Baylor
Stephen F. Austin
No. 2/2 MBB Hosts SFA in Home Opener
12/8/2020 2:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears are 10-7 vs. SFA
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (3-0, 0-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (3-0) vs. SFA (3-0) Dec. 9, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: Dave Rosselli (pxp), David Kaye (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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SFA LUMBERJACKS (3-0, 0-0) Location: Nacogdoches, Texas Head Coach: Kyle Keller (Oklahoma State, 1990) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
No pens were involved in the making of this schedule.
While second-ranked Baylor (3-0) has had five of its first six scheduled games either canceled or postponed, including Saturday's highly anticipated matchup against top-ranked Gonzaga, the Bears got in two games in the Vegas Bubble and will play two makeup games in the next seven days.
On the heels of Tuesday's game against Nicholls State being canceled, the Bears will host Stephen F. Austin (3-0) at 7 p.m. Wednesday and open Big 12 play against No. 12/13 Texas (4-1) on Sunday before facing Tarleton State (1-2) next Tuesday, Dec. 15.
"Things you never had to worry about in the past like, are you going to be able to play, who are you playing, you just had to worry about your team and the scouting report," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "Now, you've got to worry about everything. I feel for all the people involved in doing scouting reports this year, because all that time and energy invested in teams you're not playing is frustrating."
Drew, who was quarantined 10 days after a positive COVID test, missed the Bears' season-opening games in the Vegas Bubble against Louisiana and Washington. But, he said that hasn't changed his belief that the season should continue.
"The other alternative is you're not playing," he said. "The guys work so hard to play, you want them to have that opportunity. To see the excitement and joy from the players when they're able to play definitely makes it all worthwhile. . . We're going to keep trucking along. It's tough on everybody, but the good thing is we are going to play games, you just might not who and when."
Replacing Nicholls (2-3), which had COVID issues, is an SFA team that is coming off a 28-3 finish and Southland Conference regular-season championship in a COVID-shortened 2019-20 season that included a win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Two years ago, the Lumberjacks scored seven unanswered points in the last 2:23 to finish off a 59-58 upset of the Bears on Shannon Bogues' buzzer-beater.
"It just went our way, just one of those nights for us," SFA coach Kyle Keller said after the game. "It's not going to happen, one in a 100, maybe. Coach Drew, I don't think people appreciate what a great program, what he's done. He's lifted this program from the abyss to a top-25 program in the country."
After having its first three games canceled, SFA picked up three wins in six days by beating LeTourneau, McNeese State and LSU-Alexandria. Gavin Kensmil, a 6-7 senior forward and preseason All-SLC pick, earned SLC Player of the Week honors after averaging 17.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in the three victories.
Three other players are averaging double-digit points, led by 6-4 senior guard Camerron Johnson (19.3 ppg). A roster dominated by junior college transfers, SFA also brought in a pair of Division I transfers in guards Elijah Elliott from Kansas and Nigel Hawkins from UTEP.
In its first serious test of the season, Baylor used a strong second half to defeat fifth-ranked Illinois, 82-69, last Wednesday at the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis. Four players scored in double figures, with Adam Flagler (18) and Davion Mitchell (15) combining to knock down six 3-pointers.
"First half, our defense kept us in it. Second half, our offense came alive and played a lot more like we're capable of," Drew said. "Normally, how we share the basketball and when both ends of the court are working in tandem, we're a fun team to watch."
The Bears dominated the boards in the second half, 20-10, and finished with a 38-35 rebounding edge.
"I was very proud of how we did on the glass, because Illinois is a tremendous rebounding team, one of the best in the country," Drew said. "To beat them on the glass was a great accomplishment."
With so many teams getting games canceled, "the good thing is us coaches are getting better at it," Drew said.
"Once there's an opening, everyone is starting to realize who needs games and how to go about getting them on a short time frame," he said. "Coaches have all really worked well together . . . have been really helpful rather than all the hem and hawing that normally goes on in scheduling. It's kind of like riding a bike in that the first couple of times you wipe out a lot more than once you get used to it."
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor takes on SFA at 7 pm CT Wednesday in the Bears' first home game of the 2020-21 season.
• Baylor and Stephen F. Austin are meeting for the 18th time. BU leads the series 10-7 (5-3 in Waco).
• The Bears look to avenge a last-second loss to SFA in the last meeting on Dec. 18, 2018. Baylor led 58-52 with 2:23 remaining, but BU didn't score again, and SFA closed on a 7-0 run to win 59-58.
• The SFA game was added after Tuesday's game vs. Nicholls State was canceled. BU has now played only 1 of 6 games originally scheduled, but this is the 3rd game the Bears have added as replacements.
• Baylor returned four All-Big 12 players from a 2019-20 team which went 26-4 and spent five weeks ranked No. 1 nationally. The Bears finished last season ranked No. 4 in the coaches poll (No. 5 in AP).
• Baylor opened with a 112-82 win over ULL on Nov. 28. BU's 112 points were its most since 2017.
• BU then beat Washington 86-52 on Nov. 29 in Las Vegas, out-rebounding the Huskies 50-19.
• Baylor won 82-69 over No. 5 Illinois in Indianapolis, recording the 9th top-5 win in program history.
• BU was scheduled to take on No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday in Indianapolis, but the game was canceled.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 14 straight weeks top-5 ranked (previously 6 straight in 2017).
• BU's streak of 23 consecutive AP polls ranked is the 2nd-longest in program history (25 in 2016-17).
• Baylor's defense forced 15+ turnovers in 19 of 33 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• BU has led by at least 5 points in 33 consecutive games and built a double-digit lead in 27 of 33 games.
• Baylor is 7-1 against ranked teams over the last two seasons, including a 4-0 mark away from home.
• Among BU returners is Jared Butler, who is the first preseason AP All-American in program history.
• BU also welcomes back MaCio Teague, an all-conference pick in all 3 of his collegiate seasons.
• BU returns two players who were semifinalists for the 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Mark Vital was 1 of 4 finalists, while Davion Mitchell joined Vital among the 10 semifinalists.
• Baylor is playing its 245th 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 242 of 424 games.
• BU has been top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage a nation's-best 7 straight years.
• Baylor is 1 of 5 Power-5 programs to win at least 18 games in each of the last 12 seasons since 2007-08, joining Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State.
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 11 of the last 13 years. The Bears reached the 20-win mark only 3 times in 101 seasons prior to 2008. BU is averaging 24 wins per season since 2008.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (345-213).
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
• Baylor signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) earlier this month. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
• Baylor is 50-11 in games against non-Big 12 teams over the last 5 seasons since 2016-17.
• Baylor is 55-5 in regular-season non-conference games against unranked teams since December 2014.
• Baylor is 104-8 in non-conference home games since 2007-08, including 65-4 since December 2012.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor is 54-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons since 2017-18 (21-2 in 2019-20, 3-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (172-21).
• BU is 117-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (26-3 last season).
• Baylor's 23-game winning streak last season was the longest ever by a Big 12 team (previously 22 by 1996-97 KU).
• BU's 13-game conference winning streak was the longest in school history (previously 11 in 1946 SWC).
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 11 of the last 13 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• Baylor is 220-97 over 9+ seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 220 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (265).
• Baylor is 311-144 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• BU returned 8 players with at least 30 games of DI experience, including a pair of sophomore transfers who joinec the rotation after sitting out last season – Adam Flagler and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua.
• Eight of Baylor's players either have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Four after transferring to BU – Flagler, Mitchell, Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Teague, and four as freshmen — Moffatt, Turner, Vital and Dainja.
• Nine of Baylor's 10 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (15 of last 16 seasons).
• 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 936 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 30 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
• 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 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 VS. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
• Wednesday's game is the 18th series meeting between Baylor and Stephen F. Austin in a series that dates back to the 1930-31 season. Baylor leads the series 10-7, including a 5-3 mark in Waco and a 2-2 record in the Drew era.
• Baylor and SFA last met on Dec. 18, 2018, when SFA won 59-58 on a last-second shot, snapping Baylor's streak of 12 consecutive wins against Southland Conference teams.
DREW'S CREW VS. SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
• Scott Drew is 15-3 against Southland Conference teams during his 18 seasons at Baylor. The Bears went 1-2 against the Southland in Drew's first two seasons at BU, but Baylor is 14-1 vs. Southland teams since 2005.
• Drew's teams have faced Sam Houston State (3-0), SFA (2-2), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-1), Northwestern State (2-0), New Orleans (1-0), Lamar (1-0), McNeese State (1-0), Nicholls State (1-0) and Central Arkansas (2-0).
• Baylor is 52-14 all-time against current Southland Conference teams. The Bears have faced 11 Southland teams: SFA (10-7), Sam Houston State (9-3), Lamar (10-1), Northwestern State (8-1), Abilene Christian (3-1), TAMU-CC (3-1), McNeese State (3-0), Southeastern Louisiana (2-0), Nicholls State (1-0), New Orleans (1-0) and Central Arkansas (2-0).
