to the starting lineup after a turf toe injury.
• Baylor is seeking its 5th win against a ranked team this season - the previous school record was 3 in 2011-12.
• BU has 10 top-50 RPI wins (Colorado, Dayton, Iowa St., K-State [2], Kentucky, €ˆOklahoma, Oklahoma St. [2], Texas).
• Eight of Baylor's 10 losses are to teams ranked in the RPI top 40. BU is 17-2 against teams with RPIs above 40.
• Baylor is 14-16 all-time in the Big 12 Championship, including a 10-9 mark under Drew and a 9-5 record since 2009.
• Cory Jefferson has double-doubles in 7 of his last 10 games, averaging 17.4 ppg and 9.8 rpg in that span.
• Royce O'Neale is averaging 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in his last 10 games. He's posted double-digit rebounds in 5 of the last 6 games - including all 3 at the Big 12 Championship - after not doing so in any previous games.
• Kenny Chery is averaging 14.0 points and 5.8 assists in 11 games since returning to the starting lineup.
• Isaiah Austin has broken the Big 12 Championship record with 17 blocks - the previous record was 11 by Missouri's Arthur Johnson in 2003. Austin's 113 blocks this season are 6th-most ever by a Big 12 player.
• Brady Heslip tied his season high with 24 points (6-of-11 from 3-point range) in Friday's win vs. €ˆTexas.
• All five Baylor starters scored 12+ points, had multiple assists and hit at least one 3-pointer in €ˆThursday's win vs. €ˆOU.
• Drew's 10 Big 12 Championship wins rank 6th in league history, trailing only Eddie Sutton-13, Roy Williams-14, Kelvin Sampson-17, Rick €ˆBarnes-20 and Bill Self-21.
• Baylor is 30-15 in March/April games since 2008-09 and 33-25 in March/April games in 11 seasons under Drew.
• Baylor is 59-3 when leading at the half since 2011-12 - 16-1 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12.
• Baylor has come back to win 4 of the last 5 times it has trailed at halftime. The Bears €ˆwon after trailing at the break by 9 vs. K-State, 5 vs. Oklahoma State, 6 at West Virginia and 8 at K-State.
• Baylor is 9-3 this season in games decided by 5 points or less or in OT - BU was 3-8 in those games last year.
• Baylor has the nation's best postseason winning percentage over the last five years (15-3; .833).
A WIN WOULD ...
• Give Baylor 25 wins, tying the 3rd-most in program history.
• Be Baylor's first-ever Big 12 Championship.
• Improve Baylor's record in Big 12 Championship title games to 1-2 and to 15-16 in all Big 12 Championship games.
• Give Baylor five wins vs. AP Top-25 ranked teams this season -- the previous BU season record was three.
• Make Baylor 11-1 since Kenny Chery returned to the starting lineup following a turf toe injury.
• Give Baylor seven straight wins, all against Big 12 opponents, including four neutral-site wins and one road victory.
• Improve Baylor's all-time record against Iowa State to 11-16, including a 2-2 mark in Big 12 Championship games.
• Be Scott Drew's 11th career Big 12 Championship victory - 6th-most in league history.
• Improve Baylor's record in March/April games to 31-15 since 2008-09.
• Make Baylor 29-10 in its last 39 games dating back to 2012-13, with seven of the 10 losses to ranked teams.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS PAYING OFF
• Baylor trailed at the half in five of its last 10 games (by 9, 5, 6, 15 and 8 points), but the Bears rallied to win four of those five (vs. Kansas State, vs. €ˆOklahoma State, at West Virginia, at Kansas State). The lone loss was a 15-point halftime deficit at Texas, which the Bears cut to 1 in the final minute.
• Baylor has won 95% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 59-3 when leading through the first 20 minutes in that stretch, including 16-1 this season, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12.
• BU has won 38% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 18-29 in those.
• BU has led at halftime in 62 of 109 games over the last three seasons, but Baylor has won 77 of those 109 games.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 12-0 when recording more assists than its opponent and 12-10 when posting equal/fewer assists.
• BU is 24-5 when holding opponents under 50% shooting and 0-5 when allowing 50% or better.
• Baylor is 17-3 when recording more points in the paint than opponents and 7-7 with equal/fewer points in paint.
• Baylor is 14-2 when attempting fewer than 20 3-pointers and 10-8 when shooting 20+ treys.
• BU is 17-3 when holding opponents under 70 points and 7-7 when allowing 70+ points. Conversely, BU €ˆis 20-3 when scoring 70+ points and 4-7 when being held under 70 points.
BRACKETOLOGY
• Baylor is projected to make the NCAA €ˆTournament for the 8th time in program history (4th in last 7 years).
• The Bears have the nation's No. 6 strength of schedule and are No. 31 in the latest CBSSports.com €ˆRPI rankings.
• Baylor has 10 wins against RPI top-50 teams, which ranks 3rd nationally behind only Kansas (12) and Arizona (11),
• Eight of Baylor's 10 losses are to RPI top-40 teams. Others were vs. No. 89 West Virginia and at No. 120 Texas €ˆTech.
• Here are the latest bracket projections from several national media outlets:
ESPN.com -- No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 10 Arizona State; Milwaukee (March 14)
CBSSports.com -- No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh; Buffalo (March 14)
USA €ˆToday -- No. 7 €ˆBaylor vs. €ˆNo. 10 Iowa; Buffalo (March 14)
Sports Illustrated -- No. 8 Baylor vs. No. 9 Pittsburgh; St. Louis (March 13)
Yahoo! Bracket Big Board -- No. 25 overall, 7 seed (March 14)
Sporting News -- No. 7 seed (March 14)
DREW BREAKS SCHOOL WINS RECORD
• Scott Drew earned his 202nd win as Baylor's head coach in Friday's game vs. Texas, and with the victory he passed Bill Henderson (201 wins; 1941-43 and 1945-61) for Baylor's all-time wins record.
• Drew's .577 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with four or more years at the helm.
NATION'S BEST POSTSEASON WINNING PERCENTAGE
• BU has the nation's best postseason winning percentage over the last five seasons (15-3, .833).
• Baylor has won at least three games in each of its last four postseason appearances.
• Baylor was the last Texas Division I team (out of 21) playing postseason basketball in each of the last two years.
• Baylor is 15-4 in five postseason appearances under Scott Drew -- 6-3 in NCAA €ˆTournament and 9-1 in NIT.
20 WINS = POSTSEASON
• With 20 wins this season, €ˆBaylor now has nine 20-win seasons in program history, and the Bears have advanced to the postseason in all eight previous 20-win seasons -- six times to NCAA €ˆTournament, twice to NIT.
• Head coach Scott Drew has led Baylor to 20-win seasons in six of the last seven years after the Bears had only three 20-win seasons in their first 101 seasons of basketball.
• Drew is the only Baylor coach to lead the program to five postseason appearances.
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
• Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last six-plus seasons under 11th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 168-79 (24 wins per season) and has made five postseason appearances €ˆ(2008 NCAA, 2009 NIT, 2010 NCAA, 2012 NCAA, 2013 NIT) and posted six 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 nine times (six under Drew) in the program's first 108 seasons.
UP NEXT
• Baylor will wait to hear its name called during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which begins at 5 p.m. CT Sunday on CBS.
• The Bears are expected to make their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years.
