No. 23 MBB Hosts Randall at Fort Hood
12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FSSW-Plus / Fox Sports Go | Radio | | Twitter | Arena Info
Game Notes: Baylor | Randall
Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst)
Radio: Baylor IMG Sports Network / ESPN Central Texas
Talent: Dave Rosselli (pxp), David Kaye (analyst)
Satellite Radio: None
Live Stats/In-Game Home: BaylorBears.com
Twitter: @BaylorMBB | #SicRU
BAYLOR
6-2, 0-0 Big 12Ranking: 23rd - AP, 22nd - Coaches
Last Game: Dec. 4, 2017 - win vs. Sam Houston State, 84-56
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Career Record: 303-193 (16th season)
BU Record: 283-182 (15th season)
vs. Randall: 1-0
RANDALL
5-8, 2-0 SW RegionRanking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Last Game: Dec. 8, 2017 - Won at Central Christian, 97-75
Head Coach: Mark Berokoff (Regis, 2006)
Career Record: 88-82 (6th season)
RU Record: 88-82 (6th season)
vs. Baylor: 0-0
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Baylor basketball returns to the Fort Hood Army base for the third year in a row, facing the Randall University Saints at 6 p.m. Saturday at 2,400-seat Abrams Gym.
"It's a great life experience for the players," Baylor coach Scott Drew said, "as we get closer to the game and explain just what the opportunity is and what it can mean for some of the soldiers' families. Around the holidays, it's a way for us to show appreciation and say thanks for all their sacrifices and what they do for us."
In their two previous games at Fort Hood, the Bears defeated Hardin-Simmons, 104-59, in 2015 and then knocked off Jackson State, 82-57, last year in the first-ever regular-season matchup of Division I teams on the Fort Hood base.
"I didn't really realize how big of a fan base was there until we played there the first time two years ago," said junior guard Jake Lindsey, who leads the nation with a 14.5 assists-to-turnover ratio (29 assists, two turnovers). "It's almost like being back in high school. Your sight lines are a little closer. You've got to kind of adjust to the size of the gym."
For the third straight year, all tickets were distributed free of charge to Fort Hood's military members and their families. Tickets are not permitted to be sold and have never been available to the general public.
"I think it's a pretty cool trip just to see all the troops and see what they do for us and to play in front of them and just to honor them and what they do for our country," said junior guard King McClure, who is averaging 9.9 points per game. "So, it means a lot. I always like going down to Fort Hood."
This will be the Bears' third full game without 6-foot-8 senior forward Terry Maston, who suffered a broken right hand in the Nov. 28 game at Xavier. Averaging 11.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, Maston is expected to be out until mid-January.
Without Maston, the 23rd-ranked Bears (6-2) lost to then-No. 8 Wichita State, 69-62, and then were outrebounded by Sam Houston, 41-37, in Monday's 84-58 win over Sam Houston State.
"Sometimes, you're doing your job and playing the right percentages and the rebound just takes a bad bounce and you don't get it," Drew said. "There are other times where you miss assignments. The missed assignments are the ones you want to correct. . . . We didn't miss as many assignments (against Sam Houston), and we did have effort. That's an area where we've tried to improve and carve out a little more space, so if you do have a bad bounce you're still in position to get a rebound."
Baylor was able to stay at eight healthy scholarship players with the return of 6-3 redshirt freshman guard Tyson Jolly. Out the first six games with a medical issue after redshirting last season, Jolly went 995 days between his last high school game (March 15, 2015) and his collegiate debut (Dec. 2, 2017).
"Tyson plays with such energy and passion, and similar to Mark (Vital), they give you a boost of energy when they get in the game," Drew said. "Tyson is just so excited to play right now, it carries over and inspires everybody else, too."
Formerly Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, Randall has won back-to-back National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national championships, beating Kentucky Christian, 90-76, in last year's final.
The Saints are off to a 4-8 start this year that included a 116-113 overtime victory over an Oklahoma City team that was ranked among the top 15 nationally in NAIA Division I. Senior guard Xavier Hunter (20.5 ppg) and 6-3 senior forward Ben Collier (10.4 ppg) are averaging double-digit points.
"Anytime you're playing a non-Division I, the biggest difference is the size, and normally teams like that tend to shoot a lot of 3's," Drew said. "You want to extend and make sure you take away the 3. That's a great equalizer in college basketball. Just because you're not a Division I team doesn't mean you're not very good, because you see the parity each and every night with the upsets in college basketball."
Fort Hood soldiers will serve as honorary coaches during Saturday's game. Baylor's honorary coach is Specialist Tyler Woody of Las Vegas, Nev., who is an 88-Mike Motor Transport Operator with the 62nd Engineer Battalion.
Randall's honorary coach is Specialist Delvon Henderson of Fresno, Calif., a 42-Alpha Human Resources Specialist with the 20th Engineer Battalion. He is a member of the All Army Basketball team, helping them win the Armed Forces Basketball Tournament two years in a row.
Saturday's game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Southwest-Plus, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor player Pat Nunley calling the action.
The Bears will wrap up the pre-conference schedule with three games in seven days, starting with Thursday's matchup against Texas Southern, before opening Big 12 action with a Dec. 29 game at Texas Tech.
STORY LINES
- No. 23 Baylor faces Randall University at 6 p.m. Saturday at Fort Hood's Abrams Gym on FSSW-Plus.
- Baylor and Randall meet for the 2nd time and first since Nov. 22, 2004, a 91-52 Baylor win in Waco.
- Saturday's game marks a 3rd straight year Baylor has hosted a game at Fort Hood's Abrams Gym. The Bears defeated Hardin-Simmons 104-59 in 2015 and knocked off Jackson State 82-57 in 2016.
- BU looks to start 7-2 or better for a 5th straight year and 11th time in the last 12 seasons -- all except 2012-13.
- Baylor is 21-3 in games against non-Big 12 teams since the start of the 2016-17 season -- the only losses are in the 2017 Sweet 16 vs. South Carolina, at No. 21 Xavier and vs. No. 8 Wichita State.
- BU has won 44 consecutive non-conference home games against unranked opponents.
- Baylor's last non-conference home loss to an unranked team was Dec. 4, 2012, 74-70 to Northwestern.
- Baylor has won 31 straight regular season non-conference games vs. unranked teams.
- Baylor has knocked off 18 ranked teams over the last 3+ seasons (18-19 vs. ranked opponents).
- Baylor's offense ranks 2nd nationally with a 4.9 steal pct., allowing steals on only 4.9% of possessions.
- BU is playing short-handed with an injury to Terry Maston leaving the Bears with 8 available scholarship players, including Tyson Jolly, who made his Baylor debut Saturday vs. Wichita State.
- BU has gone at least 8-players deep in 267 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 13, 2010.
- BU went 2-2 in one of the nation's toughest 4-game non-conference stretches. The Bears defeated Wisconsin and Creighton on a neutral court and lost at No. 21 Xavier and vs. No. 8 Wichita State.
- Baylor has posted a combined 133-28 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 51-6 mark in November and December games since 2013.
- BU has won 24 consecutive December games against unranked opponents dating back to 2013. The Bears' only December losses in that span were at No. 24 Texas A&M (2015) and vs. No. 8 Wichita State (2017).
- Baylor has 20 games on its 2017-18 schedule against teams in the top 40 of the latest AP poll.
- Manu Lecomte ranks 6th in the Big 12 in scoring (16.6), 2nd in FT pct. (.946) and 2nd in 3FGM (26).
- Jake Lindsey leads the nation with a 14.5 assist-to-turnover ratio (29a/2to) -- the next closest is at 9.0.
- Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. ranks 3rd in the Big 12 with 9.4 rebounds per game and 2nd with 4 double-doubles.
- Tyson Jolly went 995 days between his final HS game and first college game on Dec. 2.
- BU is ranked No. 23 in the latest AP Top 25, tying the school record with 22 consecutive polls ranked.
- Baylor is 158-66 over the last 6+ seasons, averaging 25.3 wins per season since 2012.
- Baylor's 158 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (186).
- Baylor is 249-113 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
- Baylor has been ranked for 206 of 465 games under Drew (ranked for just 2 games prior to Drew).
- Drew is coaching his 466th game at Baylor (283-182). His .609 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .688 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- BU is 55-9 over the past 2+ seasons when taking the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
- Baylor has won 88% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (123-16).
