Baylor
Kansas State
MBB Set for Road Game at No. 16 K-State
3/1/2019 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears and Wildcats tip off at 7:05 p.m. CT on ESPN2
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BAYLOR BEARS (19-9, 10-5) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (19-9, 10-5) at KANSAS STATE (21-7, 11-4) March 2, 2019 • 7:05 p.m. CT Manhattan, Kan. • Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 | ESPN App Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Robbie Hummel (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 (21-7, 11-4) 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
There's a fine line between good and bad years, the only difference being winning or losing the close games.
"Some years you find ways to win, and other years you don't," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose Bears (19-9, 10-5) have won three straight down-to-the-wire games decided by a total of 12 points. "When you win, there is so much excitement you can't sleep. And when you lose, there's so much depression you can't sleep. So, coaches don't sleep in February."
These days, Drew has a hard time sleeping at all, thinking about how this shorthanded, heavy-underdog Baylor team is in a race for the Big 12 title going into Saturday's 7 p.m. game at 16th-ranked Kansas State (21-7, 11-4). The Wildcats and Texas Tech are tied for the conference lead at 11-5, followed by the Bears and 14-time defending champion Kansas at 10-5.
"Every game is going to tell them what's important for the next game," Drew said. "And at the same time, every coach talks about the big picture of things. You don't dwell on it, because there's three games to go and we need to take care of the next one so that the next two mean something."
Baylor stayed alive for its first conference championship in 69 years on Wednesday, when the Bears rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to defeat the Texas Longhorns, 84-83, in overtime.
"It's definitely something that's in the forefront of our mind," said 6-8 junior forward Freddie Gillespie, who had eight points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Texas. "I think if the conditions are right, if they're favorable, it's still a possibility. We're going to work hard. And we feel like, given the adversity that we've overcome and how people sold us short in the beginning, it's something we deserve."
Since losing six of their first nine games decided by single digits, the Bears are 6-1 in those games over the last 6 ½ weeks.
In the win over Texas, freshman point guard Jared Butler hit a pair of jumpers in the last 63 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, then drained a 3-pointer to start a 9-2 closing run that helped the Bears overcome a six-point deficit. Mario Kegler scored a career-high 24 points and hit a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left.
"I'm just glad he's on our team, a guy that wants the ball at the end of the game," Butler said of Kegler. "I want to win, Mario wants to win, I think we have a lot of guys on our team. Like Devonte (Bandoo) hit some big shots. I think that's a good quality of our team. I have that want-to-win (attitude) at the end of the game, for sure."
Kegler has been on a tear of late, scoring 23 and 24 points in his last two games and averaging 13.3 points over the last 12 games. The Mississippi State transfer has hit 10-of-19 from 3-point range over the last four games after making just 10 of his first 49 through his first 18 games.
"It takes time to get his sea legs under you," Drew said. "Mario is one of those guys who really likes to fit in, and he doesn't go out of his way to make pays or make things happen. If the team needs scoring, he'll give you scoring. If the team needs assists, he'll give you assists. And the last couple of games, we've needed his production on the offensive end. It's not just in points. His assist-to-turnover ratio has really gotten better."
In the Bears' only single-digit loss over the last 6 ½ weeks, they gave up a seven-point second-half lead in a 70-63 loss at home to K-State. The Wildcats had a late 11-0 run and outscored Baylor, 29-15, over the final 9 ½ minutes.
That was the first game the Bears played without senior guards Makai Mason and King McClure, who were out with foot and knee injuries, respectively. While Mason has hit just 1-of-17 shots and scored a combined 10 points in his last two games, McClure sat out five straight games before getting back on the floor for seven minutes in Wednesday's game.
"Whenever you take two weeks off in the middle of the season, it just takes a little time to get your timing back," Drew said. "But, it's great to have him out there, and he'll get better and better with each game and each practice we have. So, it won't be long before he's back to his original self."
K-State has a balanced scoring attack led by seniors Barry Brown (15.3 ppg) and Dean Wade (12.9 ppg, 6.3 rebounds). Senior guard Kamau Stokes scored 20 in the win over Baylor and is averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 assists.
"What makes him so special is all those intangibles," Drew said of Brown. "He's a great leader and makes all those winning plays, getting the loose balls, the first to the floor. When you have a leader like that, then it makes it easy for the young guys to follow."
STORY LINES
• Baylor looks to avenge its loss 3 weeks ago in a rematch against K-State Saturday night in Manhattan.
• Saturday is the 41st all-time meeting between Baylor and K-State. BU is 18-22 against KSU.
• Baylor is 6-6 against Kansas State since 2014, but K-State has won 5 in a row against the Bears.
• With a win, BU can improve to 11-5 in Big 12 play, tying the 3rd-most conference wins in program history.
• Baylor has won 3 straight and its looking to tie the 7th-longest Big 12 winning streak in BU history.
• BU is coming off an 84-83 OT win vs. Texas. The Bears trailed by 17 with less than 9 minutes left.
• BU seeks its 5th Big 12 road win, which would tie its 3rd-most in a season (6-3 in 2012 & 2017).
• Baylor lost 70-63 when it faced K-State in Waco on Feb. 9. The Bears were without four projected starters, but led by 7 points with less than 10 minutes left before K-State closed on a 29-15 run.
• K-State out-rebounded BU 33-32, the only time BU has been out-rebounded in Big 12 play this year.
• Baylor has double-digit Big 12 wins for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons and 6th time in 10 years. Prior to 2010, Baylor hadn't won 10+ conference games since 1988 Southwest Conference play.
• Jared Butler is this week's Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after averaging 14.5 ppg, 4.5 apg and 4.0 rpg.
• Mario Kegler has averaged 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in Baylor's last 2 games.
• Devonte Bandoo is averaging a team-best 15.8 ppg and 2.8 made 3-pointers/gm in the last 6 games.
• Makai Mason has been limited in the last 6 games with a toe injury, King McClure has missed 5 of 6 with a knee injury, Tristan Clark has missed 14 straight games, and Jake Lindsey has missed the entire season.
• All told, those 4 projected starters have missed 56 total games, including 35 in Big 12 play.
• In 14 games since Clark's season-ending injury, BU is shooting 40% on 3-pointers, making 9.7 3FGs per game and scoring 73.8 ppg. Those numbers are up from 29%, 6.6 3FGs and 71.4 ppg prior to the injury.
• Four Bears are shooting 40%+ from 3-point range since Clark's injury – Bandoo (45%, 2.1/gm), Butler (44%, 2.7/gm), McClure (43%, 1.7/gm) and Kegler (41%, 1.3/gm).
• Flo Thamba and Gillespie have combined for 8.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 2.1 bpg in 32.7 mpg in 14 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 7.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.9 bpg and shooting 71% (35-49) over the last 10 games. He entered that stretch with 25 points, 30 rebounds and 4 blocks over his previous 10 games (2.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.4 bpg).
• Butler joined the starting lineup with Clark out and is averaging 12.7 ppg and 3.9 apg in 14 starts.
• Butler is shooting 44% on 3FGs (38-87) since becoming a starter after 23% (10-44) in his first 14 games.
• Butler is 5th in the Big 12 with 3.7 assists/gm in league play and has made a 3-pointer in 14 straight games.
• Over his last 10 games, Kegler is averaging a team-high 13.2 points and ranks 2nd with 5.8 rebounds.
• Kegler is shooting 46% on 3FGs (15-33) in his last 10 games after 14% (5-35) in his previous 12 games.
• Mark Vital leads the Big 12 and ranks 8th nationally with 3.6 offensive rebounds per game.
• BU is leads the nation in offensive rebounding percentage (39.3), its 6th straight year in the nation's top 10.
• In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in scoring offense (74.3), assists (14.9/gm), 3-point pct. (.393), 3-pointers made (9.5/gm), rebounding margin (+6.7/gm) and offensive efficiency (112.9).
ON THE CALL
• Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Robbie Hummel calling the action.
• Hollenberg is on his 4th BU game this season after games in Waco vs. Kansas (1/12), Alabama (1/26) and K-State (2/9).
• Hummel is calling his first BU game since Baylor's Big 12 Championship quarterfinal loss to WVU last season. Hummel also played against Baylor in Scott Drew's first NCAA Tournament game as head coach in 2008.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor has won 19+ games in 8 straight seasons and is seeking its 10th 20-win season in the last 12 years.
• Scott Drew is in his 16th season in Waco and is the Bears' all-time wins leader (315-204).
• Drew is coaching his 520th game at Baylor (315-204). His .607 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .675 winning percentage since 2007-08 (281-135).
• Baylor is 34-36 in Big 12 road games since 2012, second-best in the league behind only Kansas (43-23).
• Baylor is 1 of 16 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (5 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor is 29-2 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2017-18 season (14-2 this season).
• BU is 87-18 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (19-3 this season).
• BU is 99-74 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 190-88 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 24.4 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 190 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (231).
• Baylor is 281-135 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 897 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. KANSAS STATE
• Saturday is the 41st all-time series meeting. K-State leads the series 22-18, including 11-8 in Manhattan.
• K-State has won the last 5 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 teams split in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
• The Wildcats won 70-63 when the teams met in Waco on Feb. 9 this season.
FOUR PROJECTED STARTERS HAVE MISSED SIGNIFICANT TIME
• Baylor has had four projected starters miss significant time due to injuries. Makai Mason (toe) has missed 2 of the last 6 and King McClure (knee) has missed 5 of 6, while Tristan Clark (knee) and Jake Lindsey (hip) are out for the season.
• Those four starters all missed the Feb. 9 game vs. K-State and the Feb. 16 game at Texas Tech, both losses.
• All told, those four starters have combined to miss 56 games this season, including 35 games in Big 12 play.
BEARS RALLY FROM 17 DOWN IN FINAL 9 MINUTES, BEAT TEXAS IN OVERTIME
• Baylor trailed 40-29 at halftime and 62-45 with 9 minutes left, but the Bears rallied to force overtime, and Mario Kegler hit the game-winning free throws with 3.2 seconds left to give Baylor an 84-83 win over Texas on Feb. 27.
• Kegler posted his 2nd-straight 20-point game with a career-high 24 points, while Devonte Bandoo scored 16 of his 18 points in the 2nd half, and Jared Butler hit crucial shots in crunch time as part of his 15 points.
• It was the largest deficit overcome in the last 10 minutes of a game in the Drew era, and the 19-point deficit overcome was Baylor's largest in a win since rallying from 22 down to beat Louisville in the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis championship.
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 14 games without Clark, Baylor (10-4) is making 3.3more 3-pointers per game (9.7 from 6.4), shooting 11% higher from 3-point range (40% from 29%) and scoring 2.4 more points per game (73.8 from 71.4).
• Butler in 14 games since becoming a starter — 12.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.7 3FGM/gm and 44% 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 14 games since Clark's injury — 8.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.1 bpg in 32.7 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 last 14 games — 10.6 ppg, 45% 3FGs.
• Mario Kegler is also averaging 11.8 ppg, up from 8.8 ppg, and shooting 3-pointers at 41% (18-44), up from 8% (2-24).
A WIN WOULD ...
• Be Scott Drew's 316th win at Baylor and the 336th of his Division I coaching career.
• Give BU 11 Big 12 wins, tying the 3rd-most in program history behind only the 12-6 records in 2012 and 2017.
• Move BU into a tie for 1st or 2nd in the Big 12 standings and clinch a top-5 seed at the Big 12 Championship.
• Be Baylor's 5th Big 12 road win of the season, tying the 3rd-most in program history (6-3 in 2012 and 2017).
• Extend Baylor's Big 12 winning streak to 4 games, tying the 7th-longest Big 12 winning streak in BU history.
• Snap a 5-game losing streak vs. K-State and improve Baylor's series record to 19-22, including 9-11 in Manhattan.
• Give BU 20+ wins in 10 of the last 12 seasons. BU had 20+ wins in only 3 seasons prior to that stretch.
• Improve Baylor's record to 100-74 in Big 12 play since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
TWENTY-THREE WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS IN LAST FIVE SEASONS
• Baylor has gone 23-29 against ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season (3-2 this season).
• BU is 3-2 vs. ranked opponents this season with wins vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, vs. No. 20 Iowa State and at No. 19 Iowa State, and losses to No. 7 Kansas and at No. 15 Texas Tech.
• BU is 41-69 against AP-ranked teams since 2007-08 after going 0-27 in Drew's first four rebuilding seasons.
• Baylor has won multiple games vs. AP Top 25 teams in each of the last 12 seasons.
• BU has knocked off seven AP top-10 teams in the last 3 seasons (7-7 vs. AP Top 10).
UP NEXT
• BU returns home to host Oklahoma State for Senior Night at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN2.
• The Bears wrap up the regular season with a trip to Lawrence, Kan., to face Kansas at 1 p.m. CT on March 9.
