Baylor
Kansas State
No. 2 MBB Hosts Kansas State
2/24/2020 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears look to sweep K-State for third time in nine years
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (24-2, 13-1) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (19-1, 8-0) at KANSAS STATE (9-12, 2-6) Feb. 25, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: Mark Neely (pxp), Lance Blanks (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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NR/NR KANSAS STATE (9-18, 2-12) Location: Manhattan, Kan. Head Coach: Bruce Weber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1978) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
As much as Saturday's 64-61 loss to Kansas stings, No. 2-ranked Baylor (24-2, 13-1) can make history over the next 12 days.
Still in control of their own destiny, the Bears can capture their first conference championship in 70 years by winning their last four games, starting with Tuesday's 7 p.m. matchup at home against last-place Kansas State (9-18, 2-12).
"Obviously, you try to clear it as quickly as you can," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of Saturday's loss, "but you're all human and you're obviously down after a loss. The good thing is in conference you get 18 games. They all count the same. The more veteran teams you have, the quicker they're able to understand the importance of the next game. The goal is to win a conference championship. We have 12 days to make history."
Slipping to No. 2 in the AP and coaches' polls after a five-week run at No. 1, Baylor had the longest stretch at No. 1 since Kentucky in 2015. The Bears were one of five top-seven teams that suffered losses last week.
"I know you hear all the time there are no dominant teams," Drew said, "but in college basketball it's just the parity. It's just really hard to sustain and not lose games. And you look across the board, there's not much that separates these teams. It's amazing that we were ranked No. 1 longer than anyone in the last five years."
Baylor gets a Kansas State team that has lost seven in a row and nine of its last 10, but the Wildcats took the Bears down to the wire three weeks ago in Manhattan in a 73-67 loss. They dug out of an early 22-6 hole and were down by 15 in the second half before whittling it down to a two-possession as Baylor missed 13 of 29 from the free throw line.
"They're physical," said 6-9 senior forward Freddie Gillespie, who's averaging 9.6 points, 8.7 boards and 2.2 blocks per game. "I know everybody likes to talk about how physical (Kansas' Udoka Azubuike) was, but Kansas State brought that physicality the first time we played them up there. I expect them to bring it twice as hard playing in our house this time."
Starting as big of a front line as the Bears have seen all year, K-State matched the Bears on the board, 31-31, and got twice as many bench points (22-11) in that first meeting. The Wildcats' inside trio of 6-5 senior forward Xavier Sneed 6-9 senior forward Makol Mawien (and 6-9 freshman forward Montavious Murphy combined for 43 points.
Baylor sophomore guard Davion Mitchell said K-State coach Bruce Weber gives them "a lot of freedom, especially their guards. Their coach lets them run and lets them shoot 3's. They're a hard time to guard."
What Drew wants to avoid is a repeat of four years ago, when a then-No. 2 Baylor team lost a close game to Kansas in Lawrence and was upset three days later at home by Kansas State, 56-54.
"You come off an atmosphere like that, an intensity like that," said Drew, referring to the sellout crowd of 10,627 for Saturday's game against Kansas, "the best thing you can do if you want to help us win is be in attendance and be loud (Tuesday). Because if we come out and it's a half-full arena, it's just human nature, it's a letdown. We get a good crowd and they're vocal and they're loud, we're going to give you a lot to cheer for."
After missing the previous two games with a wrist injury, junior guard MaCio Teague (14.2 ppg) returned to hit two 3-pointers and score eight points in 28 minutes in Saturday's game.
"I'm really proud of how he played," Drew said. "It's really tough when you haven't practiced and got limited reps the day before the game, and that's a tough environment to just jump out there. . . . Excited to get him back practicing to where we can continue having that chemistry we had before his injury."
Tuesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Mark Neely and Lance Blanks calling the action.
Baylor's remaining schedule has the Bears traveling to TCU (15-12, 6-8) and No. 19/20 West Virginia (19-9, 7-8) the next two Saturdays, sandwiched around a home game next Monday against 22nd-ranked Texas Tech (18-9, 9-5). Kansas (25-3, 14-1) took a half-game lead in the standings with an 83-58 win over Oklahoma State Monday night.
"Coach Drew said it after Saturday, our goal wasn't to sweep Kansas, it was to win the Big 12 regular-season conference title," Gillespie said. "That's one of our goals, and we still control our own destiny. We have four games left, and we just have to finish strong."
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor looks to rebound from its first Big 12 loss when it hosts Kansas State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
• Baylor' Big 12-record 23-game winning streak was snapped in a 64-61 loss to No. 3 Kansas on Saturday.
• Baylor's 13 conference wins are the most in program history (beating 12-6 in 2012 & 12-6 in 2017).
• BU's 13-1 start to Big 12 play is the Bears' best mark thru 14 conference games in program history.
• BU's 13-game conference winning streak was the longest in school history (previously 11 in 1946 SWC).
• Baylor won 73-67 at K-State when the teams met in Manhattan on Feb. 3. The Bears never jumped out to a 22-6 lead in the first 8 minutes and never trailed in the game. Jared Butler had 20 points.
• BU looks to sweep K-State for the 3rd time in 9 years of Big 12 round-robin play (sweeps in 2014 & 2016).
• Baylor fell to No. 2 in this week's AP Top 25, snapping a streak of 5 straight weeks at No. 1.
• Five straight weeks at No. 1 tied the nation's longest streak since Kentucky in 2014-15.
• BU has been top-2 ranked for 7 consecutive weeks after being top-2 for 3 total weeks prior to 2020.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 8 straight weeks top-5 ranked (previously 6 straight in 2017).
• Baylor's streak of 17 consecutive AP polls ranked is tied for 3rd-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• BU is 12-1 at home this season and has trailed by more than 2 points in only one home game (Kansas).
• BU's 24-2 is its best 26-game mark in program history. BU's best 27-game start is 22-5 in 2012 & 2017.
• Baylor (6-1) has the nation's best record vs. AP Top 25 ranked teams (min. 3 games).
• Both of Baylor's losses this season have been by 3 points (Nov. 8 vs. Washington, Feb. 22 vs. Kansas).
• Baylor has gone 29-33 against ranked teams over the last 6 seasons since 2014-15.
• Baylor ranks 3rd nationally in scoring defense (58.4) and 14th nationally in scoring margin (+12.4).
• Baylor's 2-point FG% defense ranks 10th nationally (.432) and effective FG% defense ranks 8th (.439).
• BU has trailed for only 13.7% of game time over 20 total games since December (109:51 of 800:00).
• Baylor has trailed in the 2nd half only twice since December 1 (win at Oklahoma State, loss vs. Kansas).
• BU has held 8 Big 12 opponents to 55 or fewer points, the program record for most in a single season.
• BU is No. 2 in the NET with 6 top-20 NET wins: No. 1 (road), No. 9, No. 10, No. 15, No. 16 (road), No. 20.
• Baylor (10-1), Kansas (11-3) and Seton Hall (10-5) are the nation's only teams with 10+ Quadrant 1 wins.
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 15 of 26 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 23 of 25 opponents below 70 points.
• BU is the only team with 2 players on the Naismith Defensive POY Midseason Team (Vital & Mitchell).
• BU and KU are both 7-0 in Big 12 road games, while the rest of the league is a combined 10-46.
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 90-8 this year and all four are top-12 ranked (No. 2 MBB, No. 2 WBB, No. 3 VB, No. 12 FB).
• Baylor is playing its 238th 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 235 of 417 games.
• This is the 7th straight year BU has ranked top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding pct (No. 7 this year).
QUICK HITS
• 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 50-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (20-1 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (168-20).
• BU is 112-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (24-1 this season).
• Baylor is 215-95 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 215 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (260).
• Baylor is 306-142 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).
• 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 929 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 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).
SEVEN STRAIGHT WEEKS TOP-2 RANKED
• BU is No. 2 in this week's AP Top 25, snapping a streak of 5 straight weeks at the nation's No. 1 team.
• Baylor has been top-2 ranked in 7 consecutive polls. Prior to 2020, BU was top-2 in 3 total polls all-time (all in 2017).
• Baylor's 5-week streak at No. 1 was the longest since Kentucky in 2015 and longest by a Texas team since 1968.
• Baylor's streak of 17 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 is tied for the 3rd-longest streak in program history – 25 consecutive polls in 2017-18, 22 in 2012-13, 17 in 2010-11, 17 in 2019-20.
• Baylor was ranked No. 16 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, which tied the 2nd-highest preseason ranking in BU history.
SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday is the 43rd all-time series meeting. K-State leads the series 23-19, but it's tied 8-8 in Waco.
• Baylor's win at K-State on Feb. 3 snapped the Wildcats' 6-game series winning streak.
• The Bears are 7-7 vs. Kansas State since 2014, but BU has lost 3 straight to K-State in Waco.
• 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 three times (2013, 2018, 2019). The teams split in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
• The Wildcats won 70-63 in Waco (Feb. 9) and 66-60 in Manhattan (March 2) last season.
LAST TIME VS. KANSAS STATE
• Baylor ran out to a 22-6 lead in the first 8 minutes and led wire-to-wire in a 73-67 win at K-State on Feb. 3.
• The Bears battled foul trouble in the first half with three starters picking up 2 fouls apiece, but Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell combined for 48 points on 16-of-28 (57%) from the floor.
• Butler had his 5th 20-point game of the season as the Bears snapped a 6-game losing streak to Kansas State.
