2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (13-0, 6-0) Location: Waco, Texas  Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	BAYLOR (13-0, 6-0) at OKLAHOMA STATE (9-3, 3-3) Jan. 23, 2021 • 1 p.m. CT Stillwater, Okla. • Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)   LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: CBS Talent: Tom McCarthy (pxp), Bill Raftery (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley(analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	rv/rv OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (9-3, 3-3) Location: Stillwater, Okla. Head Coach: Mike Boynton (South Carolina, 2003) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill

Baylor Bear Insider

            After surviving the gauntlet of back-to-back top-15 teams in a three-day stretch, No. 2 Baylor (13-0, 6-0) will get another challenge when the Bears go on the road to face Oklahoma State (9-3, 3-3) and freshman sensation Cade Cunningham. 

            A fitting national showcase on CBS, Saturday's 1 p.m. game at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater is a matchup of two of the nation's best backcourts. 

            The projected top pick in one of the latest NBA mock drafts, the 6-8 Cunningham is averaging 17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists and is joined by junior Isaac Likekele (12.1 ppg, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists), freshman Avery Anderson III (9.1 ppg) and senior Bryce Wiliams (8.5 ppg) in the Cowboys' four-guard lineup. 

            "When you talk Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele, that's as good of a backcourt as you'll find anywhere," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "Some years, the top two or three pick is more of a potential pick, and Cade's a production guy. He's someone who produces right now. . . . if you're going to have a one-and-done type of player, that's someone you'd like to have."

            Baylor counters Cunningham and Likekele with four guards averaging double-digit points. Junior guard Jared Butler (16.7 ppg, 5.4 assists) is a projected first-round pick and preseason All-American, while senior MaCio Teague (15.3 ppg), junior Davion Mitchell (11.8 ppg, 5.7 assists) and sophomore Adam Flagler (10.1) are all capable scorers that can light it up every game. 

            "They are very, very skilled, bigger guys, definitely things we're focusing on," said Flagler, who had 15 points in last Saturday's 68-60 win at then-No. 15 Texas Tech. "We're just excited to go against something you don't regularly see in the Big 12 or even in the country."

            The Bears followed up that impressive road win at Tech with a 77-69 win at home over sixth-ranked Kansas on Monday night behind Butler's seven 3-pointers and season-high 30 points. Baylor also got a monster game from 6-5 senior forward Mark Vital, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to help the Bears win the battle of the boards, 29-23. 

            "That's why he's such a valuable player for us is he does a lot of things that might not show up in the stat box," Drew said of Vital, who also hustled down the court to block a potential dunk. "When he's rebounding at that level, it really frees up other guys to get rebounds. . . . He might go had and take two guys out and block you out, and now someone else gets the rebound. It doesn't show as Mark Vital's rebound, but it affects the team. They call them 'Glue Guys' and other things like that, but basically it's a winner."

            Oklahoma State has one of the better resumes in the country with wins over Tech and Kansas and one-possession losses to Texas and West Virginia. The Cowboys, projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology report, had their last two games postponed because of COVID issues after upsetting Kansas, 75-70, on Jan. 12. 

            "Against TCU, they're up late, and TCU goes on a 9-0 run to finish the game," Drew said. "Against West Virginia, they're up 19 and West Virginia has a great finish. My point is there's enough in statistics and film to know just how good they are. This is a team that could be 5-1 or 6-0 right now, just as easy."

            Even with the Bears coming off their first ranked wins since beating then-No. 5 Illinois, 82-69, back on Dec. 2, Flagler said, "We try our best to never overlook anybody we play, especially with the season that we have with cancellations and everything."

            "We're really excited to play Oklahoma State," he said. "We definitely know they are very talented over there. We're just excited to go at them."

            Following Saturday's game, Baylor returns home to host Kansas State (5-10, 1-6) on Wednesday and Auburn (8-7) in next Saturday's Big 12/SEC Challenge before going back on the road for a showdown with No. 5 Texas (11-2, 5-1) on Tuesday, Feb. 2, in Austin. 

STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor travels to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State at 1 pm CT Saturday on CBS.
• Saturday is the 87th series meeting. OSU leads 55-31, but BU is 19-16 vs. OSU in the Drew era.
• Baylor is 9-1 vs. Oklahoma State since 2016 (lone loss 2019 in Waco) and 14-5 vs. OSU since 2012.
• BU has won 5 in a row in Stillwater and is 7-2 at OSU since 2012 after being 3-24 at OSU prior to 2012.
• BU has swept the season series 6 times in 9 seasons since 2012. BU never swept OSU prior to 2012.
• 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 (+24.8) and is top-11 nationally in 3FG% (4th, 42.6), steals (7th, 9.5), scoring (9th, 86.5), effective FG% (7th, 58.6), offensive rebound pct. (6th, 38.4), assists (11th, 18.2), turnover margin (6th, +6.2), turnovers forced (4th, 19.0) and defensive turnover pct. (3rd, 26.7).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season.
• BU is the nation's only team top-5 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 9 of 13.
• Baylor's largest deficit this season is 4 points, and BU has trailed for only 23:54 of 520 minutes (4.6%).
• With a win, BU will start a season 14-0 for the 3rd time in program history (2012, 2017).
• BU looks to start 7-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (first was 13-0 start last season).
• Baylor's 21-3 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• BU is 11-2 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 39-69 in B12 road games).
• Baylor is 45-40 in Big 12 road games over the last 10 seasons, second-best behind Kansas (56-29).
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 34-16 on average and has scored 33+ points in 9 games.
• Three members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (10.1), Tchatchoua (8.8) and Mayer (8.2).
• Six Bears are averaging at least one made 3-pointer per game and shooting at least 37% from 3-point range: Butler (46), Mayer (46), Cryer (45), Mitchell (44), Flagler (41) and Teague (37).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (355-213).
• Baylor is playing its 255th 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 252 of 434 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 4th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 43 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit lead in 37 of 43).
• Baylor's defense has held 6 of its last 10 opponents to season-lows in points-per-possession.
• BU's defense has forced 14+ turnovers in 9 of its last 10 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 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's 13-game winning streak is tied for 4th-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012, 15 in 2017). 
• BU was picked to win the Big 12 in the league's preseason coaches' poll for the first time. 
• Baylor is 63-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (33-2 over last 2 seasons, 12-0 this season). 
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (181-21). 
• BU is 127-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (39-3 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 230-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12. 
• Baylor's 230 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (273). 
• Baylor is 321-144 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 945 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 
• Saturday's game is the 87th all-time meeting between Baylor and OSU. BU trails 31-55 in the series 
• Baylor is 19-9 against OSU since March 2007 after going 12-46 vs. the Cowboys previously. 
• The Bears have swept the season series 6 times in 9 seasons since 2012 after not doing so in any of the first 15 years of Big 12 play. BU has swept the season series vs. OSU in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. 
• OSU has swept the series 8 times, but only once since 2006 (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2015). 
• BU has won 5 straight in Stillwater and is 7-2 at OSU since 2012. BU was 3-24 in Stillwater prior to 2012. 

LAST SEASON VS. OKLAHOMA STATE 
• Baylor overcame a slow start to win 75-68 in Stillwater on Jan. 18. OSU took a 36-27 lead at the break and led 47-35 with 14 minutes left, but BU went on an 18-4 run to take its first lead of the game. 
• The Bears got a season-high 16 points from Devonte Bandoo, including 14 in the 2nd half (4-4 3FGs, 2-2 FTs). 
• In the rematch in Waco, Baylor took an early 24-10 lead and held off a late rally to win 78-70 over on Feb. 8. 
• The teams committed a combined 51 fouls and shot a combined 55 free throws (42 in second half). 
• MaCio Teague scored a season-high 24 points, including 6-of-6 free throws in the final 14 seconds.