MBB Ready for Late Night Battle at Arizona

The Bears and Wildcats tip off at 10 p.m. CT in Tucson

Men's Basketball 12/13/2018 9:58:00 AM



	BAYLOR BEARS (5-3) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	BAYLOR (5-3) at ARIZONA (7-3) December 15, 2018 • 10 p.m. CT Tucson, Ariz. • McKale Memorial Center (14,545) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 \| ESPN APP Talent: Roxy Bernstein (pbp) & Bill Walton (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College / ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	ARIZONA WILDCATS (7-3) Location: Tucson, Ariz. Conference: Pac-12 Head Coach: Sean Miller (Pittsburgh, 1992) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Outside of Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina, there are few arenas in the country that have better home-court atmosphere than Wichita State and Arizona.

In the back end of a challenging road schedule, the Baylor Bears (5-3) will play Arizona (7-3) at 10 p.m. CST Saturday at the McKale Center, where the Wildcats have won 87 of their last 90 home games. On the front end, the Bears dug out of a 33-point first-half deficit before falling 71-63 two weeks ago at Wichita State.

"Sometimes, it doesn't always translate in the win-loss column," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "But, what it does is really help your team get better. You're playing quality teams with great atmospheres at home with tradition and expectations to win, and finding out what it takes to beat those teams. In the Big 12, that's what you get night-in and night-out, and that's why it's been the best league in the country four of the last five years, RPI-wise."

Bolstered by grad transfers Ryan Luther (Pitt) and Justin Coleman (Samford) and a pair of other transfers in 6-10 junior center Chase Jeter (Duke) and 6-5 junior guard Dylan Smith (UNC Asheville), Arizona has "frankly exceeded expectations," Drew said. "Some people thought they might take a little longer to rebuild and play as a cohesive unit."

"They're a very athletic team. Really athletic wings, an athletic point guard and a tough guy inside in Chase Jeter," said Baylor senior guard Makai Mason, a grad transfer himself from Yale. "Obviously going to be well-coached with (Sean) Miller as well. So, it's going to be a test."

Jeter is averaging 12.4 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, with Coleman chipping in with 11.4 points and Luther (6.7 ppg) and Smith (5.1 ppg) providing some scoring punch off the bench.

"Arizona is similar to us from the standpoint that there are a lot of new guys in transition," Drew said. "At the same time, they've got a couple more older guys, grad transfers, people that have played college basketball. That's the biggest thing that's helped them early on."

Baylor, with only three returning players, wasn't at full strength until 6-7 sophomore transfer Mario Kegler from Mississippi State returned from a five-game suspension for a 63-57 win over South Dakota on Nov. 27.

With two weeks off since the game at Wichita State, the Bears have "been able to get some chemistry, get some cohesiveness," Drew said.

"We've been able to have the guys who have been playing in games play together, practice together," he said. "We've tweaked a couple things offensively and defensively. It's never easy going into a place that's 87-3 in their past 90 home games. But, it's a great opportunity for us – one, to play a quality team and have a chance to get a quality road win; and, at the same time, have an opportunity to improve as a team and get ready for Big 12 play."

Mason is averaging 13.2 points and 2.6 assists over the last five games since returning from an ankle injury, but still isn't 100 percent.

"Obviously, it's not as quick as I'd like it to heal, but I think it's slowly getting there," Mason said. "It's obviously still frustrating. I don't feel like I can do the same things that I used to be able to do. But, I think it's getting there, and (trainer David Chandler) is doing a great job. He's working around the clock with me, pretty much. I've just got to keep up with that stuff."

Since the Bears haven't played in two weeks, "I'm sure they're healthy and really putting things together," Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

"They're a lot like Alabama in that they have a lot of talented starters and reserves who are very talented players and they play in a great conference," said Miller, whose team lost at Alabama, 76-73, last Sunday in Tuscaloosa. "They're used to playing in big games. I'm sure this is one of the marquee games on their schedule."

Senior guard King McClure (13.6 ppg, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists) said the extra practice time over the last two weeks "was huge," in developing better chemistry on the court with Mason and Kegler.

"I'm actually glad we did it, because I could see the team getting better and starting to form," McClure said. "During this two-week period, I feel like we've gotten better in a lot of the areas we needed to improve on, or to win games. Hopefully, it translates (Saturday). The coaches did a great job of preparing us, getting us better these last two weeks."

The Bears will return home to finish up pre-conference play with games at the Ferrell Center against Stephen F. Austin (5-3) on Tuesday, Oregon (6-3) next Friday and New Orleans (4-4) on Dec. 29.

"I figure at the end of the month, we'll know a lot more about our team," Drew said.

STORY LINES
• Baylor heads to Tucson for a marquee non-conference matchup against Arizona at 10 p.m. CT Saturday.
• The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton calling the action.
• Baylor and Arizona are meeting for the 9th time overall and the first time in 21 seasons.
• Arizona leads the series 5-3, including a 3-0 mark in Tucson (UA wins in 1947, 1969 and 1993).
• The Arizona game will be Baylor head coach Scott Drew's 500th game leading the Bears.
• Drew is in his 16th season in Waco and is the Bears' all-time wins leader (301-198).
• Drew is 9-4 against Pac-12 teams (4-0 vs. ASU, 2-1 vs. CU, 1-2 vs. WSU, 1-1 vs. UO, 1-0 vs. USC).
• Baylor is coming off a 71-63 loss at Wichita State. BU cut a 33-point deficit to 5 in the final minutes.
• BU has used 9 different starters in its first 8 games, including 4 players making their first DI starts.
• Baylor returned 3 letterwinners from last year's team, the nation's fewest among Power-5 teams.
• King McClure is the lone returning senior, while Tristan Clark and Mark Vital are back as sophomores.
• BU added 9 newcomers for 2018-19, including 5 transfers (two Division I, two JuCo, one Division III).
• Makai Mason is the first grad transfer in program history after graduating from Yale in May.
• Mario Kegler (Mississippi State) and Freddie Gillespie (Carleton) are eligible after sitting out 2017-18.
• Darius Allen (Palm Beach State) and Devonte Bandoo (Hutchinson) joined the Bears as JuCo transfers.
• BU also added prep players Jared Butler, Matthew Mayer, Flo Thamba and Jackson Moffatt.
• Clark leads the nation with a .759 field goal percentage, averaging just 1.75 missed shots per game. He also leads the Big 12 and ranks 7th nationally with 3.0 blocked shots per game.
• McClure has scored 20+ points 3 times this season after doing so in 1 of 100 games over his first 3 years.
• McClure officially graduates from Baylor on Saturday with a degree in health, kinesiology & leisure studies. With his graduation, 31 of 34 scholarship seniors (91%) during the Drew era have earned their degrees.
• Kegler went 629 days between games before making his BU debut on Nov. 27.
• Drew won his 301st game at Baylor on Nov. 27, giving him 100 more victories than any prior BU coach.
• Drew is 1 of 17 Division I coaches with 300+ wins at his current school (1 of 9 in Power-5 conferences).
• BU is 28-1 in December games against unranked opponents dating back to 2013. The Bears' only loss against an unranked team in that span was Dec. 1 at Wichita State.
• Baylor is 41-3 in regular-season non-conference games against unranked teams since December 2014.
• Baylor is 31-8 in games against non-Big 12 teams over the last 3 seasons since 2016-17.
• Baylor is 1 of 16 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (5 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor is 19-1 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2017-18 season (4-1 this season).
• Drew is coaching his 500th game at Baylor (301-198). His .603 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .674 winning percentage since 2007-08 (267-129).
• BU is 73-16 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (19-6 last year).
• Baylor has posted a combined 142-32 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 60-10 mark in November and December games since 2013.

ON THE CALL
• Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and the ESPN App with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton on the call.
• Headers in the next four pages of these notes include "Waltonisms" and Grateful Dead song titles in honor of Walton calling his first Baylor game.
• Bernstein will be calling a Baylor game for the 5th time – he called three games during the 2012-13 season (at Gonzaga, at Texas Tech and vs. Providence) and did the Wichita State game in Waco on Dec. 2 last season.

DREW'S CREW VS. "THE CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS"
• Scott Drew has posted a 9-4 record against Pac-12 teams during his 16 seasons at Baylor. The most recent game against a Pac-12 team was Baylor's 82-78 win over USC in the 2017 NCAA Tournament Second Round in Tulsa.
• Drew's 9-4 record includes games against 5 Pac-12 teams: Arizona State (4-0), Colorado (2-1), Washington State (1-2), Oregon (1-1) and USC (1-0). The Bears are 3-1 in home games, 4-2 at neutral sites and 2-1 in road games.
• Baylor's wins were vs. No. 14 Arizona State (2008-09), at Washington State (2008-09), at Arizona State (2009- 10), at home against Arizona State (2010-11), vs. Colorado (2011-12), at home against Arizona State (2012-13), vs. Colorado (2013-14), at home against No. 4 Oregon (2016-17) and vs. USC (2016-17).
• Baylor's losses against Pac-12 teams under Drew were at home against No. 6 Washington State (2007-08), vs. Washington State (2010-11), vs. Colorado (2012-13) and at No. 25 Oregon (2015-16).

"HISTORY IS MORE THAN WHAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING" – SERIES HISTORY VS. ARIZONA
• Saturday's game is the 9th series meeting between Baylor and Arizona and the first since Dec. 8, 1997.
• Arizona leads the series 5-3, including a 3-0 mark in Tucson (1947, 1969 and 1993).
• Baylor's wins in the series were in Dallas on consecutive days in March 1948 and in Waco on Dec. 11, 1970.
• The game is part of a home-and-home series, with the teams meeting next season in Waco on Dec. 7, 2019.

"YOU DON'T WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS BY BEING NORMAL, BY JUST BEING AVERAGE"
• Baylor is one of nine teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last 11 seasons dating back to 2007-08 – Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
• BU is 103-86 in Big 12 play in 11 seasons since 2008 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 seasons.
• BU is 38-67 against AP-ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first 4 rebuilding seasons.
• Baylor has defeated 6 top-10 teams in the last two seasons entering 2018-19.
• Baylor is 11-21 against AP Top 10 teams since March 2012. BU started the Drew era 1-26 vs. top-10.
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (137-17).
• BU has recorded double-digit non-conference wins in 11 of the last 12 seasons (all except 2012-13).
• Baylor is 176-82 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 24.4 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 176 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (218).
• Baylor is 267-129 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• Baylor has the nation's 11th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 877 straight games.

A REBUILD THAT "BELONGS IN THE SMITHSONIAN"
• Scott Drew became Baylor head coach in 2003, starting of one of the greatest rebuilds in NCAA history.
• Drew is now in his 16th season at Baylor and is the school's all-time wins leader (301).
• Baylor is one of nine teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last 11 seasons dating back to 2007-08 – Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
• Baylor has had a nation-leading four players selected in the NBA Draft since 2010 who weren't ranked in the ESPN100 out of high school — Quincy Acy, Ekpe Udoh, Pierre Jackson and Taurean Prince.
• Six Baylor players have been selected in the last six NBA Drafts, 10th-most nationally.
• In Drew's first 15 seasons at Baylor, 38 players have gone on to professional careers.
• Drew (48) is the youngest of 11 coaches to take his current program to four Sweet 16s since 2010.
• The Bears have advanced to postseason play in a school-record seven straight seasons (5 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• BU is 20-4 in regular-season tournaments since 2013-14, including wins in 14 of its last 15 games.
• Drew has won 20+ games in nine of the last 11 years — the Bears had 3 seasons of 20+ wins prior to his arrival.

"INCALCULABLE NUMBERS OF REMARKABLE HAPPENINGS" IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Baylor is 31-8 in games against non-Big 12 teams since 2016-17 – losses in the 2017 Sweet 16 vs. South Carolina, at No. 21 Xavier, vs. No. 8 Wichita State, at No. 20 Florida, vs. Mississippi State, vs. Texas Southern, in a neutral-site game vs. Ole Miss and at Wichita State.
• Among the 31 wins are home victories against No. 4 Oregon and No. 7 Xavier, neutral site wins vs. No. 10 Louisville, vs. No. 24 Michigan State, vs. VCU, vs. USC, vs. Wisconsin and vs. Creighton and a road win at Ole Miss.

SCOTT DREW "IS DOING THINGS WE'VE NEVER SEEN FROM ANYBODY – FROM ANY PLANET!"
• Drew is coaching his 500th game at Baylor (301-198). His .603 winning percentage is best in BU history, and he's the program's all-time wins leader by 100 victories over the next closest coach.
• Baylor has a .674 winning percentage (267-129) since Drew's first year with no scholarship restrictions in 2007-08 and a .682 winning percentage (176-82) over the last 7 seasons since 2011-12.
• In Drew's 16 seasons as Baylor head coach, BU has been ranked in 211 of 499 games. Prior to Drew, BU was ranked in 2 of 2,197 games over 97 seasons. In 10 seasons since 2008-09, BU has been ranked in 208 of 364 games.
• BU has graduated 91 percent of its scholarship seniors since Drew took over in 2003 (30 of 33).
• In Drew's first 15 seasons at Baylor, 38 players have gone on to professional careers.
• Baylor has won 5 tournament titles under Drew — 2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic, 2013 Postseason NIT, 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis and 2017 Hall of Fame Classic. BU is 20-4 in regular-season tournaments since 2013-14.

"BOTH OF THOSE STATEMENTS ARE CORRECT" - A WIN WOULD ...
• Be Scott Drew's 302nd win at Baylor, 101 more than any coach in program history.
• Make Baylor 32-8 in games against non-Big 12 teams since 2016-17.
• Make Baylor 143-32 in November/December games under Drew, including 71-18 in December games.
• Improve BU's record to 74-38 during King McClure's 4-year career and 71-38 in games McClure has played.
• Make Baylor 42-3 in its last 45 non-conference games against unranked teams.

"HE'S LIKE A FOUR-ARMED DIKEMBE MUTOMBO AROUND THE BASKET"
• Sophomore forward Tristan Clark leads the nation with a .759 field goal percentage, averaging just 1.75 missed field goals per game. Over his first 41 collegiate games, Clark has made 65% of his shots.
• Clark also leads the Big 12 and ranks 7th nationally with 3.0 blocks per game, and with 24 blocks through 8 games, he's nearly surpassed last season's blocked shots total (29 blocks in 33 games).
• Clark's 24 blocked shots are more than 83 Division I teams (thru Dec. 10), and he's blocked multiple shots in all 8 games this season after doing so in 9 of 33 games as a freshman last season.

"IT'S AS IF MICHELANGELO WERE READING AND A LIGHTNING BOLT FLASHED BEFORE HIM"
• Senior King McClure, Baylor's lone player with 3+ years in the program, has taken his game to a new level this season. He's averaging a team-best 13.6 points per game, up 5.5 points from last year's 8.1 ppg average.
• McClure is shooting 48% from the field (up 9% from last year), 43% from 3-point range (up 8%), has more than doubled his rebounding average to 5.9 rpg (up from 2.5 rpg) and is averaging 2.9 assists per game (up from 1.7 apg).
• McClure has posted 20+ points 3 times this season after doing so in 1 of 100 games over his first 3 years.
• McClure set a program record for rebounds by a guard when he grabbed 14 boards against George Mason (11/24).

"HEALTH IS EVERYTHING. WITH IT, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE AND WITHOUT IT, YOU CAN'T GET IT DONE NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY."
• Makai Mason has started the last 5 games after missing the majority of the previous 2+ seasons due to injury.
• Mason played in only 1 game over his last two seasons at Yale before joining the Bears as a grad transfer. He also missed the first 3 games at Baylor with an ankle injury before debuting as the first grad transfer in program history on Nov. 16.
• Mason ranks 3rd on the team with 13.2 points per game and 2nd with 2.6 assists per game.
• He has scored 9+ points in all 5 games played, including consecutive 18-point games in the Emerald Coast Classic.

DREW KEEPS ON "TRUCKIN'," GRATEFUL TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY WITH 300TH WIN
• Head coach Scott Drew earned his 300th win at Baylor with the Bears' victory over George Mason on Nov. 24.
• Drew is 1 of 17 active coaches with 300 wins at his current school (thru 12/13/18): Mike Krzyzewski (1036), Jim Boeheim (933), Tom Izzo (582), Bob McKillop (562), Mark Few (544), Bill Self (455), Phil Martelli (435), Roy Williams (431), Jay Wright (430), Mike Brey (409), Randy Bennett (399), Rick Byrd (395), Greg Kampe (342), Fran O'Hanlon (315), Leonard Hamilton (313), Scott Drew (301) and Matt Painter (301).

"AROUND AND AROUND" – SEVEN CONSECUTIVE POSTSEASON BERTHS
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of seven consecutive postseason berths, matching the total number of postseason berths in the program's 97 seasons prior to the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor is 1 of 16 teams to appear in every postseason since 2012, joining Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Iona, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Oregon, Saint Mary's, Virginia and Wichita State.
• The Bears earned NCAA Tournament bids in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and NIT bids in 2013 and 2018.
• Baylor has made postseason appearances in 10 of 11 seasons since 2008. Prior to that, Baylor's only postseason berths were in 1946 (NCAA), 1948 (NCAA), 1950 (NCAA), 1987 (NIT), 1988 (NCAA), 1990 (NIT) and 2001 (NIT).
• Baylor is 20-9 in postseason national tournaments during the Drew era after going 3-9 prior to Drew's arrival.

"I'M A BETTER PERSON BECAUSE OF MY FAILURES AND DISGRACES" – RALLY FALLS SHORT AT WICHITA STATE
• Baylor fell behind by 33 points last in the first half at Wichita State (42-9), and though the Bears rallied to cut the deficit to 5 points with 3:45 remaining, BU wouldn't get any closer in a 71-63 loss on Dec. 1.
• The Bears were down 44-15 at the half, matching the fewest points in any half during the Drew era.
• BU still trailed 59-39 with 7:15 remaining, but the Bears went on a 16-1 run to cut the deficit to 60-55 at 3:45.
• Baylor had only 5 assists on 23 field goals, but BU forced 15 turnovers and held Wichita State to 39% shooting.

UP NEXT
• Baylor returns home for its final three games before Big 12 play against SFA (Dec. 18), Oregon (Dec. 21) and New Orleans (Dec. 29). SFA tips at 7:30 p.m., Oregon tips at 6 p.m. and New Orleans tips at 5 p.m.
• The Bears open Big 12 play at TCU on Saturday, Jan. 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.