Baylor
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Kansas
No. 2 MBB Hosts No. 6 Kansas in Big Monday Matchup
1/17/2021 1:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Monday marks the sixth top-10 matchup in Ferrell Center history.
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (12-0, 5-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (12-0, 5-0) vs. KANSAS (10-3, 4-2) Jan. 18, 2021 • 8 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPN Talent: Dan Shulman (pxp), Jay Bilas (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley(analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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6/7 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (10-3, 4-2) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Head Coach: Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Second-ranked Baylor (12-0, 5-0) gets a taste of March Madness in January, facing No. 6 Kansas (10-3, 4-2) at 8 p.m. Monday just two days after a gritty 68-60 road victory over No. 15 Texas Tech.
"I just feel like it's getting us ready for the NCAA tournament," said senior guard MaCio Teague, who's second on the team with 15.5 points per game and 23 made 3-pointers. "It's preparing us for what our goal is, which is winning a national championship. (The turnaround) is definitely difficult, but we're determined to get a win."
For the first time all year, the Bears had to play a 40-minute game on Saturday against Tech, seeing their school-record string of double-digit victories snapped at 11. They turned it over 16 times, shot just 42 percent from the floor and got outrebounded, 42-37, giving up 18 offensive boards.
"We had more second-chance points than Texas Tech (11-5), but they had more offensive rebounds than us (18-12). So, you've got to capitalize on them," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "The goal is always to limit your opponent and try to get as many for you as possible. A lot of offensive rebounding comes from good shot selection. If you're putting the defense in rotations, it's helping with the rebounding as well."
Kansas (plus-8.1) and Baylor (plus-7.1) are 1-2 in the league in rebounding margin, with the Jayhawks ranked 25th nationally. They are also two of the best on the offensive glass, averaging 13.1 offensive boards per game.
"We've got to be physical going to the offensive glass, we've got to be physical going to the defensive glass," Teague said. "Basketball is a very physical game. We've got to be ready to go out and fight for 40 minutes."
The Jayhawks have three of the league's top 15 rebounders in 6-8 redshirt freshman forward Jalen Wilson (13.8 ppg, 7.8 rebounds), 6-10, 250-pound junior forward David McCormack (12.1 ppg, 6.2 rebounds) and 6-6 sophomore guard Christian Braun (10.2 ppg, 5.6 rebounds).
"(McCormack) is tough on anybody from the standpoint of his size and skill level," Drew said. "There's not a ton of bigs in college basketball. Everyone seems to be downsizing, so when you've got a dominant presence like him, he can be a handful. We'll just try to make it as tough as possible on him and not give him anything easy, hopefully, and make him earn it."
Tasked with that defensive assignment will be 6-10 junior Flo Thamba (3.8 ppg, 4.6 rebounds) and 6-8, 245-pound sophomore Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (8.8 ppg, 7.0 rebounds). After getting three of his first five shots blocked in a scoreless first half against Tech, Tchamwa Tchatchoua bounced back to score seven second-half points and hit his only two shots from the floor.
"The first time you play in a loud, hostile arena . . . normally, it's a little different," Drew said. "A couple of those, he was just a little rushed or a little nervous. Some of it, you've definitely got to credit Tech's defense. They had nine blocks. They've got a lot of 6-6 to 6-8 athletic guys who can play above the rim. We've got to do a better job finishing. The good thing is Jonathan has only played 40 games, so he continues to get better and better."
Kansas and Baylor also rank among the league's best defenses, giving up 61.1 and 67.5 points, respectively, and less than 41 percent shooting from the field. Kansas' Marcus Garrett (9.2 ppg, 1.6 steals) was the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year last season, while Baylor's Mark Vital (5.1 ppg, 5.3 rebounds) and Davion Mitchell (11.9 ppg, 5.9 assists, 2.2 steals) were finalists and semifinalists, respectively.
"Davion and Mark Vital were up for Defensive Player of the Year, and Marcus won it, and that just shows you how good Marcus must have been and is," Drew said, "because Davion and Marcus are as good as we know of. . . . Marcus Garrett is a heck of a defender. So, whoever he's on, you've got to make sure you're taking care of the basketball and not turning it over."
Last year, Jared Butler (15.6 ppg, 5.2 assists) and Teague combined for 38 points in Baylor's first-ever win at Kansas, 67-55, but the Jayhawks returned the favor and snapped the top-ranked Bears' Big 12-record 23-game winning streak by winning in Waco, 64-61. That cost Baylor at least share of a Big 12 championship.
"Anytime you play somebody, we're going to bring up what worked and didn't work," Drew said. "Obviously, they did a lot of things scheme-wise that bothered us. Hopefully, we'll be better prepared and put our guys in better position to be successful. That's the advantage of having a veteran team with a lot of returners. Personal experience is the best teacher for all of us, and everybody remembers that wasn't a good feeling last year."
Monday's game will be broadcast by ESPN, with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor hosts No. 6 Kansas at 8 pm CT Monday in the 6th top-10 matchup in Ferrell Center history.
• Monday is the 40th series meeting. BU is 6-33 in the series, but 2-3 in the last 5 matchups.
• Baylor is 1 of 4 undefeated teams (min. 7 gms) and is the last remaining undefeated Power-5 team.
• BU leads the nation in scoring margin (+26.2) and ranks top-10 nationally in 3FG% (6th, 42.2), scoring (6th, 87.2), assists (9th, 18.6), steals (6th, 9.5), effective FG% (9th, 58.4), offensive rebound pct. (8th, 38.2), turnover margin (4th, +7.0), turnovers forced (4th, 19.3) and defensive turnover pct. (3rd, 26.9).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season. BU won a school-record 11-straight games by 10+ points before Saturday's 8-point win at No. 15 Texas Tech.
• BU is the nation's only team top-10 ranked in adjusted offensive (4th) and defensive (1st) efficiency.
• BU has led by at least 10 points in every game this season and has led by 13+ at halftime in 8 of 12.
• Baylor's largest deficit this season is 4 points, and BU has trailed for only 23:54 of 480 minutes (5.0%).
• With a win, BU will start a season 13-0 for the 4th time in program history (1912, 2012, 2017).
• BU looks to start 6-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (first time was last season).
• Baylor is 8-1 against ranked teams over the last two seasons, including 3-1 at home.
• BU is 9-9 vs. top-10 teams over the last 5 seasons, including a 6-4 mark vs. top-10 teams in Waco.
• Baylor is 19-1 at home over the last 2 seasons, with the lone loss by 3 points to Kansas on 2/22/20.
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 35-16 on average and has scored 33+ points in 9 of 12 games.
• Three members of the BU bench average 8.8+ ppg – Flagler (10.6), Mayer (8.8) and Tchatchoua (8.8).
• Six Bears are averaging at least one made 3-pointer per game and shooting at least 39% from 3-point range: Mayer (46), Flagler (45), Cryer (45), Butler (42), Mitchell (42) and Teague (39).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (354-213).
• Baylor is playing its 254th 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 251 of 433 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 20-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 29-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 5th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 42 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit lead in 36 of 42).
• BU has held 6 of its last 9 opponents to season-lows in points-per-poss., including 3 of the last 4 games.
• BU's defense has forced 14+ turnovers in 8 of its last 9 games, including 6 games with 20+ TOs forced.
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
• BU is 1 of 5 Power-5 schools (Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Michigan St.) to win 18+ every year since 2008.
• 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 signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) in November. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
• BU has advanced to 8 consecutive postseasons, tied as the nation's 10th-longest active streak.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor needs a win to tie the 4th-longest winning streak in program history at 13-straight.
• BU was picked to win the Big 12 in the league's preseason coaches' poll for the first time.
• Baylor is 62-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (32-2 last 2 seasons, 11-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (180-21).
• BU is 126-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (38-3 last 2 seasons).
• 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 last year 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 229-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 229 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (273).
• Baylor is 320-144 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• 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 944 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).
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday is the 40th all-time meeting between Baylor and Kansas. BU is 6-33 against the Jayhawks.
• Both teams won on the road as they split the series last year, and the Bears are 2-3 in their last 5 games vs. Kansas.
• Baylor's wins in the series came in 2001 vs. No. 6 Kansas (Waco), in 2009 vs. No. 14 Kansas (Oklahoma City), in 2012 vs. No. 3 (Kansas City), in 2013 vs. No. 4 Kansas (Waco), in 2018 vs. No. 10 Kansas (Waco) and in 2020 at No. 3 Kansas (Lawrence).
• The Bears are 3-14 all-time against Kansas in Waco, with wins in 2001, 2013 and 2018.
LAST SEASON VS. KANSAS
• Baylor broke through for its first win at Kansas (in its 18th attempt) and its first-ever road win against a top-5 team (in its 23rd attempt) by knocking off No. 3 Kansas, 67-55, at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 11.
• The 55 points scored by Kansas matched its fewest in a home game since 2000.
• BU trailed 20-15 with 8 minutes left in the first half, then closed the half on a 22-4 run to take a 37-24 lead to the break. Kansas would cut the deficit to 5 points with 13 minutes left, but couldn't get any closer.
• Jared Butler scored 10 straight BU points in the final 8 minutes, and BU led by double-digits the rest of the way.
• In the rematch in Waco on Feb. 22, College Gameday came and saw Kansas win 64-61 in a hard-fought battle.
• BU's MaCio Teague returned after missing only 2 games with a broken wrist, but KU led for nearly 36 minutes and held off a late rally by the Bears. BU trailed 62-55 with 0:34 left, then got back-to-back treys from Butler and Teague to cut it to 62-61 with 0:18 left. After a pair of free throws, Butler was just short on a potential game-tying trey at the buzzer.
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