Baylor
Texas Tech
Top-Ranked MBB Set For Top-20 Showdown with No. 19 Texas Tech
1/10/2022 5:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears Aim for Fifth-Straight Win Over Tech
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#1/1 BAYLOR (15-0, 3-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
#19/19 TEXAS TECH (11-3, 1-1) vs. #1/1 BAYLOR (15-0, 3-0) Jan. 11, 2022 • 6:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Jon Sciambi (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst), Kris Budden (reporter) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM in Central Texas Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 83, XM, 83, Internet 83 Baylor Social Media:    |
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#19/19 TEXAS TECH (11-3, 1-1) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mark Adams (Texas Tech, 1979) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
In a 21-game winning streak that dates back to last year's NCAA Tournament, top-ranked Baylor has faced a halftime deficit just three times.
But, what the Bears (15-0, 3-0) have shown is they're going to respond when they're pushed.
"This team, when they get challenged, usually they're at their best," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team will host No. 19 Texas Tech (11-3, 1-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center. "They've performed when the stakes are at the highest."
That was certainly the case in Saturday's road game at TCU, when the Bears found themselves down by nine early in the second half. Riding the hot shooting of guards Adam Flagler, James Akinjo and LJ Cryer, Baylor outscored the Horned Frogs, 45-27, in the second half and pulled away for a 76-64 win to keep the streak alive.
"When we're pressured and we're in tough situations, I think it brings out the best in this team" said Akinjo, who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after averaging 23.5 points and 6.5 assists in the wins over Oklahoma and TCU.
Baylor faces a Texas Tech team coming off a 75-67 win at home over then-No. 6 Kansas, snapping a five-game losing streak against ranked teams that started with last year's 88-73 loss to the Bears in Waco.
The Red Raiders had only seven players available in a 51-47 loss at No. 11 Iowa State and were still missing their two leading scorers, Terrance Shannon (14.3 ppg) and Kevin McCullar (13.5 ppg), when they knocked off Kansas.
"They were up two at Iowa State with two minutes to go," Drew said. "This is a team a lot of people had in the top 25 to begin the year. A lot of different weapons, a lot of transfers, but the one common denominator is they really defend and they rebound well."
First-year head coach Mark Adams was the lead assistant at Tech the previous five seasons before succeeding Chris Beard when he left to take the head job at Texas.
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Adams," Drew said. "Everyone knew what a great basketball mind he was."
A revamped roster with six Division I transfers includes 6-8 forwards Bryson Williams (UTEP) and Kevin Obanor (Oral Roberts) and guards Davion Warren (Hampton) and Adonis Arms (Winthrop), who have started the last two games.
"Williams is somebody who was tremendous at UTEP. He's a sixth-year guy, so a lot of 24-year-olds," Drew said. "Davion Warren averaged 21 points at Hampton. When you play Division I and average 21 points, you know. Kevin Obanor from Oral Roberts, we know from Coach (Paul) Mills and Coach (Sam) Patterson). A lot of different weapons, a lot of guys who have stepped forward."
The common thread from Beard to Adams is one of the top defenses in the country. Tech is ranked in the top 15 nationally, allowing just 58.3 points per game and holding teams to 37.6% shooting from the field.
"I see an extension of their culture," said Flagler, named the Big 12 Player of the Week after scoring 18 of his team-high 22 points in the second half against TCU. "Very defensive-minded, play really good defense and it's going to be a battle. It's two of the best defensive teams in the country, and we're excited for the challenge."
Baylor will be without 6-9 freshman forward Jeremy Sochan (7.9 ppg, 5.9 rebounds), who suffered a sprained left ankle late in the first half against TCU. He is one of seven players who are averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
"A lot will depend on how he bounces back and how treatment and recovery go," Drew said of Sochan. "He's smiling again, and that's a good thing."
Tuesday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla and Kris Budden calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 1 Baylor returns home to host No. 19 Texas Tech at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday on ESPN2.
• BU has the nation's longest winning streak (21), with 9 at neutral sites, 2 on the road and all by 5+ points.
• Baylor looks to tie the 2nd-longest winning streak in Big 12 history (22 by Kansas in 1996-97).
• There have been 4 winning streaks of 20+ in the Big 12's 26-year history – 23 by Baylor in 2019-20, 22 by Kansas in 1997-98, the current 21-game Baylor streak and 20 by Kansas in 2007-08.
• Baylor is the first program to start consecutive seasons 15-0 since Syracuse in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
• Baylor is seeking its school-record 7th-consecutive win against ranked opponents. The Bears are 19-3 against ranked teams over the last 3 seasons, including 13-2 in the last 2 years.
• BU has won a school-record 22-straight home games, averaging a +26.3 scoring margin in those wins.
• Baylor is 23-9 vs. Texas Tech since 2006, including a 14-2 mark in Waco in that span.
• BU swept the series each of the last 2 years and is seeking its first 5-game winning streak vs. Tech.
• Baylor has won 9 of the last 10 series meetings in Waco, including an 88-73 win on March 7, 2021.
• Baylor is 34-1 at home over the last 3 seasons, with the lone loss by 3 to Kansas on Feb. 22, 2020.
• Baylor's 31-4 Big 12 conference record over the last 3 seasons is the best of any Power-5 team.
• Baylor has been No. 1 ranked in 4 of the last 6 seasons (Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas are only others).
• Tuesday is Baylor's 22nd all-time game as a No. 1-ranked team – BU is 19-2 while ranked No. 1.
• For the second-straight season, Baylor is 1 of the nation's final 2 undefeated teams.
• Baylor's bench has out-scored the opponents' bench in 12 of 15 games and by an average of 30-20.
• BU is allowing only 6.2 second-chance points per game, while scoring 13.1 second-chance points.
• Baylor is averaging 10 more field goal attempts per game than its opponents (BU 64, OPP 54).
• Baylor is the nation's only team ranked top-25 in scoring offense (12th) and scoring defense (19th).
• Baylor ranks top-13 nationally in scoring margin (3rd, +23.3), assists (9th, 18.4), steals (10th, 10.3), turnovers forced (10th, 18.4), turnover margin (11th, +5.6), rebounding margin (12th, +9.3),
field goal percentage (13th, .495) and offensive rebound percentage (6th, 39.2).
• Baylor's defense has recorded 7+ steals and 13+ turnovers forced in all 15 games this season.
• BU's 47-straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 is the nation's 3rd-longest behind Gonzaga and Villanova.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 39-straight weeks top-10 ranked (top-5 ranked in 36 of those).
• Baylor has been ranked in all 25 spots in the AP Top 25 at some point in the last 7 years.
• BU has led by at least 4 points in all 75 games since the start of the 2019-20 season and built a double-digit lead in 66 of those games, including 42 of 45 games since the start of last season.
• Adam Flagler (Player of the Week) and James Akinjo (Newcomer of the Week) swept this week's Big 12 awards. It's the 7th time Baylor players have won both awards in the same week.
• BU has defeated 3 currently top-15 ranked teams this season – No. 10 Michigan State (75-58 in Battle 4 Atlantis title game), No. 14 Villanova (57-36 in Waco) and No. 15 Iowa State (77-72 in Ames).
• Drew has swept AP and coaches' Big 12 Coach of the Year honors each of the last two seasons.
QUICK HITS
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 19th season at Baylor with a school-record 385 career victories, including a 17-8 mark in NCAA Tournaments, which is the 7th-best mark among active coaches.
• Baylor's 43-2 record over the last two seasons is the nation's best, and the Bears' 69-6 record over the last three seasons is 2nd-best nationally, trailing only Gonzaga (74-5).
• Baylor's streak of 18-straight wins by 8+ points was snapped in a 5-point win at Iowa State. BU was the first returning national champion to win its first 12 games by 8+ points since 1990-91 UNLV.
• Baylor has won 36 straight non-conference games (+23.2 average margin) dating back to Nov. 2019.
• BU ranks 6th nationally in KenPom's offensive rebound pct (39.2), its 8th-straight year ranked top-10.
• BU is playing its 294th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2,197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since January 2010, BU has been ranked in 278 of 415 games.
• Baylor and Kansas are the only Power-5 schools to win 18+ games every year since 2008.
• Baylor's streak of 9 consecutive postseasons is tied as the nation's 7th-longest active streak.
• 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 88-5 when leading at halftime over the last 5 seasons (58-2 over last 3 seasons, 24-0 last season).
• Baylor has won 91% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (205-21).
• BU is 69-4 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game over the last 3 seasons.
• Baylor is 260-99 over the last 10+ seasons, averaging 24.5 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 260 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (297).
• Baylor is 351-146 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• Five of Baylor's players have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Two after transferring to BU (Flagler, Tchamwa Tchatchoua), one before transferring (Bonner) and two as freshmen — Turner and Langston Love.
• Ten of Baylor's 11 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (16 of last 17 seasons).
• Baylor is 1 of 10 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (7 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor has the nation's 9th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 977 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).
• BU is 7-1 all-time in Big 12/SEC Challenges, the best record of any team in either league. Combined with a 3-1 mark in the Big 12/Pac-10 Series and 1-0 in the Big 12/Big East Battle, Baylor is 11-2 in conference challenges.
• Baylor has won 8 tournament titles under Drew – 2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic, 2013 NIT, 2016 & 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis, 2017 Hall of Fame Classic, 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational and 2021 NCAA Championship.
BEARS MAKING BIG 12 HISTORY
• In the last three seasons, Baylor has recorded the longest winning streak in the Big 12 Conference's 26-year history (23 in 2019-20), the 3rd-longest in Big 12 history (21 active in 2021-22) and tied the 5th-longest (18 in 2020-21).
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN BIG 12 HISTORY
1. 23 – Baylor, 2019-20
2. 22 – Kansas, 1996-97
3. 21 – Baylor, 2021-22
4. 20 – Kansas, 2007-08
T5. 18 – Baylor, 2020-21; Kansas 2016-17; Kansas 2012-13; Kansas, 2010-11
T9. 17 – Kansas 2015-16; Baylor 2011-12, Texas 2009-10
For the full version of Baylor's game notes, click here. For the full version of Texas Tech's game notes, click here.
