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1/1 BAYLOR BEARS (18-1, 7-0)
Location: Waco, Texas
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes
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BAYLOR (18-1, 7-0) vs. TCU (13-7, 4-3)
Feb. 1, 2020 • 3 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284)
LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com
WATCH: ESPN2 and the ESPN App
Talent: Chuckie Kempf (pxp), Chris Spatola (analyst)
LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst)
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NR/NR TCU (13-7, 4-3)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Head Coach: Jamie Dixon (TCU, 1987)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
On the day that Baylor University celebrates its 175th birthday, the No. 1-ranked Baylor men (18-1, 7-0) will try to give the fans gathered at the Ferrell Center something else to celebrate.
If party hats and 7,000 free bags of popcorn aren't enough, the Bears will try to win their school-record 18th game in a row when they host TCU (13-7, 4-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Baylor's last loss and only loss of the season came all the way back on Nov. 8, when Washington rallied for a 67-64 win in the Armed Forces Classic in Anchorage, Alaska.
"Thanks for bringing it up," Baylor coach Scott Drew said at Friday's media session. "We've been good because we've been focused on each and every game. You dance with who brought you there, however that saying goes. We'll just keep doing what we're doing, and that is taking it one game at a time and making sure we're giving our best effort."
Leading the Big 12, with the added target of being No. 1 in both the AP and coaches' polls, sophomore guard Jared Butler (15.4 ppg, 3.0 assists) said the Bears can't afford to "just slack off one game and not give it our all and not compete to the highest level."
"We would look back at it and regret it," said Butler, who has struggled over the last three games, hitting just 2-of-15 from 3-point range and 10-of-32 overall. "I just think that's not what I want to do and I know these guys don't want do it, and that's what you see on the court. It's not a sense of confidence, it's just a sense of all of us want to be great."
While Butler and junior guard MaCio Teague (13.8 ppg, 4.8 rebounds) have struggled with their shooting lately, senior guard Devonte Bandoo has picked up the slack. Shooting 62.5 percent from 3-point range over the last four games (10-of-16), he's scored in double figures in three of those games and averaged 12.3 points.
"Devonte is somebody that when he comes in, we expect him to do what he does," Drew said. "A lot of teams, when they go to the bench, the energy goes down. But with us, we're blessed that it hasn't. Devonte is someone I'm sure is in everyone's consideration for Sixth Man of the Year."
Senior forward Freddie Gillespie, averaging close to a double-double with 10.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, should be a leading candidate for Iron Man of the Year. In Wednesday's 67-53 win at Iowa State, he suffered a cut over his left eye, got it bandaged up and finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
"Just rub a little dirt on it," Gillespie said jokingly. "At first, I didn't realize it. I was out there, and I was like, 'That's not sweat.' And then when I started to walk off, it started to hurt a lot. The adrenaline from the initial hit, I didn't really feel it."
Butler, who first noticed the blood running down Gillespie's face, said the 6-9 forward's reaction and ability to bounce back from it "just describes Freddie."
"He's still running down the court, and I'm like, 'Freddie, you got blood on your face,'' Butler said. "But man, he is a tough guy. . . . You just grind, and you've got to be in the war. I'm glad I don't have to be down there. Even though I'm tough, I'm glad I don't have to bang in there all day long. There are just a lot of things y'all don't see that he does, it's ridiculous, for the team."
Picked last in the Big 12 coaches' preseason poll, TCU is tied for third with West Virginia and Texas Tech, three games back of Baylor and two behind third-ranked Kansas (17-3, 6-1). Three players are averaging double-digit points, led by 6-6 senior guard Desmond Bane with 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
"Coach (Jamie) Dixon does, a great job, and I knew they'd be right in the mix, in the hunt, just like they are," Drew said. "They've got some very talented players who have been there. (RJ) Nembhard, Bane, (Kevin) Samuel were key contributors and very good players. Coach Dixon always gets his teams to play hard, and they execute well and don't beat themselves. You've got to beat them."
Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN2, with Chuckie Kempf and Chris Spatola calling the action.
Playing three games in six days, the Bears return to the road to face Kansas State in an ESPN "Big Monday" game at 8 p.m. Monday in Manhattan. That will be their sixth road game in the last nine games.
STORY LINES
• No. 1 Baylor carries a school-record-tying 17-game winning streak into Saturday's game vs. TCU.
• Baylor is celebrating its 175th birthday. BU was chartered by the Republic of Texas on Feb. 1, 1845.
• BU is seeking its first 8-game conference winning streak since starting 10-0 in the 1948 SWC.
• BU recorded its first undefeated month of January (8-0) since going 6-0 in January 1948.
• Saturday is the 186th series meeting – BU leads 101-84, including a 55-39 mark in Waco.
• Baylor is 12-3 against TCU as Big 12 rivals. The Bears won the first 11 Big 12 series meetings.
• BU is No. 1 in the AP Top 25. BU moved up in the poll 9 straight weeks until reaching No. 1 on Jan. 20.
• Baylor was voted No. 1 in the AP poll for the 3rd time in program history – Jan. 9, 2017 & last 2 weeks.
• Baylor's streak of 13 consecutive AP polls ranked is the 5th-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• With a win, Baylor can tie the best 20-game start in program history (19-1 in 2016-17).
• Baylor's 17-game winning streak is tied for the longest in program history (17-0 to start 2011-12) and is the nation's 2nd-longest active streak behind San Diego State (22).
• BU is 9-0 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 5th nationally in scoring defense (58.3) and 10th nationally in scoring margin (+14.1).
• Baylor's 2-point FG% defense ranks 8th nationally (.422) and effective FG% defense ranks 14th (.436).
• BU is coming off a 67-53 win at Iowa State, holding ISU to its fewest points in a Big 12 home game since Feb. 21, 2009. The Bears held ISU to 52 points in Waco, its fewest away from home since 2013.
• BU has trailed for only 13% of game time over its last 13 games (67:11 of 520:00), but nearly half of that time (30:13) came in a comeback from 12 down to win at Oklahoma State on Jan. 18.
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 11 of 19 games after doing so in 7 of 34 games last year.
• Baylor has held 5 high-major opponents to their season-low scoring totals – Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas (44), Texas Tech (52) and Kansas (55). BU has held 18 of 19 opponents below 70 points.
• BU has held 5 Big 12 opponents to 55 or fewer points, breaking the program record for most in a single season. Entering 2020, BU held teams to 55 or fewer 23 times in the Big 12's first 23 seasons.
• BU is No. 2 in the NET rankings with 4 top-12 NET wins: vs. No. 4 (road), No. 8, No. 11, No. 12.
• BU is the only team with 2 players on the Naismith Defensive POY Midseason Team (Vital & Mitchell).
• BU and KU are 4-0 in Big 12 road games this season, while the rest of the league is a combined 5-22.
• Baylor is 38-38 in Big 12 road games since 2012, 2nd-best in the league behind only Kansas (49-27).
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 77-7 this year and all four are top-12 ranked (No. 1 MBB, No. 1 WBB, No. 3 VB, No. 12 FB).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 17th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (334-210).
• Baylor is playing its 231st 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 228 of 410 games.
• This is the 7th straight year BU has ranked top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding pct (No. 4 this year).
QUICK HITS
• BU is 6-1 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 10-2 in conference challenges.
• Baylor is 44-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (14-1 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (162-20).
• BU is 106-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (18-1 this season).
• Baylor is 209-94 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 209 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (253).
• Baylor is 300-141 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).
• Baylor has the nation's 10th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 922 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).
• 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
• Saturday is the 186th all-time series meeting and the 16th as Big 12 Conference members.
• Baylor leads the series 101-83, including a 55-39 mark in Waco and a 12-3 record in the Drew era.
• Since TCU joined the Big 12, Baylor is 12-3 in the series with an average scoring margin of +14.1 points per game.
• The Bears' 6 Big 12 home wins over TCU have been by at least 11 points and by an average of 21.0 points.
• The lone TCU win in Waco since joining the Big 12 came in overtime two years ago, 81-78, on Jan. 2, 2018.
• BU beat TCU in Waco by 11 in 2013, by 26 in 2014, by 20 in 2015, by 28 in 2016, by 18 in 2017 and by 26 in 2019.
LAST TIME VS. TCU
• Makai Mason posted the 7th 40-point game in program history, as the Bears routed TCU 90-64 on Feb. 2, 2019.
• Mason scored 27 points in the 2nd half, including going 8-of-8 from the field (6-of-6 from 3-point range) in the first 7:22 of game time after the break. His 40 points set the Baylor record for points in a Big 12 game.
• Mason finished 9-of-12 from 3-point range, tying the 2nd-most made 3-pointers in program history.
• Freddie Gillespie posted then-career-highs of 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 17 minutes off the bench.
WINNING STREAK UP TO 17 STRAIGHT, MATCHING LONGEST IN BU HISTORY
• Baylor has won 17 consecutive games, matching the longest winning streak in program history (17 in 2011-12).
• BU has had 8 double-digit winning streaks in program history – 17 in 2011-12, 17 in 2019-20, 15 in 2016-17, 13 in 1946, 12 in 2000-2001, 11 in 1947-48, 11 in 1996 and 11 in 2013.
• The current 17-game streak includes 5 wins vs. ranked opponents, 6 road games and 3 neutral-site games.
• BU has won 7 straight Big 12 games in the same year for first time and is off to a 7-0 start in conference play for the first time since starting 10-0 in the 1948 Southwest Conference.
