 |
|
 |
BAYLOR BEARS (8-5, 0-1)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (8-5, 0-1) vs. #20 IOWA STATE (12-2, 2-0)
January 8, 2018 • 6:01 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284)
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast
WATCH: ESPNEWS | ESPN App
Talent: Kevin Connors (pxp), Chris Spatola (analyst)
LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College / ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp), David Kaye (analyst)
Baylor Social Media:    |
 |
#20 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (12-2, 2-0)
Location: Ames, Iowa
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Steve Prohm (Alabama, 1997)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Like facing back-to-back Air Raid offenses in football, the Baylor men (8-5, 0-1) will see a very similar look when the Bears host 20th-ranked Iowa State (12-2, 2-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.
Coming off an 85-81 loss on the road at TCU, when the Frogs shot 56.6 percent from the floor, Baylor gets an Iowa State team that uses a similar four-guard lineup "and a lot of penetrating and shots from 3," coach Scott Drew said.
"One thing that's great about playing TCU and then Iowa State is both of them are kind of similar from the standpoint that both of them have multiple guys that can play off a ball screen and space the floor. Basically, when you're playing Iowa State this year, you're getting four guards. Last year, you got two bigs."
Iowa State comes in on the heels of a huge 77-60 win over then-No. 5 Kansas, when the Cyclones shot a blistering 52 percent (13-of-25) from 3-point range. Fifth-year senior guard Marial Shayok, a transfer from Virginia, hit all five 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 24 points.
This is a balanced Iowa State attack, though, with four double-figure scorers. While Shayok leads the Big 12 with a 20.1-point scoring average, Nebraska transfer Michael Jacobson (14.1 ppg, 6.5 rebounds), sophomore Lindell Wigginton (13.3) and 6-4 freshman Talen Horton-Tucker (12.9) are all averaging double-digit points, and 6-5 senior Nick Weller-Babb chips in with 9.5 points and 4.3 assists.
"They have a lot of guards that . . . get to the paint and create," said Baylor senior guard King McClure, who's averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebound and 2.5 assists. "They have a few guys on their team who can really score the ball. They're a really talented team, very good offensively, so it should be a great matchup."
Baylor has to do a much better job on the defensive end after allowing a season-high 85 points against TCU and over 50 percent shooting for the first time all year.
"First and foremost, we've got to do a much better job on the ball," Drew said. "We'll do a better job of being down and trying to keep the ball out of the paint to begin with. Having played against a guard like Alex Robinson, who's so good at getting in the paint and sucking everybody in and people relocating and knocking down 3's, I think after facing that, preparing for it and then preparing again for it, we'll be better off as Iowa State gets to the paint and tries to hit shooters."
McClure said the defensive key is to "stay attached" to the shooters.
"We were lost too many times," he said. "But as a team in the zone, we have to cover the high post better. I think we can rebound a little better, too. TCU got too many offensive boards on us. Just focusing on keeping the ball at the high post and rebounding better, I think we'll be pretty good."
Baylor's offense got a boost off the bench from 6-9 freshman Matthew Mayer, who was 2-of-3 from 3-point range and scored 17 points in just 14 minutes in his first Big 12 game.
Drew said Mayer has to develop better shot selection to get more minutes. "His first shot came with 11 seconds on the shot clock and it was a good look," Drew said. "Some of the other times, he's taking shots at 23 that were bad shots."
"I think it's making sure that he doesn't force the issue and gets a chance to settle in. It's hard to come in and knock down a shot the first time you touch it. Just him being able to relax and get into the offensive flow. He's such a good passer. That's just keeping the game simple. And then defensively, he's gotten better as far as knowing what we want"
Tuesday's game will be broadcast by ESPNEWS with Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola calling the action.
The Bears wrap up a two-game home stand with a matchup against No 7/9 Kansas (12-2, 1-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center that will be televised nationally by ESPN.
With Baylor's spring semester beginning next Monday and the students still not back, "we need the community to step up even more," Drew said, "because students not only bring a lot of energy and excitement, they fill a lot of seats. You've got to win your home games, and our crowd plays a huge part in that."
STORY LINES
• Baylor hosts Iowa State for its first Big 12 home game of the season at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday.
• Tuesday's game will be televised on ESPNEWS with Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola on the call.
• Tuesday is the 36th series meeting. ISU leads the series 19-16, but BU has won 6 of the last 8.
• Baylor is 13-2 all-time against Iowa State in Waco, with the only losses in 2000 and 2013.
• The home team has won 27 of 31 campus site games in the series, and BU is 1-3 vs. ISU at neutral sites.
• The teams split the series last year, with ISU winning 75-65 in Ames and Baylor winning 81-67 in Waco.
• In 7 years of double round-robin Big 12 play, BU has swept twice, ISU swept once and it split 4 times.
• Baylor has won 5 straight vs. ISU in Waco, with 3 of those games decided by one possession or in OT.
• Baylor is 9-2 in Big 12 home openers since 2008 and 13-9 all-time in Big 12 home openers.
• Scott Drew is in his 16th season in Waco and is the Bears' all-time wins leader (304-200).
• BU dropped Saturday's Big 12 opener at TCU 85-81. The Bears trailed by 19 in the 2nd half, then cut the deficit to 82-81 with 18 seconds left before missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds.
• BU has built double-digit leads in 9 of 13 games this season and is 7-2 when building a double-digit lead.
• BU has used 9 different starters in its first 13 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.
• Mason missed the first 3 games, but has played the last 10 games. He leads BU with 3.0 assists/game.
• Kegler, a Mississippi State transfer, has started the last 7 games after missing the season's first 6 games.
• Clark was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 31 after 17 pts, 12 rebs, 5 blks vs. UNO (12/29).
• Clark leads the nation with a 75.0 field goal pct., currently the 3rd-best season mark in NCAA history.
• Vital leads the nation with a 96.6 free throw rate, attempting nearly as many FTs (57) as FGs (59).
• Baylor is 20th nationally in scoring defense (62.3) and 38th in FG percentage defense (.396).
• Baylor ranks 3rd nationally in block percentage (17.7), while Clark is 10th nationally with 2.6 bpg.
• BU is 16th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (37.1), and Vital ranks 23rd nationally (14.6).
• Baylor has had the nation's 16th-worst luck according to KenPom's luck metric (338th of 353).
• BU has held opponents below 30 first-half points in 9 of 13 games after doing so in 12 of 34 last year.
• Drew is 1 of 17 Division I coaches with 300+ wins at his current school (1 of 9 in Power-5 conferences).
• BU is 103-87 in Big 12 play in 11 seasons since 2008 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 seasons.
• Baylor is 1 of 16 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (5 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor is 21-2 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2017-18 season (6-2 this season).
• BU is 76-17 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (8-2 this season).
• Drew is coaching his 505th game at Baylor (304-200). His .603 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .673 winning percentage since 2007-08 (270-131).
ON THE CALL
• Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPNEWS with Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola calling the action.
• Connors is calling his first Baylor game, while Spatola is calling a Baylor game for the 2nd time this season and 4th time overall. Spatola also served as analyst when Baylor opened Big 12 play at TCU on Saturday.
QUICK HITS
• 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 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 (139-18).
• Baylor is 179-84 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 24.4 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 179 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (222).
• Baylor is 270-131 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 882 straight games.
SERIES HISTORY VS. IOWA STATE
• Tuesday is the 36th series meeting. Baylor trails 16-19 in the series, but the Bears are 13-2 in Waco.
• The home team has won 27 of 31 campus site games in the all-time series, and BU is 1-3 vs. ISU at neutral sites.
• Baylor has won six of the last eight games in the series, with the losses in each of its last two trips to Ames.
• Baylor has won 5 straight home games vs. Iowa State and 11 of 12 home games vs. ISU dating back to 2002.
• Since the Big 12 went to double round-robin play in 2012, the teams have split the season series four times (2012, 2014, 2017, 2018), BU has swept twice (2015, 2016) and ISU has swept once (2013).
NON-CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor went 8-4 in non-conference play, marking a 13th consecutive season entering Big 12 play at 8-4 or better.
• BU held Oregon to 47 points on Dec. 15, the Ducks' fewest in a game since scoring 46 vs. Cal on Feb. 21, 2013.
• BU won 58-49 at Arizona on Dec. 1, becoming the first team to hold UA below 50 points since Feb. 26, 2011.
• The win at Arizona snapped the Wildcats 52-game non-conference home winning streak.
• With the wins at Arizona and vs. Oregon, Baylor improved to 11-4 vs. the Pac-12 in the Drew era.
• Baylor is 34-9 in games against non-Big 12 teams over the last 3 seasons, including home victories against No. 4 Oregon, No. 7 Xavier and vs. Oregon, neutral site wins vs. No. 10 Louisville, vs. No. 24 Michigan State, vs. VCU, vs. USC, vs. Wisconsin and vs. Creighton and road wins at Arizona and Ole Miss.
HISTORY IN BIG 12 HOME OPENERS
• Baylor is 13-9 all-time in its first Big 12 home game of the season, including a 9-2 mark since 2008.
• BU is 9-6 in Big 12 home openers under Scott Drew.
• BU dropped the first four Big 12 home openers of the Drew era while dealing with scholarship restrictions, but its only losses since then were by 1 point to No. 12 Kansas in 2015 and by 3 points in overtime to No. 16 TCU last season.
• Baylor's wins in Big 12 home openers in the Drew era were against Iowa State (2008, 2017), Texas Tech (2009), Oklahoma (2010, 2011), Texas A&M (2012), Texas (2013), TCU (2014) and Oklahoma State (2016).
A WIN WOULD ...
• Be Scott Drew's 305th win at Baylor and the 325th of his Division I coaching career.
• Improve BU's record to 77-40 during King McClure's 4-year career and 74-40 in games McClure has played.
• Make Baylor 17-19 all-time against Iowa State, improving to 14-2 in Waco, including 6 straight home wins vs. ISU.
• Improve BU's record to 6-4 in home games vs. ranked teams over the last 3 seasons, including 5-3 vs. top-10 teams.
• Improve Baylor's record in Big 12 home openers to 10-2 since 2008 and 14-9 in the league's 23-year history.
• Make Baylor 14-5 in Big 12 home games since 2017, including 4-3 vs. ranked opponents.
• Improve Baylor's record to 104-87 in Big 12 play since 2008 after going 45-131 in the league's first 11 seasons.
CLARK EFFICIENT ON BOTH ENDS
• Sophomore forward Tristan Clark leads the nation with a .750 field goal percentage, which is currently the 3rd-best single-season mark in NCAA history (Devontae Cacok, UNCW .800 in 2017; Udoka Azubuike, Kansas .770 in 2018).
• Clark leads the Big 12 and ranks 10th nationally with 2.62 blocks per game, and with 34 blocks through 13 games, he's surpassed last season's blocked shots total (29 blocks in 33 games).
• Clark's 34 blocked shots are more than 52 Division I teams (thru Jan. 5), and he's blocked multiple shots in 11 of 13 games this season after doing so in 9 of 33 games as a freshman last season.
MCCLURE LEADING AS LONE RETURNING SENIOR
• 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 10.5 points per game, up 2.4 points from last year's 8.1 ppg average.
• McClure is shooting 42% from the field (up 3% from last year), 38% from 3-point range (up 3%), has nearly doubled his rebounding average to 4.8 rpg (up from 2.5 rpg) and is averaging 2.5 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).
MASON BATTLING THROUGH INJURED ANKLE
• Makai Mason has started the last 10 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 2nd on the team with 14.1 points per game and leads the team with 3.0 assists per game.
• Mason led the Bears to a huge road win at Arizona (12/15) with a game-high 22 points and career-high 7 rebounds.
• He has scored 10+ points in 9 of 10 games played, including 3 games with 18+ points.
VITAL DOING THE DIRTY WORK
• Despite being undersized at 6-foot-5, Mark Vital leads the Big 12 with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. He also ranks 5th in rebounding (7.6 rpg), 13th in steals (1.3 spg), 12th in blocks (0.8 bpg) and 25th in minutes (27.9 mpg).
• Vital leads the nation with a 96.6 free throw rate, attempting nearly as many free throws (57) and field goals (59).
• Vital posted 17 rebounds in Baylor's win at Arizona, which were 3 more than all Arizona players combined (14).
KEGLER SETTLING IN AFTER LONG LAYOFF
• Mario Kegler went 629 days between games after sitting out the 2017-18 following his transfer from Mississippi State and then missing the first 6 games this season.
• Kegler had started the last 7 games and shown significant improvement shooting in the last 2 games. After going a combined 15-of-47 (32%) from the field in his first 5 games, he's shot 9-of-16 (56%) in the last 2 games.
• Kegler has played at 22+ minutes and grabbed 5+ rebounds in all 7 games played this season.
BUTLER MANAGING GAME OFF BENCH
• Freshman guard Jared Butler leads the team with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (24a/12t). He's played in all 13 games and has come off the bench in the last 12 games, averaging 20.5 minutes per game.
• In his last 3 games, Butler has posted 13 assists and just 2 turnovers, averaging 7.3 ppg and 4.3 apg.
• Butler has scored in double-figures 3 times off the bench, including games with 22 and 16 points.
• Butler played a crucial role in Baylor's win over Oregon on Dec. 21, playing the final 9:32 without coming off the floor.
MAYER SCORING AT HIGH RATE OFF BENCH
• Freshman wing Matthew Mayer leads the team with an average of 20.0 points per 40 minutes.
• Mayer has scored in double-figures off the bench 4 times, including two games with as many points as minutes — 18 points in 18 minutes vs. Nicholls State and 17 points in 14 minutes at TCU.
• Mayer has played turnover-free in 9 of 13 games and has 7 assists and 2 turnovers over his last 7 games.
PROTECTING HALFTIME LEADS
• Baylor went 15-0 last season when leading at halftime and is 24-2 in its last 26 games when leading at the half.
• Baylor has won 89% of its games (139-18) when leading at the half since 2011-12 (6-2 in 2018-19, 15-0 in 2017-18, 18-3 in 2016-17, 18-2 in 2015-16, 21-7 in 2014-15, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12).
• BU has won 37% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 40-66 in those.
• BU has led at halftime in 157 of 263 games over the last eight seasons, and BU is 179-84 since 2011-12.
RALLY FROM 19 DOWN FALLS SHORT IN BIG 12 OPENER AT TCU
• Baylor rallied from 19 points down in the 2nd half to cut TCU's lead to 82-81 with 18 seconds left, but the Bears missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining and fell 85-81 in their Big 12 opener on Jan. 5.
• BU trailed by 12 at the break and got back in the game despite TCU shooting 65% in the 2nd half. BU's 53 points in the 2nd half were its most in a half in a Big 12 game since scoring 60 at in the 2nd half at Iowa State on Jan. 9, 2016.
• Matthew Mayer posted 17 points in 14 minutes off the bench, while Tristan Clark had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and Makai Mason recorded 15 points and 3 assists.
UP NEXT
• The Bears stay home to host Kansas at 3 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPN.
• Following Saturday's game, Baylor heads back on the road to face Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Monday, Jan. 14. That game will tip at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
