4/4 BAYLOR BEARS (26-3, 15-2) Location: Waco, Texas  Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes	BAYLOR (26-3, 15-2) at WEST VIRGINIA (20-10, 8-9) March 7, 2020 • Noon CT Morgantown, W.Va. • WVU Coliseum (14,000) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: Clay Matvick (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor-IMG College | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	RV/RV WEST VIRGINIA (20-10, 8-9) Location: Morgantown, W.Va. Head Coach: Bob Huggins (West Virginia, 1977)  Roster | Stats | Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Fourth-ranked Baylor (26-3, 15-2) can't control whether or not Texas Tech is able to pull off an upset of No. 1 Kansas on Saturday in Lubbock. And they certainly can't control what the NCAA Tournament selection committee does behind closed doors next Sunday, March 15. 
            In the Bears' bid for their first-ever Big 12 championship, as well as a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, the one thing they can control is beating West Virginia (20-10, 8-9) in Saturday's regular-season finale at Morgantown. 
            "With this being our last one, and the chance where Kansas would slip up at Texas Tech, you have a chance to share a title," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "But, none of that matters. It matters on our end. To start with, it's a great opportunity for us."
            When Baylor defeated West Virginia, 70-59, three weeks ago in Waco, the Bears matched the Mountaineers on the boards (34-34), held them to 35 percent shooting from the floor and forced 22 turnovers. 
            "What we did the first time doesn't mean it's necessarily going to work the next time," said Drew, whose team has already set program records for most Big 12 wins and best regular-season winning percentage. "West Virginia beat Texas by 38 at home, and then Texas beats West Virginia at home. Really, what we did right the first game, we have to do right the second game. Otherwise, it doesn't matter."
            Baylor gets a West Virginia team that fell out of the national polls this week after losing six of its previous seven games before knocking off Iowa State, 77-71, on Monday in Ames.
Coach Bob Huggins rotates 11 players, with 6-9 freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe (11.1 ppg, 9.2 rebounds) and 6-10 sophomore Derek Culver (10.5 ppg, 8.6 rebounds) leading a balanced attack.
            Baylor senior forward Freddie Gillespie (9.7 ppg, 9.1 rebounds) said what makes West Virginia so tough to play on its home court is "just the physicality."
            "They push, shove, and they try to out-tough you, and they don't disappoint," Gillespie said. "Coach Huggins always tries to get the meanest, toughest dudes. And if we have a guy that might be a little meaner and tougher like Mark (Vital), he sees that and is like, 'I want to find somebody that mean and tough to match up with them.'''
            With a deep rotation of players, "if you're not playing hard," Drew said, "(Coach Huggins) is going to put someone in who is playing hard."
            "When they get turnovers, the crowd gets even louder and they get more aggressive on defense," Drew said. "It's a very physical, aggressive team. Normally, when you play at home, you're even more aggressive. We had 20 turnovers at against them. We have to be better than that on the road."
            A key to Baylor's success could be the healthy return of the 6-5 Vital, who had five points, five rebounds and four steals in the first meeting. Vital and 6-10 junior forward Tristan Clark were both sidelined in Monday's 71-68 overtime win at home over Texas Tech. 
            "Mark has been looking good, so we're hoping he'll be a go tomorrow," Drew said. "But we won't know until warm-ups. He's had a good couple of days of rehab. Tristan will be a game-time decision as well. He's done a little less, so probably a better chance that Mark plays."
            Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Clay Matvick and Fran Fraschilla calling the action. 
            Already locked in as one of the top two seeds for the Big 12 Tournament next week in Kansas City, the Bears will play at either 1:30 p.m. (No. 1 seed) or 6 p.m. (No. 2 seed) in Friday's quarterfinals. 


STORY LINES
• No. 4 Baylor plays its regular season finale at West Virginia at noon CT Saturday on ESPN+.
• Baylor looks to tie the Big 12 record for wins in a season (16 by Kansas in 2002, 2012, 2017, 2020). 
• BU can become the 4th team in Big 12 history to reach 8 conference road wins (KU 2002, 2017, 2020).
• A win would tie the 3rd-most wins in program history (30 in 2012, 28 in 2010, 27 in 2017).
• A win would guarantee Baylor its best season record in program history (25-5 in 1945-46).
• Baylor is guaranteed to finish with its fewest losses since going 18-6 in 1968-69.
• BU is looking to sweep its school-record 7th Big 12 opponent this season (ISU, KSU, OU, OSU, TTU, UT).
• BU went 14-1 at home this season and trailed by more than 2 points in only two home games.
• Baylor (9-1 in road games) has a chance to reach double-digit road wins for the first time 1946 (13-1).
• Baylor was No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for 5 straight weeks, tying the longest streak since Kentucky in 2015.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 9 straight weeks top-5 ranked (previously 6 straight in 2017).
• BU has led by at least 5 points in every game and has built a double-digit lead in 24 of 29 games, while the Bears have trailed by double-digits only 3 times all season (win at OSU, losses vs. Kansas & at TCU).
• Baylor has trailed in the 2nd half only 4 times in 23 games since December 1 (2-2 in those games).
• Baylor (11-1) has the nation's best record in NET Quadrant 1 games (min. 5 games). The Bears join Kansas (11-3) and Seton Hall (10-6) as the nation's only teams with double-digit Quadrant 1 wins.
• Baylor (6-1) has the nation's best record vs. AP Top 25 ranked teams (min. 3 games).
• All 3 of Baylor's losses this season have been by 3 points (vs. Washington, vs. Kansas, at TCU).
• Baylor ranks 6th nationally in scoring defense (59.6) and 13th nationally in scoring margin (+11.8).
• Baylor's 59.6 ppg allowed is just shy of the Big 12 scoring defense record (59.4 TAMU in 2007).
• Baylor's 2-point FG% defense ranks 19th nationally (.442) and effective FG% defense ranks 17th (.450).
• BU's 26-3 is its best 29-game mark in program history. BU's best 30-game start is 25-5 in 2012.
• Baylor's streak of 18 consecutive AP polls ranked is 3rd-longest in program history (all since 2010).
• BU has trailed for only 14.7% of game time over 23 total games since December 1 (135:50 of 925:00).
• BU and KU are a combined 15-1 in Big 12 road games, while the rest of the league is a combined 14-55.
• BU has held 8 Big 12 opponents to 55 or fewer points, the program record for most in a single season. 
• BU is No. 5 in the NET with 7 top-25 NET wins: No. 1 (road), No. 10, No. 13, No. 17, No. 20, No. 21 (2x).
• Baylor has the nation's most wins and best record (8-1) vs. NET top-30 ranked teams (min. 3 games).
• Baylor's defense has forced 15+ turnovers in 17 of 29 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 26 of 29 opponents below 70 points.
• BU is the only team with 2 Naismith Defensive POY semifinalists (Mark Vital & Davion Mitchell).
• Baylor is the only school with FB, MBB, WBB & VB all ranked. Those teams are a combined 95-9 this year.
• Baylor is playing its 241st 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 238 of 420 games.

QUICK HITS 
• Baylor's 23-game winning streak 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 51-5 when leading at halftime over the last 3 seasons since 2017-18 (21-2 this season). 
• Baylor has won 89% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (169-21). 
• BU is 114-22 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (26-2 this season). 
• Baylor is 217-96 over the last 9 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2012. 
• Baylor's 217 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (263). 
• Baylor is 308-143 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 932 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). 

POTENTIAL BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP 
• Baylor needs to win at West Virginia and for Kansas to lose at Texas Tech to win its first conference title since 1950. 
• If BU wins the Big 12 title, the Bears will be the No. 1 seed at next week's Big 12 Championship by virtue of the tiebreaker against Kansas (each team's record versus the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings, and then continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage – Texas Tech). 
• The best previous record of any team to not win a Big 12 Championship was 13-3 (six times), and the best record by any non-Big 12 champion since the league went to an 18-game schedule in 2012 was 14-4 by Missouri in 2012. 

NINE STRAIGHT WEEKS TOP-5 RANKED 
• BU is No. 4 in this week's AP Top 25, extending its school-record streak to 9 straight weeks top-5 ranked. 
• 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 18 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 is the 3rd-longest streak in program history – 25 consecutive polls in 2016-17, 22 in 2011-12 and 18 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 
• Saturday is the 19th all-time series meeting, all of which have been played since 2011. 
• Baylor won seven of the first eight series meetings, but the Bears are 4-6 vs. WVU since then. 
• BU leads the series 11-7, including a 4-3 mark in Morgantown. BU won its first 3 trips to Morgantown, then lost the next 3 visits before getting back on track with an 85-73 win at WVU last season.