No. 22 MBB Hosts No. 11 ISU for #AllWhiteEverything
1/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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No. 22 Baylor (12-3, 1-2) vs. No. 11 Iowa State (12-2, 2-0) |
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STORY LINES
• Wednesday is the 28th series meeting, and BU trails 10-17 in the all-time series, including 6-10 in the Drew era.
• The home team has won 21 of 23 series meetings, and ISU leads 3-1 in neutral site games.
• Baylor moved to No. 22 in Monday's AP?Top 25 and No. 23 in the coaches' poll. The Bears have been ranked in eight straight seasons, joining Kansas as the only Big 12 schools to make that claim.
• Baylor was the only Division I team to hold all non-conference opponents to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor's defense has held teams to an average of 13 points below their season scoring averages.
• All 5 Baylor starters average 8-10 points per game, and reserve Taurean Prince leads the team with 12.1 ppg.
• Baylor shot 29.8%?in Saturday's win at TCU, the worst shooting in any of Scott Drew's 216 wins at BU.
• Prior to allowing a season-high 73 points at Oklahoma on Jan. 3, Baylor's 12 straight games holding opponents to 66 or fewer points was its longest such streak since 1950.
• Baylor ranks 14th nationally in scoring defense (56.3) after allowing only 844 points over its first 15 games.
• Baylor has held opponents under 30 first-half points in 12 of 15 games this season, including 8 times at 25 or fewer.
• Baylor is 8th nationally in 3-point FG defense at 27.2% and 36th in FG?percentage defense at 38.3%.
• Baylor is 4th nationally with 16.1 offensive rebounds per game and 7th with 41.3 total boards per game.
• Baylor also ranks 6th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.2) and 29th in points-per-possession defense (0.90)
• Baylor and Louisville are the nation's only teams ranked by the AP in football and men's and women's basketball.
• Rico?Gathers leads the nation with 5.53 offensive rebounds per game and ranks 6th nationally in total rebs/gm (11.3).
• Johnathan Motley has led Baylor in scoring in 4 of the last 7 games and is averaging 14.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 3.2 bpg in his last 7 games. He averaged 6.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 0.6 bpg in the previous 8 games.
• Baylor has won 12 of its last 13 home games, with the lone defeat last Wednesday in a 1-point loss to Kansas.
• Baylor is 71-6 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 10-2 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 174-30 when leading at the half during the entire Drew era.
• BU is 81-5 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, and the Bears have done so 9 times this season (8-1).
• BU?has won 39% of its games (20-31) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 2-1 this season.
• Baylor is 182-84 (24 wins per season) over the last eight seasons and has made six postseason appearances?(NCAA Tournament -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT -- 2009, 2013) with six 20-win seasons.
• The Bears have posted equal or more second-chance points than their opponents in all 15 games this season.
• Baylor is 15-3 in overtime games under Drew, including wins in 10 of its last 11 OT games.
• Drew is coaching his 370th game at Baylor (216-153). His .585 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .684 winning percentage (182-84) since 2007-08.
• Baylor is 27-10 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last six seasons.
• Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last 7+ seasons (63-58) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is coming off a 2014 NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, which made Drew the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to take his current team to three Sweet 16s in the last five years.
• BU has six 20-win seasons in the last 7 years. BU had only three 20-win seasons prior to Drew's arrival.
• Baylor's 5 NBA?Draft picks in the last 3 years ranks 5th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke,?Kansas and Syracuse.
• Baylor is one of only 12 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in three of the last five seasons.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN?family of networks. The Iowa State game will be Baylor's 119th consecutive televised contest.
• Baylor has the nation's second-best postseason winning percentage over the last six years (17-4; .810).
• Baylor finished undefeated in December for the 6th time in the last 8 years (accomplished just twice prior; `96, `00)
• Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the second-longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference. Drew, who is in his 12th season at Baylor, is second only to Texas' Rick Barnes (17th season at UT).
• Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 747 consecutive games.
SERIES HISTORY
• Wednesday marks the 28th series meeting, and Baylor trails 10-17 in the all-time series.
• Baylor is 9-2 all-time against Iowa State in?Waco, with the only losses in 2000 and 2013.
• The home team has won 21 of 23 games in the all-time series, and Baylor is 1-3 vs. ISU?at neutral sites.
• Wednesday is the 2nd time the teams have met as ranked opponents (No. 7 BU lost at No. 9 ISU on?Jan. 7, 2014).
A WIN WOULD ...
• Give Baylor a 13-3 start to the season for the sixth time in the last eight years.
• Give Baylor a 25-6 record over its last 31 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 43-49 in January games under Drew, including a 35-25 mark since the 2007-08 season.
• Give Baylor a 92-37 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 183-84 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .685 winning percentage.
• Improve Baylor's record to 11-17 against Iowa State, including 10-2 at home and 7-10 in the Drew era.
• Be Baylor's first win against a team ranked No. 11 in the AP?poll since Jan. 22, 1979, vs. Arkansas; it would tie the 13th-highest ranked win in program history (7th-highest of Drew era).
BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM OF DREW ERA
• Baylor?was the only Division I team to hold every non-conference opponent to 66 or fewer points this season.
• BU's 12 straight games holding opponents to 66 or fewer points was its longest such streak since 1950.
• Baylor's current 56.3 points per game allowed is 7.7 points better than the Bears' best defensive season of the Scott Drew era (2010-11, 64.0 ppg allowed). The last time BU held opponents below 64 ppg was 1985-86 (61.2).
• Baylor has held 12 of 15 opponents under 30 first-half points, including 8 times at 25 or fewer first-half points.
• For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor has held four Division I opponents below 50 points.
HOLDING TEAMS 13 PPG UNDER SCORING AVERAGES
• Through 15 games, Baylor opponents are averaging 13 fewer points than their season averages against the Bears.
• Baylor?has held 14 of 15 opponents at or below their season average, including 11 of 15 at least 10 points below.
1 OF 2 RANKED IN FB, MBB AND WBB
• Baylor and Louisville are the nation's only schools ranked by the AP in football and men's and women's basketball.
• Baylor football is ranked No. 7, men's basketball is No. 22 and women's basketball is No. 3.
• Baylor, Duke, Louisville and Michigan State were the only teams to finish the 2013-14 academic year ranked in the final AP polls for all three sports.
MOTLEY TAKING GAME TO NEW LEVEL
• Redshirt freshman Johnathan Motley has taken his game to a new level over the last seven games.
• He's averaging 14.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 2.9 bpg over the last seven games, up from 6.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 0.6 bpg over his first eight collegiate games.
• After going scoreless in back-to-back games, Motley has led the team in scoring in four of the last seven games.
GATHERS AMONG NATION'S BEST REBOUNDERS
• Rico?Gathers leads the nation with 5.53 offensive rebounds per game, and he leads the Big 12 and ranks 6th nationally with 11.3 total rebounds per contest.
• Gathers is 1 of 5 power-5 conference players averaging a double-double (10.1 ppg and 11.3 rpg), joining Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, Washington State's Josh?Hawkinson, LSU's Jordan Mickey and UCLA's Kevon Looney.
• Gathers also leads the Big 12 with 7 double-doubles this season, and his 14 career double-doubles and 27 career double-digit rebound games are both tops among active Big 12 players.
• In his 18 career starts, Gathers is averaging 10.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.
• Gathers had a career-high 18 rebounds at TCU?(1/10), tying the 2nd-most ever by a Baylor player in a Big 12 game.
O'NEALE DOES IT ALL
• During his four years of Division I basketball, Royce O'Neale has 1,079 points, 685 rebounds, 336 assists, 135 steals and 37 blocks in 116 games played.
• Last season, O'Neale became the first player in program history to post 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in the same season. He ranked second on the team with 110 assists and fourth with 205 rebounds in 2013-14.
• Including his two seasons at Denver, O'Neale has 24 career games played touching all five stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).
• O'Neale currently ranks 11th in the Big 12 in rebounding (6.1) and 10th in assists (3.3), placing him with Iowa State's Bryce Dejean-Jones as the only Big 12 Conference players in the top 15 in both categories.
BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
• Baylor has benefited from a balanced scoring attack that has seen eight different players combine to score in double figures 41 times through the first 17 games.
• BU?has had six different players lead the team in scoring -- Johnathan?Motley four times, Taurean Prince four times, Royce O'Neale three times, Rico?Gathers three times, Kenny Chery twice and Deng Deng once.
• Prince leads the team with 12.1 points per game, while BU's five starters average between 8.0 and 10.2 ppg.
CHERY BACK AT FULL STRENGTH
• Kenny Chery is back at full strength after missing 5 starts with plantar fasciitis (came off bench once).
• Chery has 31 assists and 12 turnovers in 6 games since returning to the starting lineup. He had 14 assists and 16 turnovers in 5 games before taking the time to rest and recover.
• Chery posted a season-high 25 points against Kansas on?Wednesday and 13 points at TCU?on Saturday. His 38 points over the last two games are more than his previous 5 games combined.
PRINCE LEADS TEAM IN SCORING AS 6TH MAN
• Taurean Prince entered the season averaging 5.2 points in 11.2 minutes over 62 games played in two seasons, but he is leading the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game in 25.1 minutes per game.
• Prince has scored in double figures in 10 of 14 games played this season after never going more than two straight games scoring in double figures in his first two seasons.
• Prince has played 25+ minutes in 9 games this season after doing so in just 2 games over his first two seasons.
• Prince has also led or tied for the team lead in scoring 4 times this season, after doing so in just 3 games over his first two seasons at Baylor.
FREEMAN IS FIRST GUARD OFF BENCH
• Redshirt freshman Al Freeman is typically Baylor's first guard to enter the game off the bench, and he has led Baylor in bench scoring in seven of the last 11 games.
• Freeman has posted double figure scoring off the bench in three of the last seven games. He had a career-high 13 points in 22 minutes vs. Norfolk?State and posted 10 points against both Texas A&M and New Mexico State.
• Freeman averages 18.3 minutes per game, mostly at the two-guard spot with either Kenny Chery or Lester Medford running the point.
MEDFORD PROVIDES SECOND OPTION AT THE POINT
• Baylor starting point guard Kenny Chery missed 5 starts with a foot injury, allowing Lester Medford to slide from his starting shooting guard position to the starting point guard role.
• Medford posted 30 assists and 7 turnovers in his 5 starts at point guard. Despite returning to his shooting guard spot, Medford still ranks 2nd in the Big 12 with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio and 8th with 3.5 assists per game.
• Medford also leads the team and ranks 7th in the Big 12 with 1.5 steals per game.
WAINRIGHT DROPS WEIGHT, BECOMES DEFENSIVE STOPPER
• Sophomore guard/forward Ishmail Wainright has improved his quickness by dropping 10 pounds to get to 235.
• Wainright has often been used in late game situations because of his defensive presence (7'2 wingspan), which is supported by the fact that he ranks 3rd on the team with a +13.54 plus-minus per 40 minutes.
DREW IS PROGRAM'S ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
• Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 216 career wins as head coach.
• Drew became the all-time wins leader by defeating Texas on March 14, 2014 for his 202nd Baylor victory, passing Bill Henderson (201 wins; 1941-43 and 1945-61) for the all-time wins mark.
• Drew's .585 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with 60+ games at the helm.
1 OF 2 BIG 12 TEAMS RANKED EIGHT STRAIGHT SEASONS
• Baylor joins Kansas as the only Big 12 Conference schools to be ranked in each of the last eight seasons. The Bears were unranked in the preseason for the first time since 2009-10, but cracked the rankings at No. 22 on Dec. 22.
• Baylor has been ranked for at least three weeks in each of the last seven seasons (2008-09 through 2014-15).
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 12-1 this season when scoring 60-plus points and 0-2 when being held under 60 points.
• Baylor is 10-0 this season when recording more points off turnovers than its opponent and 2-3 when not doing so.
• Baylor is 9-0 this season when posting 12-plus assists and 3-3 when recording fewer than 12 assists.
• Baylor is 9-1 this season when getting more than 15 points from the bench and 3-2 when getting 15 or less.
• Baylor has held 9 of 15 opponents under 60 points, and the Bears are 81-5 in the Drew era when doing so.
DREW AMONG NATION'S ELITE
• Head coach Scott Drew is the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to take his current program to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons.
• Drew (44) is joined by Arizona's Sean Miller (46), Ohio State's Thad Matta (47), Florida's Billy Donovan (49), Kansas' Bill Self (52), Kentucky's John Calipari (55), Michigan State's Tom Izzo (59), Louisville's Rick Pitino (62), Wisconsin's Bo Ryan (67), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (67) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (70).
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
• Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last seven-plus seasons under 12th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 182-84 (24 wins per season) and has made six postseason appearances?(NCAA -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT?-- 2009, 2013) 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 13 postseason appearances (six under Drew) and won 20+ games just nine times (six under Drew) in the program's first 108 seasons.
UP NEXT
• Baylor heads back out on the road for Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Kansas State on?ESPNU.
• The Bears then return home for a pair of games, hosting Huston-Tillotson at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Oklahoma at 5 p.m. Saturday. Wednesday's game will air on FOX?Sports Southwest, and Saturday's?game will be on ESPN2.
