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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (13-1, 3-0)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (13-1, 3-0) vs. IOWA STATE (8-7, 1-2)
Jan. 15, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284)
LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com
WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Talent: Clay Matvick (pxp), Bryndon Manzer (analyst)
LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst)
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NR/NR IOWA STATE (8-7, 1-2)
Location: Ames, Iowa
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Steve Prohm (Alabama, 1997)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
That No. 2 target now squarely on their chest, following their first-ever win at Kansas, the Baylor Bears (13-1, 3-0) know they will get a test when the Iowa State Cyclones come calling.
Riding a 12-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in program history, Baylor hosts Iowa State (8-7, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center. In a series dominated by the home teams, the Bears have won six in a row and 14 of 16 all-time versus the Cyclones at home.
"Whoever's leading the conference is going to get everybody's best shot. And when you're ranked, you get everybody's best shot," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team took over the conference lead with TCU's loss at No. 12 West Virginia Tuesday night. "That's the great thing about conference is everybody knows how good everyone is. The key is to be as consistent as you can each and every night, because the night you don't, you don't even give yourself a chance to win."
MaCio Teague, a junior transfer who won Co-Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, said Baylor's ranking doesn't really matter. In the AP poll, the Bears got one more first-place vote than top-ranked Gonzaga but was edged by an aggregate total of seven points.
"At the end of the day, being No. 1 in Week 9 or 10 of the season doesn't really mean much," said Teague, who is averaging 14.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. "Being No. 1 at the end of the season at the national championship, that's what really matters. . . . We've always been a target. We just have to stay focused on ourselves and continue to do what got us to this point. That's playing together and playing defense."
Baylor's defense has ratcheted it up a notch or two in league play, holding Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas to just 50.3 points per game and 36.9 percent shooting from the field. The Bears have held seven of their last eight opponents to less than 60 points.
"You can definitely rest your hat on defense a lot more than you can on offense," Drew said. "You look at the boxscores. Some teams shoot 80 percent from the free throw line and the next night they're 50 or 60 (percent). And nothing changed. Just one night you made free throws and one night you didn't. . . . Obviously, our defense has been something that's been consistent all year and, knock on wood, hopefully it continues. That allows you, when you're turning the ball over or you're missing shots, to stay in games until you hopefully do."
Defense will be key against an Iowa State team that is leading the conference with 78.6 points per game. Sophomore guards Tyrese Haliburton (16.6 ppg, 7.7 assists, 5.9 rebounds) and Rasir Bolton (15.1 ppg) lead a balanced attack that includes three Division I transfers in the starting lineup.
Haliburton, 14th on the NBADraft.net board, had 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the Cyclones' 81-68 win over Oklahoma.
"When you've got a point guard that's a first-round draft pick and basically a triple-double guy, that makes you real dangerous," Drew said. "They're one of those teams that when they get hot and get it going, it's really hard to slow them down. Like everybody in the league, when you're making shots, things seem to be a little easier for you."
Sophomore transfer Davion Mitchell, the Bears' best on-ball defender, said Haliburton is a "pro basketball player, but it's nothing new. I treat everybody the same. I don't look at anybody different."
Offensively, Baylor is led by Teague and sophomore guard Jared Butler (16.7 ppg). Named the Big 12 and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, Butler hit three 3-pointers and scored 22 points in Saturday's 67-55 win at Kansas.
"I think Villanova was probably the first time that people nationally took notice of what he was achieving and how he was doing it," Drew said of Butler's 22-point outing against then-No. 17 Villanova. "You look at the Kansas game, what's great is early in the game Davion got it started, scoring the first five (points). And then, MaCio got hot, Mark (Vital) had some great passes to Freddie (Gillespie) and then Jared finished things off."
Wednesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Clay Matvick and former Oklahoma State standout Bryndon Manzer calling the action.
This is the first of three games in six days for the Bears, who will travel to Oklahoma State (9-6, 0-3) for an 11 a.m. game Saturday and return home to host Oklahoma (11-5, 2-2) at 8 p.m. Monday in a "Big Monday" game on ESPN.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor puts its 12-game winning streak on the line against Iowa State at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday.
• Wednesday is the 39th series meeting, and the home team has won 28 of 33 campus-site games.
• Baylor is 14-2 vs. Iowa State in Waco, with the lone losses in 2000 and 2013.
• Baylor is 8-3 vs. Iowa State since 2015 and has won 6 straight vs. ISU in Waco since 2014.
• Baylor's 12-game winning streak is tied for the 4th-longest in program history (record 17 in 2011-12) and is the nation's 3rd-longest active streak behind San Diego State (17) and Auburn (15).
• Baylor is the nation's only program with 5 wins vs. AP Top 25 ranked teams this season (5-0).
• BU has won 5 consecutive games vs. ranked teams for the first time in program history. BU defeated No. 17 Villanova (n), No. 12 Arizona (h), No. 18 Butler (h), No. 22 Texas Tech (r) and No. 3 Kansas (r).
• Baylor is looking to start Big 12 play 4-0 for the 4th time in league history (1998, 2008, 2012).
• Baylor ranks 6th nationally in scoring defense (58.1) and 8th nationally in scoring margin (+15.6).
• Baylor has led or been tied for 94% of game time over its last 8 games (300:22 of 320:00).
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 9 of 14 games after doing so in 7 of 34 games last year.
• Baylor has held its last 5 high-major opponents to season-low scoring totals – Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas (44), Texas Tech (52) and Kansas (55) all scored their fewest points this season vs. Baylor.
• In 3 Big 12 games, BU has held ... Texas to its fewest points in the Smart era, Texas Tech's to its fewest points in a home game under Beard and Kansas' to its fewest points in a home game under Self.
• Baylor is coming off a 67-55 win at No. 3 Kansas. It was the Bears' first road win against a top-5 team and first win at Kansas. BU held Kansas to its fewest points at Allen Fieldhouse since 2000.
• The Bears also recorded a 57-52 win at No. 22 Texas Tech last week. BU limited Tech to its fewest points in a home game during the 4-year Chris Beard era.
• BU is No. 1 in the NET rankings with wins vs. No. 2, No. 5 (road), No. 18, No. 20 and No. 36 (road).
• Jared Butler (Player) and MaCio Teague (co-Newcomer) picked up Big 12 weekly honors on Monday.
• BU is No. 2 in the most recent AP Top 25 and has moved up in the rankings in 8 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor's No. 2 AP ranking is its highest since the Bears were No. 2 on Jan. 30, 2017. This is the 4th time Baylor has been top-2 ranked (No. 2 on Jan. 2, 2017, No. 1 on Jan. 9, 2017 and No. 2 on Jan. 30, 2017).
• BU received the most first-place votes (31) in the AP Top 25 for the 2nd time in program history (Jan. 9, 2017).
• Baylor's streak of 11 consecutive AP polls ranked is the 6th-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 66-7 this year and all four are currently top-13 ranked (No. 2 MBB, No. 2 WBB, No. 3 VB, No. 13 FB).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 17th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (329-210).
• Drew is coaching his 540th game at Baylor (329-210). His .610 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .677 winning percentage since 2007-08 (295-141).
• Baylor is playing its 226th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since 2008-09, BU has been ranked in 223 of 405 games.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor is 40-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (10-1 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (158-20).
• BU is 101-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (13-1 this season).
• Baylor is 204-94 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 204 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (248).
• Baylor is 295-141 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• BU returned 8 letterwinners from last season, including 5 players who made at least 7 starts – Mark Vital (34), Jared Butler (21), Tristan Clark (14), Freddie Gillespie (11) and Devonte Bandoo (7).
• Baylor returned 9 players with at least 26 games of Division I experience, including a pair of transfers who are now starters after sitting out last season – Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague.
• Eight of Baylor's 14 players either have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Five after transferring to BU – Flagler, Gillespie, Mitchell, Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Teague, and three as freshmen — Moffatt, Turner and Vital.
• Eight of Baylor's nine starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (14 of last 15 seasons).
• Baylor has defeated 8 top-10 teams in the last 4 seasons, including a 6-3 mark vs. top-10 teams in Waco.
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 10 of the last 12 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• The Bears are one of 11 programs nationally (1 of 6 in Power-5) to win 18+ games in every year since 2008.
• Baylor is 1 of 14 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (6 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• BU is 5-1 all-time in Big 12/SEC Challenges, the best record of any team in either league. Combined with a 3-1 mark in the Big 12/Pac-10 Series and 1-0 in the Big 12/Big East Battle, Baylor is 9-2 in conference challenges.
• Baylor has the nation's 11th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 917 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).
• BU has recorded double-digit non-conference wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons (all except 2012-13).
• Baylor has won 6 tournament titles under Drew (2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic, 2013 NIT, 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis, 2017 Hall of Fame Classic and 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational).
SERIES HISTORY
• Wednesday is the 39th series meeting. Baylor has won 8 of the last 11 meetings, but trails 18-20 in the series.
• The home team has won 28 of 33 campus site games in the all-time series, and BU is 1-4 vs. ISU at neutral sites.
• Baylor has won 6 straight home games vs. Iowa State and 12 of 13 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 regular-season series four times (2012, 2014, 2017, 2018), BU has swept three times (2015, 2016, 2019) and ISU has swept once (2013).
LAST TIME VS. IOWA STATE
• Baylor's losing streak reached four games with an 83-66 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship on March 14.
• ISU avoided losing 3 games to Baylor in the same season for the first time in series history.
• BU led by 4 points midway through the first half, but Iowa State built a 9-point halftime lead.
• Makai Mason and Mario Kegler combined to shoot 7-of-16 from 3-point range, but the rest of the team went 2-of-9.
• Kegler led the Bears in scoring for the fourth time in a 6-game span, and Devonte Bandoo added 11 points off the bench.
NATION'S BEST FIVE WINS VS. AP TOP 25 TEAMS
• Baylor is the nation's only team with five wins vs. AP Top 25 teams. BU is 5-0 with home wins vs. No. 12 Arizona and No. 18 Butler, a neutral win vs. No. 17 Villanova and road wins at No. 22 Texas Tech and No. 3 Kansas.
• Four of those teams remain ranked – No. 5 Butler, No. 6 Kansas, No. 14 Villanova and No. 23 Texas Tech.
• The Bears handed current No. 5 Butler its only loss of the season – 53-52 in Waco on Dec. 10.
• BU held its opponent below 60 points in 4 of those wins – Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas Tech (52), Kansas (55).
• Baylor led for 78% of game time in the 5 wins (156:36 of 200:00). BU's largest deficit in any of those games was 6 points – Butler (never trailed), Arizona (2 points), Villanova (6 points), Texas Tech (3 points), Kansas (5 points).
