Baylor
Oklahoma
No. 1 MBB Hosts Oklahoma for ESPN's Big Monday Game
1/19/2020 9:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears are winners of 14-straight, the second-longest active win streak in the country
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (15-1, 5-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (15-1, 5-0) vs. OKLAHOMA (12-5, 3-2) Jan. 20, 2020 • 8 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPN and the ESPN App Talent: Bob Wischusen (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst), Holly Rowe (reporter) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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NR/NR OKLAHOMA (12-5, 3-2) Location: Norman, Okla. Head Coach: Lon Kruger (Kansas State, 1975) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Playing their third game in six days, the No. 1-ranked Baylor Bears (15-1, 5-0) host Oklahoma (12-5, 3-2) in an ESPN "Big Monday" game at 8 p.m. Monday at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State, 75-68, on Saturday in Stillwater, extending their winning streak to 14 games, the second-longest active streak in the country and third-longest in program history.
"We stayed together, and that's probably why we were able to come back," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "It's always easier to learn from a win than it is a loss, but in the Big 12 most games are one or two possessions. A lot of times, it might come down to a free throw or a bounce on an offensive rebound. That's why you have to control everything you can control to make sure you put yourself in the best position to win."
Senior guard Devonte Bandoo hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 of his season-high 16 points in the second half against OSU as Baylor matched its best-ever start in Big 12 play. The Bears are looking for their first 6-0 start in conference since going 10-0 in the Southwest Conference in 1948.
Bandoo, who was 1-of-9 in the previous two games, said the key for him is "being consistent and don't stay too high or too low, just stay on the same level and keep on working."
"He puts his time in the gym and works extremely hard," said sophomore guard Jared Butler, who is averaging 16.9 points and 3.3 assists. "Sometimes, (Bandoo) gets overshadowed, but he works as hard as everybody else. It's just a credit to his hard work."
The Bears also got key contributions off the bench from Tristan Clark, Matthew Mayer and Flo Thamba. Clark was 4-for-4 and scored eight points in 12 minutes; Mayer hit a 3-pointer and was 3-for-4 from the line; and Thamba hit a pair of clutch free throws.
"It takes a team to win," Drew said. "Obviously, (Mayer) is very gifted and talented offensively, but he really stepped up and gave us a great lift on the defensive end. . . . Different people have to step up each and every game. And people are going to focus on different people. To be a good team, you have to have different people step up. But, at the same time, you have to have a team willing to make the right plays and allow other people to step up."
After back-to-back losses to Iowa State and Kansas, Oklahoma bounced back to dominate TCU, 83-63, Saturday in Norman. Junior forward Brady Manek hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points in the win over the Frogs and boosted his scoring average to 15.3 points.
Senior forward Kristian Doolittle is averaging a team-best 16.4 points and 8.5 rebounds, while Wichita State transfer Austin Reaves has made an immediate impact with 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
"They do return quite a bit from the past, so you have a good feel for some of the personnel," Drew said. "At the same time, it's a team that has changed up a little bit on how they're defending and what they're doing. But, just like any Big 12 team, they're very good, very well-coached, and you've got to play well to win."
Monday's game is the featured late game on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe calling the action.
The Bears will break from conference play to face Florida (12-5) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at 7 p.m. CST Saturday in Gainesville. Florida has won five of its last six, including Saturday's 69-47 rout of fourth-ranked Auburn.
"That comes with the territory, anytime you're leading in conference or anytime you're ranked," Drew said of the target on ranked teams. "You look at the Power 5 schools that have been ranked this past week and just how tough it's been on them."
STORY LINES
• No. 1 Baylor carries a 14-game winning streak into its ESPN Big Monday game vs. Oklahoma.
• Monday is the 93rd anniversary Immortal Ten Game and Baylor's Coaches vs. Cancer game.
• Monday is the 63rd series meeting. BU trails 17-45, but the Bears are 12-10 vs. OU since 2010.
• BU is No. 1 in the most recent AP Top 25 and has moved up in the rankings in 9 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor is the nation's No. 1-ranked team for the second time in program history – No. 1 on Jan. 9, 2017.
• BU is playing its first home game as the No. 1 team. BU played two road games the week of Jan. 9, 2017.
• Baylor's streak of 12 consecutive AP polls ranked is tied for 5th-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• BU is 5-1 against Oklahoma over the last 3 seasons, including season sweeps in 2017 and 2019.
• BU swept the series last year with a 77-47 win in Norman and a 59-53 victory in Waco.
• Baylor's 15-1 start is tied for 2nd-best in school history thru 16 games (16-0 in 2012, 15-1 in 2017).
• Baylor's 14-game winning streak is tied for the 3rd-longest in program history (17 in 2011-12 and 15 in 2016-17) and is the nation's 2nd-longest active streak behind San Diego State (19).
• BU is looking to start 6-0 in conference for the first time since 1948 Southwest Conference (10-0).
• Baylor is also looking to win 6 straight Big 12 games in the same season for the first time.
• BU is 8-0 at Ferrell Center this season and has held every opponent to 63 or fewer points.
• Baylor is the nation's only program with 5 wins vs. AP Top 25 ranked teams this season (5-0).
• Baylor ranks 7th nationally in scoring defense (58.6) and 11th nationally in scoring margin (+14.8).
• BU is coming off a 75-68 win at Oklahoma State. BU trailed 47-35 with 14 minutes left, facing its first double-digit deficit of the season, then went on an 18-4 run 5:13 to take a 53-51 lead.
• BU has trailed for only 13% of game time over its last 10 games (52:26 of 400:00), but more than half of that time (30:13) came in Saturday's win at Oklahoma State. BU trailed for 6% of its prior 9 games.
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 10 of 16 games after doing so in 7 of 34 games last year.
• Baylor has held 5 of its last 7 high-major opponents to season-low scoring totals – season-lows for Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas (44), Texas Tech (52) and Kansas (55).
• BU has held 4 of 5 Big 12 opponents to 55 or fewer points, matching the program record for a season (4 in 2013 & 2017). Entering 2020, BU held teams to 55 or fewer 23 times in the Big 12's first 23 seasons.
• BU and KU are 3-0 in Big 12 road games this season, while the rest of the league is a combined 4-15.
• Baylor is 37-38 in Big 12 road games since 2012, 2nd-best in the league behind only Kansas (48-27).
• BU is No. 1 in the NET rankings with wins vs. No. 2 (road), No. 7, No. 15, No. 20 and No. 31 (road).
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 71-7 this year and all four are top-13 ranked (No. 1 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 (331-210).
• Baylor is playing its 228th 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 225 of 407 games.
• This is the 7th straight year BU has ranked top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding pct (No. 8 this year).
IMMORTAL TEN GAME
• BU will honor the 93rd anniversary of the 1927 Immortal Ten team. That season was canceled after the team bus was hit by a train while traveling to Austin, killing 10 of 22 players, coaches and fans in the Baylor travel party.
• BU players will wear the last names of the Immortal Ten on the backs of their jerseys.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor is 41-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (11-1 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (159-20).
• BU is 103-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (15-1 this season).
• Baylor is 206-94 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 206 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (250).
• Baylor is 297-141 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 10th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 919 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
• Baylor trails 17-45 in the all-time series, including a 9-19 mark in Waco and a 12-22 record in the Drew era.
• Baylor has won 5 of its last 6 games vs. Oklahoma, including sweeping the season series in 2017 and 2019.
• BU looks to win 4 straight vs. OU for the first time in the series, which has been played twice annually since 1997.
• Baylor is 12-10 against OU since snapping a 30-game losing streak in the series in 2010.
• Baylor has swept the season series 4 times in the last 10 years (2010, 2012, 2017, 2019), while OU has swept the season series three times in the last 10 years (2013, 2014, 2016). The teams split in 2011, 2015 and 2018.
LAST TIME VS. OKLAHOMA
• Baylor got 19 points off the bench from Devonte Bandoo, including a 3-pointer that gave BU the lead for good as part of a game-ending 9-2 run to finish off a season sweep of Oklahoma with a 59-53 win on Feb. 11, 2019.
• Makai Mason returned after missing one game and posted 8 assists, the most by a BU player last season.
• Jared Butler added 11 points and 5 rebounds and combined with Bandoo to go 8-of-13 from 3-point range.
• Freddie Gillespie's lone points came on a putback that gave BU a 57-53 lead with 36 seconds left.
