Men's Basketball Hosts No. 10 Kansas
2/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CBS / CBSSports.com | Radio | | Twitter | Arena Info
Game Notes: Baylor | Kansas
Talent: Ian Eagle (pxp), Bill Raftery (analyst)
Radio: Baylor IMG Sports Network / ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst)
Streaming Radio: TuneIn App, Sirius 81, XM 81, Internet 81
Live Stats/In-Game Home: BaylorBears.com
Twitter: @BaylorMBB | #SicKU
BAYLOR
14-10, 4-7 Big 12Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Last Game: Feb. 6, 2018 - won at Oklahoma State, 67-56
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Career Record: 311-201 (16th season)
BU Record: 291-190 (15th season)
vs. Kansas: 3-22
KANSAS
19-5, 8-3 Big 12Ranking: 10th - AP, 10th - Coaches
Last Game: Feb. 6, 2018 - won vs. TCU, 71-64
Head Coach: Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985)
Career Record: 642-198 (25th season)
KU Record: 435-93 (15th season)
vs. Baylor: 22-3
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹On a modest two-game winning streak for the first time in almost two months, the Baylor Bears are still looking for a signature win that will grab the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee's attention.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Opportunity comes knocking Saturday, when the Bears (14-10, 4-7) host 10th-ranked Kansas (19-5, 8-3) at 1 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. Even at home, a win over a Kansas team that has claimed the last 13 Big 12 titles would carry a lot of weight.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"We need a lot of wins," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "The good thing in the Big 12 is there's a lot of signature-win opportunities. There's not a bad loss out there. You can't say that for other conferences. You can't say that in years past of the Big 12. Normally, there's always been one or two teams, if you get a loss they put it on the resume as a bad loss because of their RPI. And this year, you don't have that in the Big 12."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹In a scheduling quirk, Baylor's last four home games are all against top-25 teams - the Jayhawks, followed by seventh-ranked Texas Tech on Feb. 17, No. 19 West Virginia on Feb. 20 and 17th-ranked Oklahoma on Feb. 27.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹It's human nature to think that a win over Kansas is a bigger deal, Drew said, but points out that "we would have won the Big 12 a ton of times if we just lost to Kansas both times. It's the other games that matter just as much."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹The Bears let one get away in last month's trip to Lawrence, giving up a six-point lead in the last six minutes and falling, 70-67.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"There's some games that you win that you probably could have lost and some games you could have won that you didn't," Drew said. "The big thing is it's a home game, we need this, because we're trying to make the (NCAA) tournament. It doesn't matter who we're playing, we need to take care of business and do what we need to do to give ourselves a chance for that."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Kansas hit its first seven shots in taking an 18-5 lead five minutes into the game in Lawrence, but Baylor switched from the zone to a tighter man-to-man defense that turned it around. That was part of a pattern of slow starts that ended 11 days ago when Jake Lindsey replaced King McClure in the starting lineup.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Since then, the Bears scored 96 in a two-point loss on the road at Oklahoma and got off to good starts in wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"I think we found a good rhythm with our starting group, and our bench has come in and played well," Drew said of the faster starts. "Early on, we've gotten a couple stops and made a couple shots, and that changes a lot of things. Our defense is good, because we're scoring at a higher rate, which means now we're not playing transition defense as much.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"We turned it over too much at Oklahoma State (in Tuesday's 67-56 win), but we didn't have a ton of live-ball turnovers. That's a big thing. If you're missing shots and having live-ball turnovers, then it doesn't really matter what your defense is doing. That's how you get down big, because it's a double whammy on both ends."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Over that same three-game stretch, Baylor's bench has outscored the opposing teams' reserves by an astounding 95-14 margin. Senior forward Nuni Omot was 6-of-6 from outside the arc and scored 23 of the bench's 33 points at OU and then had 14 points and five boards in the win in Stillwater.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"His versatility to play the 3, the 4, make shots, stretch the defense, and his ability to get to the free throw line, that's huge," Drew said of Omot, who is averaging 9.9 points and shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range. "As a senior, you love to see guys step up and play well, and he's done that."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Baylor's balanced attack features seven players averaging at least 7.4 points per game, but only 7-footer Jo Lual-Acuil (14.3 ppg, 9.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocks) and senior point guard Manu Lecomte (16.8 ppg, 3.4 assists) are putting up double digits on a nightly basis.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹ÃƒÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Much like Baylor, Kansas is using a smaller than usual bench, with only seven players getting double-digit minutes. But, the Jayhawks' starting group is potent enough with 7-foot sophomore center Udoka Azubuike (13.9 ppg, 7.4 rebounds) joined by guards Devonte Graham (17.5 ppg, 7.4 assists), Svi Mykhailuk (16.4 ppg), Lagerald Vick (12.8 ppg) and Malik Newman (11.8 ppg).
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹In that first matchup, Newman scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the last five minutes to help the Jayhawks overcome that six-point deficit.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"Second time, you're always looking at what was effective and trying to get more of that," Drew said. "And then the areas you needed to improve in and areas you needed to adjust, hopefully you make those adjustments now. They'll do the same. At the beginning of the game, you'll see what they adjusted to, what we adjusted to, and then it goes from there."
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Saturday's game is a national telecast on CBS, with Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery calling the action.
ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Baylor has another quick turnaround, facing Texas (15-9, 5-6) at 8 p.m. Monday in Austin.
STORY LINES
- Baylor hosts a rematch against No. 10 Kansas at 1 p.m. CT Saturday on CBS and the CBS App.
- Saturday is the 35th all-time meeting between Baylor and Kansas. BU is 4-30 against KU.
- Baylor has lost 11 straight against Kansas, its longest losing streak in the series.
- BU's last 5 games vs. Kansas have been decided by 6, 4, 5, 2 and 3 points (average margin of 4.0 ppg).
- KU won 70-67 when the teams met in Lawerence on Jan. 20. Baylor used a 40-21 run to rally from 13 down in the 2nd half and took a 67-61 lead with 2:50 remaining, but those were Baylor's last points.
- KU hit 3-pointers on its first 3 possessions and had 9-0 runs both to start and end the game.
- BU out-scored Kansas 67-52 in the 36 minutes between those two runs (18:24 1st half -- 2:05 2nd half).
- KU swept the season series last year, claiming a 73-68 win in Lawrence and a 67-65 win in Waco.
- Baylor has made more field goals than Kansas in each of the last 3 series meetings, but KU made up the difference by sinking more than twice as many free throws (combined 57-of-81 FTs vs. Baylor's 28-of-38).
- Baylor has had a 2nd-half lead in each of its last 5 games against Kansas. The Bears are 0-5 in those games and 63-8 in all other games when taking a 2nd half lead over the last 3 seasons.
- Baylor's 70-67 loss at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 20 was its closest margin in 16 trips to Lawrence.
- Baylor's bench has out-scored the opponents' bench 95-14 over the last 3 games, and the Bears had a 20-5 advantage over Kansas in bench scoring when the teams met in Lawrence on Jan. 20.
- BU is averaging 81.8 ppg over its last 4 Big 12 games after averaging 66.0 ppg in its first 7 Big 12 games.
- Baylor has posted more points in the paint than its opponent in 20 straight and 23 of 24 games this season. The Bears are averaging 37.8 points in the paint per game against opponents' 26.6 paint ppg.
- Opponents have out-shot BU in 3-point pct. in 10 of the last 12 games and in 3-pointers made in 9 of 12.
- Baylor's remaining schedule includes 4 home games that are all against top-20 ranked teams (No. 10 KU, No. 7 TTU, No. 19 WVU, No. 17 OU) and 3 road games vs. unranked opponents (UT, TCU, KSU).
- BU is 10-0 this season when leading at halftime, but Baylor has led at half in only 1 of its last 12 games.
- BU is 13-1 this season when trailing by 3 or fewer at half and 1-9 when facing a 4+-point halftime deficit.
- BU is 13-3 when averaging at least 1.00 PPP and 1-7 when behind held below 1.00 PPP (win vs. Creighton).
- Baylor has been tied or leading in the final 2 minutes in 4 of its Big 12 losses, all vs. ranked teams.
- Baylor ranks 14th nationally in rebounding margin (+7.2) and has out-rebounded 19 of 24 opponents.
- Eight BU losses are vs. ranked teams: road games at No. 21 Xavier, No. 22 Texas Tech, No. 2 West Virginia, No. 10 Kansas, No. 20 Florida and No. 12 Oklahoma and home vs. No. 8 Wichita State and No. 16 TCU.
- Baylor is 1-7 in road games, with 6 of those losses to ranked teams, including 3 by one possession.
- BU is 36-65 against AP-ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first 4 rebuilding seasons.
- Baylor is 99-83 in Big 12 play since 2008 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 seasons.
- Drew is coaching his 482nd game at Baylor (291-190). His .605 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .680 winning percentage since 2007-08.
- Baylor is 9-21 against AP Top 10 teams since March 2012. BU started the Drew era 1-26 vs. top-10.
