BAYLOR BEARS (8-2) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	NORTHWESTERN  STATE (8-3) vs. 12/13 BAYLOR (8-2) Dec. 20, 2022 • 7:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • The Ferrell Center (10,284)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp), King McClure (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and on the Varsity Network App. Talent: Dave Rosselli (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 81, XM 81, Internet 81 Baylor Social Media:
	NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS (8-3) Location: Natchitoches, La. Conference/Affiliation: Southland Head Coach: Corey Gipson (Austin Peay, 2004) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Less than 48 hours after a hard-fought 65-59 win over Washington State at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the 12^th-ranked Baylor Bears (8-2) return home to face Northwestern State (8-3) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.
            In Sunday night's finale of the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge, Baylor won its third-straight with a 19-point performance from freshman Keyonte George and a closing flurry from Adam Flagler in holding off the Cougars.
            "Coming off finals, you're always worried – long layover, guys in shape, mentally ready to go," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I thought the defense really dominated down the stretch. Take out the first 10 minutes of the second half, we were really good defensively. Then offensively, we did enough to win and did a much better job in the second half."
            After an 11-day break for semester final exams, the Bears will play their second game in three days and last before an extended Christmas break. Baylor will face Nicholls (6-6) on Dec. 28 before opening Big 12 play with a road test at Iowa State (9-2) on New Year's Eve.
            "We have to make sure that we're ready to go," Drew said. "We want to make sure that we prepare these guys so that they can be in the best position to be successful heading into Christmas. We try to play a tough non-conference to prepare them for the Big 12, because that is a grind and they have to be ready."
            Baylor is 9-1 all-time and 3-0 in the Drew era versus the Demons, including last year's 104-68 blowout on Dec. 28, when the Bears were coming off a seven-day Christmas break. Flagler hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the win.
            Northwestern State is playing its third Big 12 opponent this season after losing to Texas Tech, 73-49, in the season opener and upsetting then-No. 15 TCU, 64-63, on Nov. 14 in Fort Worth. That started a seven-game winning streak that ended with Saturday's 110-73 blowout loss at Rice.
            The Demons are led by 6-3 senior guard DeMarcus Sharp, a transfer from Missouri State who is averaging 16.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. First-year head coach Corey Gipson also brought guards Ja'Monta Black (14.1 ppg) and Isaac Haney (12.8 ppg) with him from Missouri State.
            While 7-foot-3 center Jordan Wilmore isn't much of a scoring threat – five points in 11 games – the Missouri transfer is averaging 2.2 points and 0.9 blocks and "has the potential to be a defensive juggernaut," Gipson said.
            "Even when he doesn't block a shot, he's altering it because of his length," Gipson said. "Then when they try to run through him, they find out he's a brick wall. He's always been great at batting balls, now he's chasing balls."
            Wilmore will be a challenge for 6-10 senior forward Flo Thamba, who is averaging 4.6 points, a team-high 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. Thamba, who will be honored prior to the game for his school-record 100^th career victory, rotates with 6-10 freshman Josh Ojianwuna (5.3 ppg, 3.4 rebounds).
            "These types of games, in my opinion, are fun," Wilmore said. "There are guys who are close to my size. It gives me intensity and strength. It's like a fun puzzle piece to play with them."
            Tuesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor basketball standout King McClure calling the action.


STORY LINES

• No. 12/13 Baylor returns home to host Northwestern State in the final game before Christmas.

• Prior to tip, BU will honor Flo Thamba for his 100th career win, the most in program history.

• BU is 9-1 all time against Northwestern State, and the two are meeting for the second-straight year.

• The Bears have won four-straight in the series, including a 104-68 win over the Demons last season.

• The Bears are the best offense in the Big 12 (6th best in the nation) according to Ken Pom (116.1 Adj. Efficiency rating), averaging 82.6 points per game. 

• BU has won 69-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).

• Baylor is 78-4 in its last 82 non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 12, 2012.

• Baylor is 24-7 against AP top 25 teams over the last four seasons, the nation's best mark against ranked teams. 15 of those wins came against top 25 teams away from home.

• With its 63rd consecutive week in the AP Top 25, Baylor has the nations second-longest streak (Gonzaga 121).

• The 12th-ranked Bears spent a school record 54-straight weeks top-10 ranked in the AP Poll (12/19/19 -12/5/22).

• Keyonte George scored a game-high 19 points to lift BU to a win over Washington St., its seventh-straight win over a Pac-12 foe (12/18)

• Down its two leading scorers, George and Langston Love and went for 20+ points each to lift the Bears past Tarleton (12/6).

• BU held the nation's best offense in Gonzaga, to a season-low 63 points in a 64-63 win in the inaugural Peacock Classic (12/2).

• LJ Cryer set career highs in points (28), field goals (10), rebounds (4) and minutes (35) against No. 8 UCLA (11/20).

• Cryer's 23.5 points per game in Las Vegas earned his first-career Big 12 Player of the Week Award.

• Baylor has had at least one player score 20+ points in seven of the last 11 games.

• Adam Flagler and Keyonte George have three 20-point games in that stretch, followed by Cryer (2), Jalen Bridges (1), and Love (1).

• With a 95-62 win over Northern Colorado (11/14), Scott Drew became one of 10 active coaches with 400+ wins at his current institution.

• Drew has a winning percentage of .700 (370-155) since BU's first year with no scholarship restrictions in 2007-08.

• In his 20th season at BU, Drew is coming off Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for a 3rd-straight season, joining Gene Keady (Purdue, 94-96) and Jay Wright (Villanova, 14-16) as the only high-major coaches to accomplish the feat.

• Baylor is 44-5 vs. unranked teams over the last three seasons.

• With a 117-53 win in the season opener against Mississippi Valley State (11/7), BU notched the third-largest margin of victory in program history, and 117 points were 1 shy of a Ferrell Center record.

• In an 87-70 win over Norfolk State, BU shot 38 three-pointers, the second-most in the Scott Drew era and the fifth-most in school history.

• Baylor is playing its 630th game of the 20-year Drew era – more than half (321) have been as a ranked team.