Baylor
Texas
No. 2 MBB Gears up for Big 12 Battle at No. 6 Texas
2/1/2021 11:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears are 9-1 in last 10 contests vs. UT
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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (16-0, 8-0) Location: Waco, Texas Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (16-0, 8-0) at TEXAS (11-3, 5-2) Feb. 2, 2021 • 6 p.m. CT Austin, Texas • Frank Erwin Center (16,734) LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPN Talent: Jon Sciambi (pxp), Dick Vitale (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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6/6 TEXAS LONGHORNS (11-3, 5-2) Location: Austin, Texas Head Coach: Shaka Smart (Kenyon, 1999) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Trying to match its best-ever start and create even more separation in the Big 12 title race, No. 2 Baylor (16-0, 8-0) goes on the road to face No. 6 Texas (11-3, 5-2) in arguably its stiffest test to date.
Coming off an 84-72 win over Auburn in Saturday's Big 12/SEC Challenge, the Bears have a 2 ½-game lead over the Longhorns going into Tuesday's 6 p.m. game at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
Baylor coach Scott Drew sees "a lot of similarities to our team from the standpoint that's two top-10 defenses in the country, two teams that are really good on the glass, two teams that are really good in transition, very talented and experienced players."
"You look across the country, and teams that have more experienced players and depth usually are more successful this year," Drew said. "That's why us and Texas are off to such great starts."
While Baylor has remained on a roll despite pauses because of COVID, the Longhorns had Saturday's game at Kentucky canceled because of issues with the Wildcats and lost their Jan. 26 game against Oklahoma, 80-79, when coach Shaka Smart and starters Jericho Sims (7.8 ppg, 6.4 rebounds) and Courtney Ramey (13.9 ppg, 3.9 assists) were all out.
Sunday's practice was the first time in 19 days (since Jan. 12) that Smart and all 11 scholarship players were together on the court.
"I think it's going to be a little bit difficult for them, just because some of the (players are) coming back from COVID," said Baylor junior guard Davion Mitchell (12.8 ppg, 5.9 assists), who was named the co-Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 22 points in wins over Kansas State and Auburn. "They've got to get that team chemistry back."
Baylor and Texas are two of the best rebounding teams in the Big 12, with the Longhorns averaging a league-best 40.5 rebounds per game and 11.6 on the offensive glass. The 6-10 Sims and 6-9 freshman Greg Brown lead the way on the boards.
"Teams like Auburn and Texas with those long, athletic guys, it's a premium that you do a good job blocking them out," Drew said. "If not, you're getting tipped on. We've got to do a better job, especially when you're playing more guards, of blocking out."
Dominated on the boards in the first half of Saturday's game against Auburn, 27-19, Baylor came back to control the glass with a 24-16 edge in the second half and finished all squared, 43-43. The Bears had a 20-15 edge in second-chance points, and the bench outscored Auburn's reserves, 38-16, with Adam Flagler (19) and Matthew Mayer (13) combining for 32 points.
"First half, we did a better job than I thought during the game. Credit Auburn for getting some tough rebounds and some rebounds where we did a good job blocking them out," Drew said. "Sometimes, you play the percentages . . . you might be doing your job and you just get a bad bounce."
Brown (11.9 ppg, 8.0 rebounds) and 6-11 sophomore Kai Jones (9.0 ppg, 5.2 rebounds) are both projected as NBA first-round draft picks along with Baylor junior guard Jared Butler (16.8 ppg, 5.4 assists), who was named Monday to the Late Season Top 20 for the John Wooden Award.
"(Brown) has a chance to be one of the best rebounders to ever play at Texas if he keeps rebounding at the percentages he's rebounding at per minute," Drew said. "It's really hard to keep him off the glass. At the same time, he's knocking down shots, he's creating off the bounce, he's a very versatile defender. There's a reason why he's projected so high in the draft, a lot of things you can't teach."
The Longhorns' leading scorer is fifth-year junior guard Andrew Jones (14.3 ppg, 4.7 rebounds), the brother of former Baylor All-American Alexis Jones. He survived a two-year battle with leukemia and had his final treatment in September 2019.
"We know their scouting report, they know our scouting report," Mitchell said of both teams returning so much experience, particularly in the backcourt. "It's just the team that gets the most, easiest shots and the team that plays the better defense is going to come out with the win."
Baylor swept last year's series and has won nine of the last 10 meetings with the Longhorns. The Bears return home to host TCU (9-7, 2-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Tuesday's game is an ESPN broadcast, with Jon Sciambi and Dick Vitale calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to Big 12 play in Austin against No. 6 Texas at 6 pm CT Tuesday on ESPN.
• BU is 1 of 3 undefeated teams (Gonzaga, Drake) and is the last remaining undefeated Power-5 team.
• Tuesday is the 257th series meeting – the most-played rivalry in Baylor history dating back 106 years.
• Baylor is 9-1 in its last 10 games vs. Texas since Feb. 20, 2016 (4-0 in Waco, 4-1 in Austin, 1-0 in KC).
• BU is 18-8 vs. Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak at the 2009 Big 12 Championship.
• Baylor swept Texas last year, winning 59-44 in Waco on Jan. 4 and 52-45 in Austin on Feb. 10.
• BU leads the nation in scoring margin (+24.8) and 3-point percentage (.434) and is top-10 nationally in steals (4th, 9.7), scoring (5th, 87.2), effective FG% (2nd, 58.6), offensive rebound pct. (4th, 38.6), assists (6th, 18.5), turnover margin (5th, +6.2), turnovers forced (6th, 18.6) and defensive turnover pct. (4th, 26.0).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season (14 of 16 wins by 11+).
• BU is the nation's only team top-5 ranked in adjusted offensive (3rd) 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 10 of 16.
• Baylor has trailed for only 45:21 of 640 minutes (7.1%) this season and led wire-to-wire in 7 games.
• Baylor is 9-1 against ranked teams over the last two seasons, including 3-0 in true road games.
• Baylor needs a win to tie the best start to a season in program history (17-0 in 2011-12).
• Baylor's 16-game winning streak is the 3rd-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012).
• BU looks to start 9-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (first was 13-0 start last season).
• Baylor's 23-3 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• BU is 12-2 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 42-74 in B12 road games).
• Jared Butler was named National Player of the Week on Jan. 26 after averaging 26.0 points and 7.0 assists in wins vs. Kansas and at OSU. He shot 13-of-16 (81.3%) from 3-point range last week.
• Baylor is 42-4 since MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20.
• Mitchell had a career-high 31 points Wednesday vs. K-State, including 22 pts in 12 second-half minutes.
• BU has 3 of 15 players on the Naismith Defensive POY midseason watch list – Mitchell, Vital and Butler.
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 33-17 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games.
• Six Baylor players are shooting at least 37% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (47%), Butler (45%), Mayer (45%), Flagler (43%), Cryer (43%) and Teague (37%).
• Three members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (10.4), Mayer (8.4) and Tchatchoua (8.2).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (358-213).
• Baylor is playing its 258th 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 255 of 437 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 22-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 31-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 46 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 40 of 46).
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor's 16-game winning streak is 3rd-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012).
• 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 was picked to win the Big 12 in the league's preseason coaches' poll for the first time.
• Baylor is 65-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (35-2 over last 2 seasons, 14-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (183-21).
• BU is 130-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (42-3 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 233-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 233 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (274).
• Baylor is 324-144 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.
• Ten of Baylor's 11 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 948 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
• Sunday is the 257th all-time meeting between Baylor and Texas, the most-played rivalry for both schools.
• Baylor is 18-8 in the series since snapping a 24-game series losing streak in March 2009.
• Baylor is 93-163 all-time against Texas, including a 32-89 mark in Austin and an 18-21 mark in the Drew era.
• Baylor has swept the season series vs. Texas 5 times in the last 11 years (2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2020). BU swept the series only once in the first 13 years as Big 12 rivals (1998).
