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2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (17-0, 9-0)
Location: Waco, Texas
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
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BAYLOR (17-0, 9-0) vs. IOWA STATE (2-16, 0-13)
Feb. 23, 2021 • 7 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284)
LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com
WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Talent: Ted Emrich (pxp), King McClure (analyst)
LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley (analyst)
Baylor Social Media:    |
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NR/NR IOWA STATE CYCLONES (2-16, 0-13)
Location: Ames, Iowa
Head Coach: Steve Prohm (Alabama, 1997)
Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Jared Butler feels like a little kid who's been grounded and can't go outside and play with his friends . . . for a long time.
Back on the court for the first time in three weeks, following a COVID pause, Butler and the second-ranked Baylor Bears (17-0, 9-0) will face Iowa State (2-16, 0-13) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.
"Sunday was our first regular practice (since the pause), and it felt like you were coming back from Christmas break, where you're just excited to be back, excited to see everybody," Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
"We've had a couple restarts, so we've gotten used to the restart part. We always talk about controlling what you can control, and we'll try to make the most of it. It's a privilege, honor and joy every chance you get to play the game. Hopefully on the back end of all of this, come March, maybe we're a little fresher because of it."
Named one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, Butler (17.0 ppg, 5.2 assists) said he hopes the Bears can "pick up where we left off." Before having its last six games postponed, Baylor had matched its best-ever start (17-0, 2012) and second-longest winning streak in program history.
"I think that could just be a lie that sinks in our head, 'Oh, since we've been out, it's going to be hard,''' Butler said. "I'd like to believe that we're going to pick up where we left off. It's going to be a little hard in the first few minutes just to get our wind back, but I think ultimately, we're going to get back in our groove."
Because of COVID protocols, the Bears weren't able to have a full-squad practice until Sunday, which was 19 days after beating then-No. 6 Texas, 83-69, in Austin. Davion Mitchell hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points to help Baylor win for the 10th time in the last 11 games in the series with the Longhorns.
"Taking the positives, we were playing really well, we were on a roll," Drew said, "but again, you have to adjust and make the most of each and every situation."
Playing its first game in three weeks, Baylor gets an Iowa State team that has struggled in coach Steve Prohm's sixth season. The Cyclones are winless in Big 12 play and have lost 12 in a row since beating Jackson State, 60-45, on Dec. 20.
After winning their first eight games of the season by a national-best 32.8-point margin, the Bears finally had to sweat one out when they played in Ames back on Jan. 2. Butler scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and hit the dagger with a 3-pointer from the left wing with just over a minute left as Baylor escaped with a 76-65 win.
"One thing that's been consistent . . . is they're either leading in the second half or definitely were close the last five minutes," Drew said. "When they played Oklahoma, they're down 21 and then take the lead in the second half. If you look at us, we got out to a 10-point lead, and they came back and took the lead with under 10 minutes to play at their place."
A transfer-laden team, the Cyclones are led by Penn State transfer Rasir Bolton (15.7 ppg, 4.8 rebounds), 6-4 senior guard Jalen Coleman-Landis from DePaul (13.2 ppg) and 6-8, 255-pound senior forward Solomon Young (11.0 ppg, 4.8 rebounds).
Baylor, which leads the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (43.9) and ranks third in scoring offense (87.0 ppg), is led by the backcourt trio of Butler, MaCio Teague (14.7 ppg) and Mitchell (13.6 ppg, 5.8 assists).
Jumping back in after the extended layoff, the Bears will play three games in five days, hosting No. 10/13 West Virginia (15-6, 8-4) at 4 p.m. Thursday and No. 17/19 Kansas (17-7, 11-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Lawrence.
"We've practiced so much this year without playing that many games, so I'm excited to play back-to-back and really just get back to playing and getting to the scouting and just competing at a high level," Butler said. "It's going to be like if we were playing in the NCAA or Big 12 tournament. It's like a one-day scout, short turnaround, and then you have to lock in the day you have to prepare. Ultimately, it just comes down to competing."
Tuesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Ted Emrich and former Baylor standout King McClure calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor plays for the first time in 21 days when it hosts Iowa State at 7 pm CT Tuesday.
• With a win, Baylor would break the record for best start in program history (17-0 in 2011-12).
• Tuesday is the 42nd series meeting, and the home team is 29-7 in the series in campus-site games.
• Baylor's 21-20 record vs. Iowa State marks the first time the Bears have led in the all-time series.
• Baylor is 11-3 against Iowa State since 2015 and 17-13 vs. ISU during the 18-year Scott Drew era.
• Baylor is 7-0 vs. ISU in Waco since 2014, and 4 of those wins were by 3 or fewer points or in OT.
• The Bears are looking to sweep the series vs. ISU for a 5th time in 7 years (2015, 2016, 2019, 2020).
• BU is 10-1 vs. ranked teams the last 2 seasons, the first team since 1974-76 Indiana to win 10 of 11.
• Baylor is the first team since UNLV in 1990-91 to win each of its first 17 games by 8+ points.
• Baylor and Gonzaga are the last two undefeated teams and have been 1-2 in the rankings all season.
• BU leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.439) and is top-5 nationally in scoring (2nd, 87.0), scoring margin (2nd, +24.2), effective FG% (2nd, 59.1), turnover margin (3rd, +6.1), turnovers forced (3rd, 18.5), defensive turnover pct. (3rd, 25.9), steals (5th, 9.7) and offensive rebound pct. (5th, 37.9).
• BU has led by at least 10 points in every game this season and has led by 13+ at halftime in 10 of 17.
• Baylor has trailed for only 46:29 of 680 minutes (6.8%) this season and led wire-to-wire in 7 games.
• Baylor's 17-game winning streak is tied for 2nd-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012).
• BU looks to start 10-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (13-0 start last season).
• Baylor's 24-3 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• Baylor is 22-1 at home over the last 2 seasons, with the lone loss by 3 points to Kansas on 2/22/20.
• Jared Butler was named 1 of 5 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award on Monday.
• Baylor is 43-4 since MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20.
• Mitchell is averaging 23.7 ppg over his last 3 games, including 31 vs. K-State and 27 at Texas.
• 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 32-16 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games.
• Five Baylor players are shooting at least 43% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (49%), Butler (45%), Mayer (46%), Flagler (45%) and Cryer (44%).
• Three members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (10.2), Mayer (8.3) and Tchatchoua (7.8).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (359-213).
• Baylor is playing its 259th 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 256 of 438 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 25-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 34-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 3rd-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 47 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 41 of 47).
• 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
• Baylor's 17-game winning streak is 2nd-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 66-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (36-2 over last 2 seasons, 15-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (184-21).
• BU is 131-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (43-3 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 234-97 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 234 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (281).
• Baylor is 325-144 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 949 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
• Tuesday is the 42nd series meeting. BU has won 11 of the last 14 to take its first lead in the series at 21-20.
• The home team is 29-7 in campus site games in the all-time series, and BU is 1-4 vs. ISU at neutral sites.
• Since the Big 12 went to double round-robin play in 2012, the teams have split the regular-season series four times (2012, 2014, 2017, 2018), BU has swept four times (2015, 2016, 2019, 2020) and ISU has swept once (2013).
THIS SEASON VS. IOWA STATE
• Despite season-lows of 76 points and 10 assists, BU held on for a hard-fought 76-65 win at Iowa State on Jan. 2.
• Baylor committed 17 turnovers, but forced 21 ISU turnovers. BU shot a season-worst 4-for-19 from 3-point range.
• Jared Butler led BU with 21 points, 5 assists and 4 steals, while Mitchell and Teague added 13 points apiece.
