Baylor
Kansas State
MBB Returns Home to Host Kansas State Saturday
2/8/2019 10:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears and Wildcats tip off at 5:05 p.m. CT on ESPN2
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BAYLOR BEARS (15-7, 6-3) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (15-7, 6-3) vs. KANSAS STATE (17-5, 7-2) February 9, 2018 • 5:05 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 | ESPN App Talent: Rich Hollenberg (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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KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (17-5, 7-2) Location: Manhattan, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Bruce Weber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1978) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
With or without senior guard Makai Mason, who's nursing a bruised right foot, the Baylor Bears (15-7, 6-3) have to get off to a better start against league-leading Kansas State (17-5, 7-2) in Saturday's 5 p.m. game at the Ferrell Center.
Mason scored a season-low five points and played just four minutes in the second half of Wednesday's 84-72 loss at Texas, snapping the Bears' six-game winning streak.
While saying that hopefully Mason is better than he was on Wednesday, Baylor coach Scott Drew added, "If he can't go, he won't go."
In the game against Texas, the Longhorns came out on fire and jumped out to a 45-30 halftime lead, with Baylor never able to dig out of that early hole.
"I don't think there's a specific reason why we didn't come out super-hot," freshman guard Jared Butler said, "but they did come out fast and we didn't respond. We know this is a big game, and we're playing at home, so those factors can contribute to us coming out fast, for sure."
Kansas was picked to win its 15th consecutive Big 12 regular-season title, but the 13th-ranked Jayhawks (17-5, 6-4) lost 74-67 at Kansas State on Tuesday and have dropped three of their last four to fall into a tie for fourth in the league standings with No. 18 Texas Tech.
Picked second in the preseason coaches' poll, K-State hasrisen to the top since the return of 6-10 senior forward Dean Wade (14.1 ppg, 6.8 rebounds), who missed six games with a foot injury.
"First, his size at 6-10, somebody that can play inside-outside, it's a tough matchup because of his versatility," Drew said of Wade. "Quite frankly, he's somebody that if he didn't get injured last year, he probably would have been in the NBA. A lot of people thought he would be a first-round pick. (Senior guard) Barry Brown's another one that a lot of people think belongs in the NBA. So, when you've got two NBA players that are seniors, you're pretty good."
K-State has reeled off seven straight wins in Big 12 play after an 0-2 start, the Wildcats' lone blemish over the last month being a 65-53 loss at Texas A&M in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
"Besides the A&M game, they've been top-5 in the country the way they've been playing," Drew said. "This is a team that can win a national championship, this is a team that can win a Big 12 title. So, it's a great opportunity for us, because we feel like we can compete with anybody in the country when we play well, and it's on our home court."
After giving up a combined 39 points to Texas' backcourt duo of Kerwin Roach III and Matt Coleman II, Baylor's guards have to do a better job defending Brown (15.5 ppg), Kamau Stokes (9.8) and Xavier Sneed (9.8).
Butler said "that's a point of emphasis, for sure."
"This is another real athletic, real explosive, highly skilled group," Drew said of the K-State guards. "The big thing is when you get beat, the tendency is to play harder. But, the tendency needs to be play smarter. When we played against (TCU's) Alex Robinson the second time, we were a lot better-equipped to defend him. Hopefully, we learned some lessons against the Texas guards that can apply to Kansas State."
Despite being undersized since losing 6-9 sophomore center Tristan Clark to a season-ending injury, the Bears lead the Big 12 and rank 20th nationally in rebounding margin (plus-6.5). But, Baylor was outrebounded 17-10 in the first half against Texas and finished with a 29-29 tie on the boards.
"Texas definitely punched first and we didn't respond the way we wanted to," 6-8 junior forward Freddie Gillespie said. "But, our games before Texas showed that we're more than capable of rebounding the basketball. Seeing that teams are gunning for us for that rebounding spot . . . we have to make sure we're not so relaxed and be a better rebounding team."
Watching film from the last game, Drew said some of the rebounds "went over our head or their length came into effect."
"Offensively, we need to do better. Hopefully, our effort will be there. You can't always control the bounce of the rebound, but you can control of going in there and playing percentages of where it's coming off. We've got to do a better job of that. And if we do that, we'll live with the consequences."
After Saturday's game, the Bears will have another quick turnaround with a "Big Monday" matchup against Oklahoma (15-8, 3-7) at 8 p.m. Monday at the Ferrell Center. The Sooners, who have lost three in a row and five of their last seven, host Texas Tech on Saturday.
One thing to watch on Saturday is whether 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Mark Vital wins the opening tip against the 6-10 Wade or 6-9 Makol Mawien. Even with a distinct size disadvantage, Vital has won the opening tip several times, including in Wednesday's game when he went up against 6-10 freshman Jaxson Hayes.
In honor of Saturday being Taurean Prince Night, Drew answered a question about Vital being able to win the tip in true TP fashion.
"It's very simple. The official tosses up the ball, Mark jumps quicker, taps it to our team," Drew said before busting out in laughter. Three years ago, Prince gave a similar answer to a question about how Yale outrebounded the Bears in an NCAA Tournament game.
"That time, we didn't have Makai on our side, now we do," Drew said, referring to Mason scoring 31 in that game before transferring to Baylor this summer. "That's the only thing I take away from that that I like. Hopefully, we get a healthy Makai."
STORY LINES
• Baylor begins the second half of its Big 12 season by hosting Kansas State at 5 p.m. CT Saturday.
• Saturday is the 40th all-time meeting between Baylor and K-State. BU is 18-21 against KSU.
• Baylor is 6-5 against Kansas State since 2014, but K-State has won 4 in a row against the Bears.
• With a win, BU can improve to 7-3 in Big 12 play, which would tie the fewest losses in the league.
• BU is coming off an 84-72 loss at Texas on Wednesday that snapped the Bears' 6-game winning streak.
• Prior to the loss at Texas, Baylor had won 5 straight Big 12 games, including wins at Oklahoma State, vs. Texas Tech, at West Virginia and vs. TCU. The Bears also defeated Alabama during their winning streak.
• In 8 games since Tristan Clark's season-ending injury, BU is shooting 41% on 3-pointers and making 10.1 treys per game. Those numbers are up from 29% and 6.6 made 3's per game prior to the injury.
• Clark was ruled out for the season after suffering a left-knee injury in the Jan. 20 win over Iowa State.
• Four Bears are shooting 40%+ from 3-point range and making 1.5+ 3FGs/game since Clark's injury – Devonte Bandoo (50%, 1.6), Mason (46%, 2.8), McClure (43%, 1.9) and Butler (41%, 2.4).
• BU is averaging 76.4 ppg in 8 games with the 3-guard lineup, up from 71.4 ppg prior to Clark's injury.
• BU has scored 72+ points in 7 straight games after doing so in only 7 of its first 15 games.
• Scott Drew is in his 16th season in Waco and is the Bears' all-time wins leader (311-202).
• Baylor is 28-2 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2017-18 season (13-2 this season).
• Mario Kegler is averaging 12.4 ppg and a team-best 5.4 rpg while shooting 56% over his last 5 games.
• Makai Mason had his streaks of 13 straight games with 10+ points and 15 straight with a 3-pointer snapped Wednesday at Texas. Mason was limited to 23 minutes due to a toe injury suffered during practice.
• Mason had the 7th 40-point game in BU history Saturday vs. TCU, breaking the BU record for a Big 12 game.
• Jared Butler joined the starting lineup with Clark out and is averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.1 apg in 8 starts.
• Butler is shooting 41% on 3FGs (19-46) since becoming a starter after 23% (10-44) in his first 14 games.
• Butler is 4th in the Big 12 with 3.8 assists/gm in league play. He had a season-high 6 assists Wednesday at Texas and has 45 assists in his last 11 games after posting 14 assists in his first 11 games.
• Mark Vital is the nation's only player with more offensive than defensive rebs. (79-78; min. 140 total).
• Flo Thamba and Freddie Gillespie have combined for 9.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 1.6 bpg in 30.8 mpg in 8 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.
• BU is 4th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (38.1), its 6th straight year in the nation's top 10.
• In conference games, Baylor leads the Big 12 in scoring (76.9), effective FG% (.543), 3-point pct. (.401), 3FGs made (9.7/game), scoring margin (+7.2), assists (16.0/game), rebounding margin (7.1), offensive efficiency (114.5), offensive rebound pct. (.387)
and defensive rebound pct. (.726).
• BU is 83-17 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (15-2 this season).
• BU is 95-72 in Big 12 play in 10 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
• Baylor is 34-5 in home games against unranked opponents since 2016-17, with 2 of the losses to K-State.
• Drew is coaching his 514th game at Baylor (311-202). His .606 winning percentage is best in BU history.
ON THE CALL
• Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Tim Welsh calling the action.
• Hollenberg is on his 3rd Baylor game this season after calling games in Waco vs. Kansas (1/12) and Alabama (1/26).
• Welsh is calling his 2nd Baylor game this season after calling last Saturday's win over TCU.
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 40-68 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 (146-18).
• Baylor is 186-86 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 24.4 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 186 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (227).
• Baylor is 277-133 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 891 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was nearly 29 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
SERIES HISTORY VS. KANSAS STATE
• Saturday is the 40th all-time series meeting. K-State leads the series 21-18, but BU is 8-7 vs. KSU in Waco.
• K-State has won the last 4 series meetings after snapping Baylor's 4-game series winning streak in February 2017.
• Since Big 12 double round-robin play began in 2012, BU has swept the season series twice (2014, 2016) and K-State has swept the season series twice (2013, 2018).
• The Wildcats won 90-83 when the teams met in Waco on Jan. 22 this season.
3-GUARD LINEUP 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 8 games without Clark, Baylor is making 3.7 more 3-pointers per game (10.1 from 6.4) and shooting 11.3% higher from 3-point range (40.5 from 29.2). BU's 2-point percentage has suffered, dropping from 55% to 50%.
• Baylor is averaging 5.0 more PPG and 0.2 more RPG despite missing Clark's 14.6 PPG and 6.3 RPG.
• Seven BU players average more ppg in 8 games since Clark's injury than in 14 games with Clark — Butler (+5.3), Gillespie (+4.2), Mason (+2.3), Thamba (+1.2), Vital (+1.0), Kegler (+0.8) and Bandoo (+0.2).
• Five Bears have increased rebounding in the 8 games since Clark's injury — Thamba (+1.7), Butler (+1.5), Gillespie (+1.4), McClure (+1.2) and Mayer (+0.5).
SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT TEXAS
• Baylor's 6-game winning streak ended with an 84-72 loss at Texas on Feb. 6. The Bears fell behind early with Makai Mason limited to 5 points in 23 minutes while playing through a toe injury suffered in practice two days prior.
• BU made one more field goal than Texas, but UT made up the difference with 13 more made free throws in 19 more attempts. BU got into early foul trouble and finished with a season-high 28 fouls. Seven Bears had 3+ fouls.
• The loss snapped Baylor's 6-game winning streak against Texas, which was the longest in series history.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Be Scott Drew's 312th win at Baylor and the 332th of his Division I coaching career.
• Snap Baylor's 4-game losing streak against K-State and make the Bears 7-5 vs. KSU since 2014.
• Improve Baylor's Big 12 record to 7-3 this season, which would tie the fewest losses of any team in the league.
• Make BU's record to 84-42 during King McClure's 4-year career and 81-42 in games McClure has played.
• Improve Baylor's record to 96-72 in Big 12 play since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
• Make BU 35-5 in home games vs. unranked teams over the last 3 seasons.
DREW ERA HIGHLIGHTS
• Drew is coaching his 514th game at Baylor (311-202). His .606 winning percentage is best in BU history.
• Baylor has a .676 winning percentage (277-133) since Drew's first year with no scholarship restrictions in 2007-08 and a .684 winning percentage (186-86) over the last 7 seasons since 2011-12.
• In Drew's 16 seasons as Baylor head coach, BU has been ranked in 211 of 514 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 379 games.
• BU has graduated 91 percent of its scholarship seniors since Drew took over in 2003 (31 of 34).
• 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.
DOMINANT DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
• Baylor's defense has held 3 high-major teams to their lowest scoring totals in more than 5 years.
• BU held Arizona to 49 points in Tucson on Dec. 1, becoming the first team to hold UA below 50 since Feb. 26, 2011.
• Baylor limited Oregon to 47 points on Dec. 15, the Ducks' fewest points in a game since Feb. 21, 2013.
• Baylor held Oklahoma to 47 points in Norman on Jan. 28, the Sooners' fewest in a game since Nov. 23, 2012.
PROTECTING HALFTIME LEADS
• Baylor went 15-0 last season when leading at halftime and is 31-2 in its last 33 games when leading at the half.
• Baylor has won 89% of its games (146-18) when leading at the half since 2011-12 (13-2 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 40-68 in those.
• BU has led at halftime in 164 of 272 games over the last eight seasons, and BU is 186-86 since 2011-12.
UP NEXT
• BU stays home to host Oklahoma on Monday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Bears won by 30 in Norman on Jan. 28.
• Baylor then plays consecutive road games at Texas Tech (Feb. 16) and at Iowa State (Feb. 19).
