Baylor
West Virginia
MBB Continues Big 12 Play Against West Virginia
2/22/2019 11:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears and Mountaineers tip off at 1:05 p.m. CT on ESPNU
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BAYLOR BEARS (17-9, 8-5) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (17-9, 8-5) vs. WEST VIRGINIA (10-16, 2-11) February 23, 2019 • 1:05 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPNU | ESPN App Talent: Anish Shroff (pxp), Tim Welsh (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (10-16, 2-11) Location: Morgantown, W.Va. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Bob Huggins (West Virginia, 1977) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Coming off a statement-making 73-69 road win over No. 19/20 Iowa State on the road, the Baylor Bears will try to build off that momentum when they face a swooning West Virginia team that has lost five in a row and eight of its last nine.
On the peripheral of a Big 12 title hunt that has No. 21/23 Kansas State on top by just one game over 12th-ranked Kansas and No. 14 Texas Tech and two up on Baylor and Iowa State, the Bears (17-9, 8-5) go for the season sweep against the last-place Mountaineers (10-16, 2-11) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
"Why the Big 12 is the best conference in the country is that everybody's dangerous," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "(West Virginia coach Bob Huggins) is a Hall of Fame coach, and he always gets his guys prepared and ready to play. Kansas went in there and lost because they weren't ready, I guess, or you can just say West Virginia is pretty good. . . . Every game, you've got to be ready to go."
Baylor is coming off arguably its biggest win of the season, beating a ranked Iowa State team on the road. Jared Butler had a team-high 17 points, Makai Mason added 14 and Freddie Gillespie posted his first double-double with career highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"It was a big win, especially after getting smacked at Texas Teach, which was very demoralizing," Butler said of last Saturday's 86-61 loss at Tech. "It's up and down in the Big 12, and getting a win over Iowa State was big. I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved it."
Although he was just 4-of-18 from the floor, having Mason on the floor for just the second time in the last four games was critical as he added five rebounds and three assists and hit four free throws in the last 35 seconds to ice it. The senior guard, a grad transfer from Yale, has been in and out of the lineup with a bruised toe on his right foot.
"Makai has been around and seen a lot of stuff and just has that maturity and experience," Drew said. "I'm not saying that others aren't capable or anything like that, but someone like that who has been there before, it's easier to do things the 400thand 500thtime rather than the third or fourth."
Having an extra day off will probably help Mason be ready for Saturday's game, but "this week we did some different things with him – underwater treadmill, some band stuff to help with conditioning," Drew said. "It's definitely a work in progress."
"Each day, we kind of adjust and tweak and try to do things better with what we're given. (Athletic trainer) David Chandler has done an amazing job with Makai. And Makai is such a hard worker, he's always going to try to do things better and more. So, we have to make sure he doesn't too much."
Drew is also hoping to get senior guard King McClure back sooner rather than later. McClure, who is averaging a career-high 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds, has missed the last four games with a knee injury.
"King is getting closer, and the good thing is I know it won't be much longer," Drew said. "I know if it was up to him, he probably would have rather been playing. That's where having the medical people we have do a great job making sure we don't put people in jeopardy."
What's been key in Baylor winning eight of its 12 games since sophomore center Tristan Clark's season-ending knee injury is having different people step up every game. Butler has scored in double digits in nine of those games, including 19 in a home-court win over a top-10 Texas Tech team, while 6-7 sophomore forward Mario Kegler has averaged 11.4 points over the last nine games and made at least one 3-pointer in all but one.
Gillespie, a Division III transfer, has averaged 8.1 points and 6.0 rebounds over the last eight games after scoring 11 points all year before Clark went out.
"Everybody has played well, but it seems like each and every game you have different people to talk about," Drew said. "That's a strength of a team when you have multiple guys who can step up and play. Freddie was great the last game, and that's what's exciting about this game is you don't know who will step up."
Already struggling, West Virginia dismissed two of its starters – 6-8 senior forwards Esah Ahmad (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) and Wesley Harris (7.9 ppg, 4.5 rebounds) – on Feb. 11. The Mountaineers are winless in true road games this season (0-7) and have been outscored by 91 points in their latest four-game losing skid.
Junior guard James Bolden leads the Mountaineers with 12.2 points per game and scored a team-high 22 off the bench in West Virginia's 85-73 loss to the Bears last month in Morgantown. But, he has not played since injuring his ankle in an 83-66 loss to then-No. 1 Tennessee on Jan. 26.
"They've had a lot of different combinations they've been playing," Drew said, "and I think experience in the backcourt has probably been the biggest difference."
STORY LINES
• Baylor looks for a season sweep of West Virginia when the teams meet in Waco at 1 p.m. CT Saturday.
• Saturday is the 17th series meeting, all since 2011. Baylor leads 9-7, including 3-3 in Waco.
• The teams have alternated wins in Waco (BU in 2013, 2015, 2017; WVU in 2014, 2016, 2018).
• BU has completed season sweeps of Oklahoma and Iowa State and is looking for its 3rd sweep this year.
• BU won 85-73 when the teams met in Morgantown on Jan. 21. Makai Mason had 29 points, while Mario Kegler had a career-high 18 points, and the duo combined to go 13-for-13 on 2-point field goals.
• BU is coming off a 73-69 win at No. 19 Iowa State, improving to 3-2 vs. ranked teams this season.
• Freddie Gillespie had his first double-double with 14 points (7-of-8 FGs) and 10 rebounds at Iowa State.
• Mason has missed 2 of the last 4 games with a toe injury, while King McClure has missed 4 straight with a knee injury. Tristan Clark has missed 12 straight games, and Jake Lindsey has missed the entire season.
• All told, those 4 projected starters have missed 47 total games, including 30 in Big 12 play.
• BU entered the season with 3 returning letterwinners after losing its top 4 scorers from last season.
• Mason reached 1,000 points for his Division I career in Tuesday's win at ISU (680 at Yale, 325 at Baylor).
• In 12 games since Tristan Clark's season-ending injury, BU is shooting 39% on 3-pointers and making 9.8 treys per game. Those numbers are up from 29% and 6.6 made 3's per game prior to the injury.
• BU is averaging 72.2 ppg in 12 games since Clark's injury, up from 71.4 ppg prior to losing Clark.
• Four Bears are shooting 38%+ from 3-point range and making 1.8+ 3FGs/game since Clark's injury – Devonte Bandoo (42%, 1.8), Jared Butler (45%, 2.8), McClure (43%, 1.9) and Mason (38%, 2.4).
• Flo Thamba and Gillespie have combined for 9.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 2.1 bpg in 33.1 mpg in 12 games since Clark's injury. Prior to the injury they averaged 2.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 0.9 bpg in 12.8 mpg.
• Gillespie is averaging 8.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 bpg and shooting 74% (31-42) in 21.6 mpg over the last 8 games. He entered that stretch with 25 points all season, including 8 DNPs in 9 games preceding Clark's injury.
• Jared Butler joined the starting lineup with Clark out and is averaging 12.6 ppg and 3.8 apg in 12 starts.
• Butler is shooting 45% on 3FGs (34-75) since becoming a starter after 23% (10-44) in his first 14 games.
• Butler is 6th in the Big 12 with 3.6 assists/gm in league play. He has 58 assists in his last 15 games (3.9 apg) after 14 assists in his first 11 games (1.3 apg). He has also made a 3-pointer in 12 straight games.
• Scott Drew is in his 16th season in Waco and is the Bears' all-time wins leader (313-204).
• Baylor is 29-2 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2017-18 season (14-2 this season).
• Mario Kegler is averaging 11.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg while shooting 50% (36% 3FGs) over his last 9 games.
• Mark Vital leads the Big 12 and ranks 10th nationally with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game.
• Bandoo is 6th in the Big 12 in 3FG% in league play (.446) and is averaging 13.0 ppg in the last 4 games.
• BU is 2nd nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (38.7), its 6th straight year in the nation's top 10.
• In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in offensive efficiency (111.5), assists (14.9/gm), 3-point pct. (.386), 3-pointers made (9.4/gm) rebounding margin (+6.5/gm) and offensive rebounding percentage (40.4).
• Drew is coaching his 518th game at Baylor (313-204). His .605 winning percentage is best in BU history.
ON THE CALL
• Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Anish Shroff and Tim Welsh calling the action.
• Shroff is calling his 4th Baylor game and his first since Feb. 21, 2015 – a 69-42 Baylor win over K-State.
• Welsh is calling his 4th BU game this season after working Baylor's last three Saturday games.
QUICK HITS
• BU is 85-18 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (17-3 this season).
• BU is 97-74 in Big 12 play in 10 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
• BU has won 8+ Big 12 games in 8 straight seasons after winning 8+ just 3 times in the league's first 15 years.
• 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 41-69 against AP-ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first 4 rebuilding seasons.
• Baylor defeated 7 top-10 teams in the last 3 seasons, including a 6-3 mark vs. top-10 teams in Waco.
• Baylor is 12-22 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 (148-18).
• Baylor is 188-88 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 24.4 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 188 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (230).
• Baylor is 279-135 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• Baylor beat Alabama to move to 5-1 all-time in Big 12/SEC Challenges, the best record of any team in either league.
• Baylor has the nation's 11th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 895 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 29 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
SERIES HISTORY VS. WEST VIRGINIA
• Saturday is the 17th all-time series meeting, all of which have been played since 2011.
• WVU has won six of eight against the Bears after Baylor won seven of the first eight series meetings.
• BU leads the series 9-7, including a 3-3 mark in Waco. The teams have alternated wins in Waco, with Baylor winning the matchup in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and West Virginia winning in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
FOUR PROJECTED STARTERS SAT OUT SATURDAY'S GAME
• Baylor was playing without four projected starters in Saturday's game at No. 15 Texas Tech. Makai Mason (toe) and King McClure (knee) missed the game, while Tristan Clark (knee) and Jake Lindsey (hip) are out for the season.
• The same four starters missed the Feb. 9 games vs. K-State, and al but Mason missed the Feb. 11 win vs. Oklahoma.
• Clark is out for the year after suffering a left-knee injury in the Jan. 8 win over Iowa State.
• Clark started the first 14 games this season and was leading the nation with a .737 field goal percentage. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.8 minutes per game prior to the injury.
• Lindsey played in all 103 games and made 18 starts over his first 3 seasons at Baylor.
BEARS COMPLETE SWEEP WITH WIN AT NO. 19 IOWA STATE
• Baylor pulled off an upset at No. 19 Iowa State on Feb. 19, beating the Cyclones 73-69 to finish a season sweep.
• Baylor became the only visiting team to win 3 games at Hilton Coliseum in the last 5 seasons (2015, 2016, 2019).
• There were 10 second-half lead changes, but BU never trailed by more than 2 points in the 2nd half.
• Freddie Gillespie had his first double-double with career-highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jared Butler added team-highs of 17 points and 5 assists. Makai Mason contributed 14 points in his return from a toe injury.
3-GUARD LINEUP AND UNHERALDED BIG MEN LEADING BEARS' RESURGENCE
• Baylor switched to a 3-guard lineup after Tristan Clark's season-ending injury, swapping freshman guard Jared Butler into the starting lineup. The Bears moved 6-foot-5 sophomore Mark Vital to the starting 5-spot.
• In 12 games without Clark, Baylor (8-4) is making 3.4 more 3-pointers per game (9.8 from 6.4) and shooting 10% higher from 3-point range (39% from 29%). BU's 2-point percentage has suffered, dropping from 55% to 48%.
• Baylor is averaging 0.8 more points per game (72.2 from 71.4) despite missing Clark's 14.6 PPG and 6.3 RPG.
• Butler in 12 games since becoming a starter — 12.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.8 3FGM/gm and 45% on 3-pointers.
• Butler's first 14 games prior to Clark injury — 6.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.7 3FGM/gm and 23% on 3-pointers.
• Freddie Gillespie and Flo Thamba combined in 12 games since Clark's injury — 9.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.1 bpg in 33.1 mpg. • Prior to the injury Gillespie and Thamba combined to average 2.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 0.9 bpg in 12.8 mpg.
• Devonte Bandoo's first 14 games — 6.8 ppg, 34% 3FGs; Bandoo's 12 games since Clark injury — 9.0 ppg, 42% 3FGs.
• Mario Kegler is also averaging 9.8 ppg, up from 8.8 ppg, and shooting 3-pointers at 34% (12-35), up from 8% (2-24).
A WIN WOULD ...
• Be Scott Drew's 314th win at Baylor and the 334th of his Division I coaching career.
• Give Baylor its 3rd season sweep this year after previously sweeping Oklahoma and Iowa State.
• Make Baylor 10-7 all-time against West Virginia, including a 4-3 mark in Waco.
• Mark a 12th consecutive season with 18+ wins. BU had 18+ wins in 8 of 101 seasons prior to that streak.
• Clinch a .500+ record in Big 12 play for the 7th time in the last 8 seasons, 8th time in the last 10 seasons and 9th time in the last 12 seasons. BU had a .500+ record just once in the Big 12's first 11 seasons (8-8 in 1998).
• Improve Baylor's record to 98-74 in Big 12 play since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
PROTECTING HALFTIME LEADS
• Baylor went 15-0 last season when leading at halftime and is 32-2 in its last 34 games when leading at the half.
• Baylor has won 89% of its games (147-18) when leading at the half since 2011-12 (14-2 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 41-70 in those.
• BU has led at halftime in 165 of 276 games over the last eight seasons, and BU is 188-88 since 2011-12.
UP NEXT
• Baylor remains at home to host Texas at 8 p.m. on Feb. 27.
• After a trip to K-State on March 2, BU hosts Oklahoma State for Senior Night at 8 p.m. on March 6.
• The Bears wrap of the regular season with a trip to Lawrence, Kan., to face Kansas at 1 p.m. on March 9.
