Baylor
Texas
No. 1 MBB Carries 20-Game Winning Streak into Big Monday Contest at Texas
2/9/2020 1:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Baylor’s 10-0 start to Big 12 play is tied for 5th-best in league history
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1/1 BAYLOR BEARS (21-1, 10-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (21-1, 9-0) at TEXAS (14-9, 4-6) Feb. 10, 2020 • 8 p.m. CT Austin, Texas • Frank Erwin Center (16, 734) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPN and the ESPN App Talent: Bob Wischusen (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst), Kris Budden (reporter) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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NR/NR TEXAS (14-9, 4-6) Location: Austin, Texas Head Coach: Shaka Smart (Kenyon, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Rewarded with the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA committee's first top-16 reveal, top-ranked Baylor (21-1, 10-0) will put its 20-game winning streak on the line when the Bears face Texas (14-9, 4-6) at 8 p.m. Monday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
During their steady climb from 24th to the No. 1 spot in the rankings, Baylor grinded out a 59-44 win over Texas in the conference opener 37 days ago in Waco. On a night when the Bears' own shots weren't falling, they held Texas to its fewest points in Shaka Smart's five years at the helm and the fewest points in his coaching career.
"It takes a team to defend, it's never just one guy," Baylor coach Scott Drew said after the first meeting. "I'm just pleased with their mentality, and it starts on the ball with Davion Mitchell for us."
It's a quick turnaround for both teams. Baylor is coming off a 78-70 win at home over Oklahoma State, while Texas squandered a 16-point first-half lead in a 62-57 home-court loss to Texas Tech.
The Bears trailed only once against the Cowboys, 3-2, but let double-digit leads slip away in both the first and second half. OSU rallied to within two late, but Baylor hit eight-straight free throws in the last 14 seconds to ice the game.
"Free-throw shooting is one of the most contagious things," said Drew, whose team missed the front end of three one-and-ones and 13 of its first 25 from the line. "You miss the front end of one-and-ones and you miss free throws, it's hard to win close games. We've got a quick turnaround, so we've got to get ready, we've got to get focused."
Senior forward Freddie Gillespie (10.1 ppg, 9.1 rebounds) said the Bears probably just need to "come in and grind through free throws as a team. We'll improve in that area and figure it out."
Hitting the first six of those eight free throws at the end of the game and going 8-for-9 overall, junior guard MaCio Teague (14.6 ppg) said "it just felt like I was in the gym getting practice shots. It felt quiet all around. It felt great."
Baylor faces a Texas team that has lost five of its last seven games, including falling 69-58 at No. 3 Kansas last Monday in Lawrence when the Longhorns had a halftime lead.
Facing the Longhorns for the second time, Drew said the teams are "familiar with each other."
"The tougher thing is with short turnarounds, you can't put in as many counters or things you might want to change up or mix up," he said.
Like the Bears, Texas relies on a rotation of four guards with Matt Coleman (12.9 ppg, 4.0 assists), Andrew Jones (10.6 ppg), Courtney Ramey (10.0 ppg) and Jase Febres (9.3 ppg). In the loss to Tech, both Febres (left knee) and 6-11 freshman forward Kai Jones (left ankle) went down with second-half injuries and weren't able to return.
Jones, the younger brother of former Baylor All-American Alexis Jones, had a career-high 18 points in Saturday's loss.
Gillespie said 6-9 junior Jericho Sims (9.7 ppg, 7.9 rebounds) is "underrated as a big man in this conference."
"With every game, he's getting better," he said. "I got to watch a little of the first half when they were playing Tech, and they were locked-in and they were in the same flow and same rhythm. They're turning into a pretty skilled and talented team."
Four of Baylor's five starters are averaging double-digit points, led by sophomore guard Jared Butler (15.3 ppg, 3.0 assists), while 6-5 junior forward Mark Vital is averaging 6.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
"For my money, Mark Vital is the best defensive player in the country," said OSU coach Mike Boynton, who picked up consecutive technical fouls with 8.1 seconds left to be ejected. "He's like a fullback out there playing, guarding people. He's got unbelievable feet, hands. I've seen that kid from when he was in high school and grow into what he has become today."
The "Big Monday" game will be televised by ESPN, with Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla and Kris Budden calling the action.
After the trip to Austin, Baylor will be home for three of its next four games, including a matchup against No. 11/13 West Virginia (18-5, 6-4) at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
STORY LINES
• No. 1 Baylor carries a school-record 20-game winning streak into its ESPN Big Monday game at Texas.
• Baylor's 20-game streak is tied for 2nd-longest in Big 12 history (KU 22 in 1997, KU 20 in 2008).
• BU's 10-game Big 12 streak is tied for the 6th-longest conference-only winning streak in league history.
• Baylor's 10-0 start to Big 12 play is tied for 5th-best in league history and best since UT started 11-0 in 2011 (16-0 KU in 2002, 13-0 KU in 2010, 11-0 UT in 2011, 11-0 OU in 2009, 10-0 KU in 2005).
• BU is looking to tie its school-record for longest single-season conference winning streak (11 in 1946).
• Monday is the 256th series meeting – the most-played rivalry in Baylor history dating back 105 years.
• BU is 17-8 vs. Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak at the 2009 Big 12 Championship.
• Baylor is 8-1 in its last 9 games vs. Texas, including 3-1 in Austin since 2016 (loss in 2019).
• BU is looking to sweep the regular-season series vs. Texas for a 3rd time in the last 4 years (2017, 2018).
• Baylor beat Texas 59-44 in Waco on Jan. 4, holding Texas to its fewest points since Dec. 4, 2012.
• 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.
• BU's 4 straight weeks as the AP No. 1 team ties Gonzaga for the nation's longest streak this season.
• BU is 7-1 all-time as the No. 1-ranked team, including 6-0 this season in 3 weeks as No. 1 this season.
• BU has trailed for only 11% of game time over its last 16 games (69:13 of 640:00).
• Baylor has won 20+ games for the 11th time in 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.
• A Baylor win would mark the best 23-game start in program history (passing 21-2 in 2012).
• Baylor's 20-game winning streak is the nation's 2nd-longest behind SDSU (24). BU also has the nation's 3rd-longest road winning streak at 7 straight (Gonzaga-16, SDSU-10, SFA-7, Vermont-7).
• BU is 7-0 in road games, the 2nd-longest road winning streak in program history – 12 in 1945-46.
• Baylor (5-0) and Iowa (5-3) are the nation's only teams with 5 wins vs. AP Top 25 ranked team.
• Baylor ranks 5th nationally in scoring defense (59.0) and 8th nationally in scoring margin (+13.5).
• Baylor's 2-point FG% defense ranks 12th nationally (.431) and effective FG% defense ranks 17th (.443).
• BU is coming off a hard-fought 78-70 win over Oklahoma State. Baylor was out-shot 47% to 42%.
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 14 of 22 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 20 of 22 opponents below 70 points.
• BU has held 6 Big 12 opponents to 55 or fewer points, the program record for most in a single season.
• BU is No. 3 in the NET with 5 top-20 NET wins: No. 4 (road), No. 10, No. 11, No. 18, No. 20 (road).
• BU is the only team with 2 players on the Naismith Defensive POY Midseason Team (Vital & Mitchell).
• BU and KU are both 5-0 in Big 12 road games, while the rest of the league is a combined 7-33.
• Baylor is 39-38 in Big 12 road games since 2012, 2nd-best in the league behind only Kansas (50-27).
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 83-7 this year and all four are top-12 ranked (No. 1 MBB, No. 1 WBB, No. 3 VB, No. 12 FB).
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 47-4 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (17-1 this season).
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (165-20).
• BU is 109-21 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (21-1 this season).
• Baylor is 212-94 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012.
• Baylor's 212 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (256).
• Baylor is 303-141 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.
• 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 925 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).
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday is the 256th all-time meeting between Baylor and Texas, the most-played rivalry for both schools.
• Baylor has won 17 of 25 games in the series after snapping a 24-game series losing streak in March 2009.
• Baylor is 92-163 all-time against Texas, including a 31-89 mark in Austin and a 17-21 mark in the Drew era.
• Baylor is looking to sweep the regular-season series vs. Texas for the 5th time in the last 11 years (2010, 2012, 2017, 2018). BU swept the series only once in the first 13 years as Big 12 rivals (1998).
LAST TIME VS. TEXAS
• Baylor held Texas to 44 points in a 59-44 victory in both teams' Big 12 opener on Jan. 4 in Waco.
• The 44 points were the fewest by a Shaka Smart-coached team in his 11-year collegiate career and the fewest by any Texas team since scoring 41 vs. Georgetown on Dec. 4, 2012.
• It was the best defensive performance by a BU team in Big 12 play since holding K-State to 42 points in 2015.
• MaCio Teague had a game-high 21 points, including 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
SECOND-LONGEST WINNING STREAK IN BIG 12 HISTORY
• Baylor's 20-game winning streak is tied for the 2nd-longest by any team in the Big 12 Conference's 24-year history. The only other 20+ game streaks were Kansas' 22-game streak in 1997 and KU's 20-game streak in 2008.
• Baylor's 10-0 start to Big 12 play is tied for the 5th-best start by any team in the league's 24-year history.
• BU's 10-0 is the best start since Texas' 11-0 in 2011 (Kansas 16-0 in 2002, Kansas 13-0 in 2010, Texas 11-0 in 2011, Oklahoma 11-0 in 2009, Kansas 10-0 in 2005, Baylor 10-0 in 2020).
• Baylor's 10-game Big 12 winning streak is tied for the 6th-longest conference-only streak in league history, trailing only KU (16 in 2002), KU (13 in 2010), OSU (11 in 2004), OU (11 in 2009) and UT (11 in 2011).
• With a win vs. Texas, Baylor would tie the 3rd-longest conference-only winning streak in Big 12 history.
SCHOOL-RECORD 20-GAME WINNING STREAK
• Baylor's 20-game winning streak is the longest winning streak in program history (previously 17 in 2011-12).
• The current 20-game streak includes 5 wins vs. ranked opponents, 7 road games and 3 neutral-site games.
• BU has won 10 straight Big 12 games for first time and is off to a 10-0 start in conference play for the first time since starting 10-0 in the 1948 Southwest Conference. BU has never started conference play 11-0.
