2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (10-0, 3-0) Location: Waco, Texas  Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	BAYLOR (10-0, 3-0) at TCU (9-3, 2-2) Jan. 9, 2021 • 2 p.m. CT Fort Worth, Texas • Schollmaier Arena (8,500)   LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPN Talent: Dan Shulman (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley(analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	NR/NR TCU HORNED FROGS (9-3, 2-2) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Head Coach: Jamie Dixon (TCU, 1987)  Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            When Baylor last won a game at TCU, Mark Vital was sitting out as a redshirt and Jared Butler was a high school junior at Riverside Academy in Reserve, La. 
            With both of those guys now returning all-conference players, the second-ranked Bears (10-0, 3-0) will try to avenge last year's 75-72 loss when they face the Horned Frogs (9-3, 2-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. Baylor is 13-4 against TCU as Big 12 rivals, but has dropped three in a row in Fort Worth since rallying for a 62-53 win on Jan. 21, 2017. 
            "We always bring up anything we can learn from," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team has won a school-record 10-consecutive games by double digits. "Last year, (Desmond) Bane got going late. . . . Up there, TCU has been really good against us, and we've got to be better."
            Junior forward Flo Thamba, who is 0-2 versus the Frogs in Fort Worth, said "it's another opportunity to go out there and get a win."
            "TCU's got a really good team," said the 6-10 Thamba, who is averaging 4.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. "In comparison to last year, having Desmond Bane, they were a much bigger threat. But, I feel like they've been able to fill certain roles with (RJ) Nembhard and some of their other guys."
            Thamba and 6-9 sophomore Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (9.5 ppg, 7.6 rebounds) will be matched against 6-11 junior center Kevin Samuel, who is averaging 10.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and a Big 12-leading 2.4 blocks. Nembhard is second in the league in scoring at 18.2 points per game, while freshman guard Mike Miles is averaging 13.6 points and has hit a team-high 19 3-pointers. 
            "First, Coach (Jamie) Dixon does a tremendous job. He always gets his guys to play well, does a great job with being fundamentally sound," Drew said. "Samuel is one of the best bigs in the country. Their backcourt's been very effective. Nembhard's taken a nice step forward. He was good last year, he's just continued to improve, as a lot of their players. It's a newer group, a younger group, but a lot of skill, a lot of talent."
            The Bears are coming off a 76-61 win over Oklahoma, with a deep bench contributing 40 points. Matthew Mayer and Adam Flagler hit a combined five 3-pointers and scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. 
            "Basically, we have a lot of guys who can help us when they step on the court," Drew said. "Some nights, it's your night. And some nights, you're a little off. But, as a coach, you just want consistency from people to control that they can control, making the right reads, the right plays, not turning it over. Then, the nights when you're not shooting it and someone else is shooting it or in foul trouble, that's why you have depth."
            Butler had a rare off night in the win over Oklahoma, scoring a season-low eight points, hitting just 2-of-10 overall and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. He has hit multiple 3-pointers in all but three games this season. 
            "I don't care who you are – if you're (Kevin Durant) or Steph Curry – you're going to have off shooting nights," Drew said. "The good thing is Jared continues to improve as a playmaker and continues to get better defensively. When someone has an off night or is missing shots, as long as they're contributing in other ways to help us win, is the key. You can't let your offense dictate other parts that you can control, and Jared's done a good job in that."
            After playing relatively turnover-free through the first eight games, the Bears have had 17 and 13, respectively, in the last two games. Oklahoma forced nine first-half turnovers with a defense that proved effective with trapping ballhandlers in the backcourt. 
            "A couple of times when we got turnovers in the trap, we actually lost the ball at the beginning of the trap," Drew said. "I don't know if it was designed to trap or you're going to trap a guy after he loses it, but we've got to get better with the ball. . . . The good thing with us is we've got a lot of guys who can make plays after you get it out of the trap."
            Fifth in the country with a 91.2-point scoring average, Baylor has five players averaging double figures, led by senior guard MaCio Teague at 16.0. Butler is second on the team and sixth in the Big 12 at 15.2, followed by Davion Mitchell (11.6), Flagler (11.4) and Mayer (10.0). 
            Thamba said assistant coach John Jakus is "always looking for new ways, new maneuvers to score the ball more efficiently. So, if the 3-ball isn't falling, it's just getting the easy twos and attacking the paint and hoping the defense collapses."
            Saturday's game will be nationally televised by ESPN, with Dan Shulman and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.  


STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor heads to Fort Worth to face TCU at 2 pm CT Saturday on ESPN.
• Saturday is the 188th series meeting – BU leads 102-85, including a 41-43 mark in Fort Worth.
• Baylor is 13-4 against TCU as Big 12 rivals. The Bears won the first 11 Big 12 series meetings.
• BU is 5-3 in games at TCU as Big 12 rivals, but TCU has won the last 3 meetings in Fort Worth.
• Baylor is 1 of 6 undefeated teams (min. 3 gms) and joins Michigan as the only undefeated Power-5 teams.
• BU leads the nation in 3FG% (.436) and scoring margin (+28.8), ranks 4th nationally in assists (20.0/gm), 4th in effective FG% (.597), 4th in offensive rebound pct. (.436), 5th in scoring (91.2), 8th in turnover margin (+6.8), 9th in steal pct. (13.2), 10th in A-T ratio (1.64) & 10th in 3-pointers made (10.9/gm).
• Baylor has won a school-record 10 consecutive games by double-digits (previous record 8 in 2011-12).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season (min. 4 games played).
• BU has led by at least 13 points in every game this season and has led by 13+ at halftime in 8 of 10.
• Baylor's largest deficit this season is 4 points, and BU has trailed for only 13:22 of 400 minutes (3.3%).
• Baylor, Gonzaga and LSU are the only teams to score 75+ points in every game this season (min. 8 gms).
• With a win, BU will start a season 11-0 for the 5th time in program history (1912, 2001, 2012, 2017).
• Baylor looks to start 4-0 in Big 12 play for the 5th time in program history (1998, 2008, 2012, 2020).
• Baylor needs a win to tie the 6th-longest winning streak in program history at 11-straight.
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 39-18 on average and has scored 33+ points in 9 of 10 games.
• Four members of the BU bench average 7+ ppg – Flagler (11), Tchatchoua (10), Mayer (10), Cryer (7).
• Six Bears are averaging at least one made 3-pointer per game and shooting at least 40% from 3-point range: Mayer (48), Flagler (45), Mitchell (45), Cryer (45), Butler (42), Teague (41).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (352-213).
• With Wednesday's win vs. OU, Drew passed his father Homer's DI wins total (371 in 22 years at Valpo).
• Baylor is playing its 252nd 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 249 of 431 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 18-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 27-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 40 games since the start of 2019-20 (double-digit lead in 34 of 40).
• Baylor is 43-40 in Big 12 road games over the last 10 seasons, second-best behind Kansas (55-27).
• BU is 9-2 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 35-63 in B12 road games).
• Baylor's defense forced 15+ turnovers in 24 of 40 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• BU became the first team since 1992 to score 100 points in Manhattan in the Dec. 19 win at K-State.
• 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 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.

QUICK HITS 
• BU was picked to win the Big 12 in the league's preseason coaches' poll for the first time. 
• Baylor is 61-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (31-2 last 2 seasons, 10-0 this season). 
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (179-21). 
• BU is 124-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (36-3 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 227-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12. 
• Baylor's 227 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (273). 
• Baylor is 318-144 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 942 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 is the 188th all-time series meeting and the 18th as Big 12 Conference members. 
• Baylor leads the series 102-84, including a 41-43 mark in Fort Worth and a 13-4 record in the Drew era. 
• Since TCU joined the Big 12, Baylor is 13-4 in the series with an average scoring margin of +13.4 points per game. 
• The Bears' 7 Big 12 home wins over TCU have been by at least 11 points and by an average of 20.3 points. 
• The Bears are 5-3 against TCU in Fort Worth as Big 12 rivals, with an scoring margin of +9.1 points per game. 
• BU beat TCU in Fort Worth by 26 in 2013, by 33 in 2014, by 7 (OT) in 2015, by 15 in 2016 and by 9 in 2017. 
• The Bears lost at TCU by 10 in 2018, by 4 in 2019 and by 3 in 2020. 

LAST SEASON VS. TCU 
• Baylor broke a school-record with its 18th-straight win in a 68-52 victory over TCU on Feb. 1 in Waco. 
• The game was tied 17-17 with 8 minutes left in the first half, then BU went on a 14-0 run and led by at least 6 points the rest of the game. BU led 60-52 with 3:42 left, then
closed the game on an 8-0 run to win 68-52. 
• Baylor saw its 9-game road winning streak end after TCU rallied from 12 down to win 75-72 in Fort Worth on Feb. 29. 
• The Bears led 28-21 at the half and extended to 39-27 with 16:25 left, but TCU went on a 23-10 run to take its first lead of the second half with 8 minutes remaining. BU went back ahead 54-50, but TCU went on an 18-1 run.