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No. 2 MBB Opens Big 12 Championship Play vs. Kansas State

Top-seed Baylor looks to advance to the semifinals for fourth time in last seven conference tourneys

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Men's Basketball 3/10/2021 8:11:00 PM
26239 2/2 BAYLOR BEARS (21-1, 13-1)
Location: Waco, Texas 
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
 
BAYLOR (21-1, 13-1) vs. KANSAS STATE (9-19, 4-14)
March 11, 2021 • 1:30 p.m. CT
Kansas City, Mo. • T-Mobile Center (18, 972)
 
LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com
WATCH: ESPN
Talent: Bob Wischusen (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst)

LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley (analyst)

Baylor Social Media: auto twitter icon instagram png Facebook PNG
logo NR/NR KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (9-19, 4-14)
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Head Coach: Bruce Weber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1978)
Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF)

STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor won the Big 12 for the first time and claimed its first conference title since 1950.
• The conference title is the 6th in program history and the 4th outright title (1932, 1946, 1948, 2021).
• BU is facing K-State for the 5th time at a B12 Champ (win in 2012, losses in 2002, 2010, 2017).
• BU scored 100+ twice vs. K-State this season. K-State held every other opponent to 82 or fewer points.
• Baylor is looking to advance to the semifinals for a 4th time in the last 7 tourneys (2014, 2015, 2016).
• Baylor finished 11-0 at home this season for its first undefeated home season since 1947-48 (9-0).
• BU had more wins than any other Big 12 team (13), despite having 4 games canceled.
• The Bears' 21-1 start ties the best 22-game record in program history (2019-20).
• BU finished with 3 consecutive wins over ranked teams – No. 6 WVU, No. 17 OSU, No. 18 TTU.
• BU held its first 9 Big 12 opponents below 70 points before 72, 71, 89, 70, 73 in the last 5 games.
• BU is 7-1 vs. AP Top 25 teams this season, including 4-0 against AP Top 10 teams.
• BU is 13-2 vs. AP Top 25 teams the last 2 seasons, the nation's best record vs. ranked teams.
• BU leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.429) and is top-10 nationally in scoring margin (2nd, +19.7), scoring (2nd, 85.3), effective FG% (3rd, 58.1), steals (7th, 9.2), turnover margin (3rd, +5.5), turnovers forced (10th, 17.6), defensive turnover pct. (3rd, 24.9) and offensive rebound pct. (4th, 37.5).
• Baylor became the first team since UNLV in 1990-91 to win its first 17 games by 8+ points.
• BU has led by at least 10 points in 20 of 22 games this year, but just 3 of 5 games since the pause.
• Baylor has led by at least 4 points in all 52 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 44 of 52).
• BU's 3FG% (.429) leads the Big 12 by so much, BU could miss 105 more attempts and still lead the league.
• Baylor's current .429 team 3FG% would break the Big 12 record (.426 by OSU in 2004-05).
• Baylor's 28-4 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• Baylor finished 7-1 in road games this season, BU's best road record since going 13-1 in 1947-48.
Jared Butler (Cousy, Wooden, Naismith semi/finalist), MaCio Teague (West Award finalist), Davion Mitchell & Mark Vital (Naismith Defensive POY Semifinalists) are all national award candidates.
Butler is AP Big 12 Player of the Year, Baylor's first conference POY since David Wesley (1992 SWC).
Butler (1st Team) and Mitchell (3rd Team) were both named Sporting News All-Americans.
Mitchell (coaches) and Vital (The Athletic) both earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors.
• For a second-straight year, BU has 60% of the Big 12 All-Defensive Team (Vital, Mitchell and Butler).
Butler leads the Big 12 in 3-pointers made (2.7/game), 3-point percentage (.444) and steals (2.1), ranks 2nd in assists (5.0), 3rd in scoring (17.1), 3rd in FG% (.493) and 7th in ast-to ratio (1.76).
Teague was named AP 2nd Team All-Big 12 and has been all-conference in all 4 collegiate seasons.
Teague leads the 5 West Award finalists in career ppg, assists, steals, 3-pointers, FTM and FT%.
Scott Drew earned AP and coaches' Big 12 Coach of the Year for a second-consecutive season.
• Six Baylor players are shooting at least 40% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (47%), Butler (44%), Teague (40%), Flagler (46%), Mayer (43%) and Cryer (41%).

FIRST CONFERENCE TITLE IN 71 YEARS 
• Baylor won its first conference championship in 71 seasons (1950 Southwest Conference). 
• Baylor has won six league titles in programs history, four of them outright – 1932 (10-2), 1946 (11-1), 1948 (11-1), 1949 (9-3), 1950 (8-4) and 2021 (13-1). The 1949 and 1950 titles were co-championships. 
• Baylor's best previous Big 12 finish was outright 2nd-place last season. BU also tied for 2nd in 2010 and 2017. 
• Baylor's 15 Big 12 wins last season were the most ever by a team that didn't claim the Big 12 title. 

QUICK HITS 
• Baylor is 25-1 at home over the last 2 seasons, with the lone loss by 3 points to Kansas on 2/22/20. 
• BU is 14-3 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 59-99 in B12 road games). 
• Baylor is guaranteed to finish with its fewest losses since going 13-0 in 1911-12. 
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 27-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak. 
• BU's streak of 35-straight AP pols ranked is the nation's 3rd-longest active streak and longest in BU history. 
• Baylor is 47-5 since Teague and Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20. 
Vital holds the BU record for career Big 12 wins at 45-22. The previous record was A.J. Walton's 39. 
• 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, Kansas, Michigan St.) to win 18+ every year since 2008. 
• Three members of the BU bench average 7+ ppg – Flagler (9.4), Mayer (8.3) and Tchatchoua (6.9). 
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 29-16 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games. 
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (363-214). 
• Baylor's 18-game winning streak tied the 4th-longest in the Big 12's 25-year history. The Bears set the record with 23 straight last season, while Kansas had the 2nd and 3rd-longest streaks – 22 in 1997 and 20 in 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. 
• Baylor won double-digit Big 12 games for the 8th time (2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021). 
• Baylor is 69-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (39-2 over last 2 seasons, 18-0 this season). 
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (187-21). 
• BU is 47-3 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game over the last 2 seasons (135-23 last 6 seasons). 
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 12 of the last 14 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988). 
• Baylor is 238-98 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12. 
• Baylor's 238 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (283). 
• Baylor is 329-145 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 (16 of last 17 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 954 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). 

BAYLOR VS. K-STATE THIS SEASON 
• Baylor topped 100 points in both games vs. K-State this season, becoming the only team to ever score 100 against a Bruce Weber-coached team. The Bears won 100-69 in Manhattan (12/19) and 107-59 in Waco (1/27). 
• K-State held every other opponent to 82 or fewer points and allowed 68.5 ppg in all other Big 12 games. 

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Players Mentioned

Jared Butler

#12 Jared Butler

G
6' 3"
Junior
3rd Year
Davion Mitchell

#45 Davion Mitchell

G
6' 2"
Junior
3rd Year
MaCio Teague

#31 MaCio Teague

G
6' 4"
Senior
3rd Year
Mark Vital

#11 Mark Vital

G/F
6' 5"
Senior
5th Year

Players Mentioned

Jared Butler

#12 Jared Butler

6' 3"
Junior
3rd Year
G
Davion Mitchell

#45 Davion Mitchell

6' 2"
Junior
3rd Year
G
MaCio Teague

#31 MaCio Teague

6' 4"
Senior
3rd Year
G
Mark Vital

#11 Mark Vital

6' 5"
Senior
5th Year
G/F