Baylor
Michigan State
No. 6 MBB to Face Michigan State in Battle 4 Atlantis Championship
11/25/2021 9:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears Aim for Second Battle 4 Atlantis Title
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BAYLOR BEARS (6-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (6-0) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (5-1) November 26, 2021 • 10:00 a.m. CT Paradise Island, Bahamas • Imperial Arena (3,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN Talent: Karl Ravech (pxp), Jimmy Dykes (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM in Central Texas Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 81, XM 81, Internet 81 Baylor Social Media:    |
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MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (5-1) Location: East Lansing, Mich. Conference/Affiliation: Big Ten Head Coach: Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan, 1977) Roster | Stats |
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Story lines
• No. 6/5 Baylor takes on Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis finals. The last time the teams met was the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis second round, a 73-58 BU win on its way to the tournament championship.
• BU has the nation's longest winning streak (12), with 8 at neutral sites and seven of the eight wins by 9+ points.
• Baylor has won 30 straight non-conference games (+21.7 average margin) dating back to Nov. 2019.
• BU has won 16-straight non-conference road/neutral games (last loss Nov. 8, 2019 vs. Washington).
• Baylor is 25-4 in regular-season tournaments since 2013-14, including 4 regular-season tournament titles.
• Baylor needs one more win to join Villanova as the only 2-time Battle 4 Atlantis champions.
• BU is 5-0 all-time at Battle 4 Atlantis, with wins over VCU (twice), Michigan State, Louisville and Arizona State.
• Baylor has won 3 of its last 4 regular-season tournaments – 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis (over Louisville), 2017 Hall of Fame Classic (over Creighton), 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational (over Villanova).
• BU has held all 6 opponents to 5 or fewer second-chance points this season (average of 3.7/game).
• Baylor has 55 steals over its last four games – school-record 21 vs. UCA, 16 vs. Stanford, 10 vs. ASU, and 8 vs. VCU.
• LJ Cryer (15 points vs. ASU) has led the Bears in scoring in four of the last five games. He now has 95 points in 6 games this season (25.3 pts/40 min.) after scoring 67 points in 20 games last season (13.6 pts/40min.).
• Baylor was No. 8 in the preseason AP Top-25, snapping a school-record streak of 29-straight weeks top-5 ranked. The Bears are currently on a school-record streak of 32-straight weeks top-10 ranked.
• Baylor has been ranked in all 25 spots in the AP Top 25 at some point in the last 7 years.
• BU's 40-straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 is the nation's 3rd-longest behind Gonzaga and Villanova.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 19th season at Baylor with a school-record 376 career victories, including a 17-8 mark in NCAA Tournaments, which is the 7th-best mark among active coaches.
• Drew has swept AP and coaches' Big 12 Coach of the Year honors each of the last two seasons.
• BU has led by at least 4 points in all 65 games since the start of the 2019-20 season and built a double-digit lead in 56 of 65 games, including 32 of 35 games since the start of last season.
• Baylor went 11-2 vs. AP Top 25 teams last season, including 7-0 against AP Top 10 teams.
• Baylor returned seven letterwinners from the 2021 national championship team, with Flo Thamba as the lone returning starter. The four departed starters are all playing in the NBA, G-League or NFL.
• Among BU returners is Matthew Mayer, who made his career-first start in the opener after coming off the bench in 93 games over his first 3 seasons. He is on 6-player the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
• The Bears also welcomed back Adam Flagler, who came off the bench in 28 games last season and is now starting. He joins Mayer on the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award preseason watch lists.
