#7/8 BAYLOR BEARS (21-4, 9-3) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	#7/8 BAYLOR (21-4, 9-3) at #11/11 TEXAS TECH (19-6, 8-4) Feb. 16, 2022 • 8:00 p.m. CT Lubbock, Texas • United Supermarkets Arena (15,000)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Jon Sciambi (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield / 1660 AM & 92.3 FM in Central Texas Talent: John Morris (PBP), David Kaye (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 84, XM, 84, Internet 84 Baylor Social Media:
	#11/11 TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (19-6, 8-4) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mark Adams  (Texas Tech, 1979) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Three years ago, Baylor survived Tristan Clark's season-ending injury to win 10 of its last 15 regular-season games and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
            Already dealing with four players in and out of the lineup for the last five weeks with injuries, the seventh-ranked Bears (21-4, 9-3) will get another serious test of their depth and resiliency when they face No. 11 Texas Tech (21-6, 8-4) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at United Supermarkets Arena in their first game without Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. 
            The 6-8 junior forward suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half of Saturday's 80-63 win over 20^th-ranked Texas and had surgery on Tuesday to repair multiple ligaments in his left knee. 
            "Obviously, Jon's a big part of everything we do," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "One of the biggest things we'll miss is not only his contribution on game day and on the court, but in practice every day he competes at such a high level, it makes everybody better. And the energy he brings, everybody's got to pick that up, because iron sharpens iron. We've got to keep improving as much as we can between now and our last game of the year."
            Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who was averaging 8.4 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds, was part of a rotation at the inside "5" position with 6-10 senior Flo Thamba. Picking up the slack after JTT left the game at the 11:41 mark of the first half, Thamba (5.0 ppg, 5.0 rebounds) played a career-high 30 minutes and recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. 
            "We had four-hour practices in the summer, so I can last longer in a game," Thamba said. "I'm still going to be aggressive, I'm still going to be physical. You just have to avoid situations where you know you're going to get a foul call. But, as far as my physicality and intensity, that's not going to change."
            Drew said he can go smaller with 6-9 freshman Jeremy Sochan (8.1 ppg, 6.0 rebounds) filling in at the "5," but also has 7-footer Zach Loveday on the bench. Loveday has played limited minutes in 23 games over the last two seasons, but was was ranked the 12^th-best center in the 2020 recruiting class by Rivals. 
            "Besides that, it seems like everybody's going five guards anyway," Drew said, "but Jeremy's already had reps in there and Zach's played there all year. Those are your two initial reactions. And then from there, whatever the game dictates."
            Even 6-9 senior Matthew Mayer (9.3 ppg, 4.7 rebounds) is willing to fill in if needed. 
            "If (Flo) gets into foul trouble, I love playing the 5. That's my favorite position," Mayer said. "I like playing small ball, but I also like having Flo in the game blocking shots."
            Leading scorer LJ Cryer (13.9 ppg) has missed the last five games with a foot injury, but Drew said "there's been more hope" for his return pretty much every day. 
            "Literally, we could walk out today in practice, and he could do everything, or he could do nothing," Drew said. "I'll see what he does today and then see where he is (on Wednesday). The good thing is LJ is a really tough kid. When he's able to play, he will play."
            The Bears are facing a Texas Tech team that handed them their first loss of the season, 65-62, on Jan. 11 at the Ferrell Center. Down by 15, the Red Raiders ended the first half on a 10-0 run and outscored the Bears, 39-31, in the second half, finishing with five double-figure scorers. 
            "I thought we got off to a great start here," Drew said. "And then the things that got us the lead, we stopped doing. So, we've just got to do that for 40 minutes instead of 15."
            Under first-year head coach Mark Adams, Tech is led by 6-8 UTEP transfer Bryson Williams (13.4 ppg, 4.5 rebounds). Junior guard Terrance Shannon, who missed the first Baylor game with a back injury, had 20 points in Saturday's 82-69 win over TCU when the Red Raiders again trailed by double digits in the first half.
            While Adams replaced Chris Beard when he left to take the job at Texas, Drew said "the culture that they built there together still remains the same."
            "They're big, strong and physical, do a great job making everything tough, do a great job competing on the glass," Drew said. "The system hasn't changed that much, especially on the defensive end. The common denominator is great defense. They don't beat themselves, they compete. That's all still there."
            Wednesday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla calling the action. 
            Baylor returns home to face TCU (16-7, 5-6) at 11 a.m. Saturday in a closing stretch that includes three home games and two more on the road. 
 

STORY LINES

• No. 7 Baylor heads back on the road for another marquee matchup at No. 11 Texas Tech.

• Wednesday is the 144th series meeting, with Baylor holding a 23-14 edge in the Scott Drew era.

• This is the 4th-consecutive matchup with both teams top-20 ranked after that not happening in any of the first 140 series meetings. This is also the first time both teams are top-14 ranked.

• Baylor is 8-4 in 12 trips to Lubbock since 2010, and BU is 23-10 overall against Texas Tech since 2006.

• BU lost 65-62 when the teams met in Waco on Jan. 11. BU built a 15-point first-half lead and led for more than 31 minutes in the game, but Tech led for the final 4:52 after jumping in front 54-52.

• BU is coming off a 80-63 win over No. 20 Texas. All five BU starters scored in double-figures for the first time in two years, but the Bears lost Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to a season-ending knee injury.

• Flo Thamba played a career-high 30 minutes and had his first double-double (12 pts, 11 rebs, 4 blks).

• Six of Baylor's rotation players have dealt with injuries this season – Langston Love and Tchamwa Tchatchoua are out for the year, while Akinjo, Flagler, Sochan and Cryer have all missed time.

• Baylor leads the nation with 9 Quad 1 wins (9-3), while Kansas (8-3) is the only other team with 8+.

• The Bears are 20-5 against ranked teams over the last 3 seasons, including 12-3 away from home.

• Baylor is 5-1 in Big 12 road games this season, while the rest of the league is a combined 17-37.

• Baylor is 19-4 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons (rest of league is 76-136 in B12 road games).

• The Bears have won 15 of their last 17 games away from home – 9-0 neutral, 6-2 road.

• Baylor has reached the 20-win milestone for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. Prior to that, BU recorded only three 20-win seasons in the first 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).

• BU is playing its 303rd 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 288 of 425 games.

• Baylor's 37-7 Big 12 Conference record over the last 3 seasons is the best of any Power-5 team.

• Baylor's 49-6 record over the last 2 seasons is the nation's best among Power-5 teams, and the Bears' 75-10 record over the last 3 seasons is 2nd-best nationally, trailing only Gonzaga (82-5).

• BU is 16-0 this season when winning points off turnovers and 17-0 when winning points in the paint.

• Baylor is the only High Major team ranked top-50 in scoring offense (37th) and scoring defense (24th).

• Baylor ranks top-25 nationally in scoring margin (7th, +15.6), steals (11th, 9.4), assists (17th, 16.5), offensive rebounds (13th, 13.2), turnovers forced (17th, 16.8), turnover margin (22nd, +3.7), rebounding margin (22nd, +6.8), adj. offensive efficiency (7th, 117.9) and adj. defensive efficiency (13th, 90.1).

• BU ranks 2nd nationally in KenPom's offensive rebound pct (38.0), its 8th-straight year ranked top-10.

• Over the last 3 seasons, Baylor is 62-3 when leading at the half and 75-5 when taking a 2nd-half lead.

• BU has forced 10+ turnovers in 33-straight games, including 12+ TOs in 23 of 25 games this season.

• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 44-straight weeks top-10 ranked (top-5 ranked in 38 of those).

• BU is on a school-record streak of 52-straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 (previous record was 25). It's the nation's 3rd-longest active streak behind Gonzaga (110) and Villanova (55).

QUICK HITS

• Baylor has been ranked in all 10 spots in the AP Top 10 within the last 11 months (16 total weekly polls).

• Baylor has been ranked in all 25 spots in the AP Top 25 at some point in the last 7 years.

• Baylor has been No. 1 ranked in 4 of the last 6 seasons (Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas are only others).

• Baylor and Kansas are the only Power-5 schools to win 18+ games every year since 2008.

• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 28 of 31 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (26-4 record).

• BU has built double-digit leads in 73 of 85 games over the last 3 seasons (49 of 55 last 2 seasons).

• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 19th season at Baylor with a school-record 391 career victories, including a 17-8 mark in NCAA Tournaments, which is the 7th-best mark among active coaches.

• Drew has swept AP and coaches' Big 12 Coach of the Year honors each of the last two seasons.

• For a second-straight season, Baylor was one of the nation's final two undefeated teams.

• BU went 305 days between losses, the longest in program history (March 12, 2021 – Jan. 11, 2022).

• BU had a 36-game non-conference winning streak with 813 days between losses (Nov. 8, 2019 – Jan. 29, 2022).

• BU went 1,038 days without consecutive losses before dropping back-to-back games Jan. 11 and Jan. 15.

• Baylor became the first program to start consecutive seasons 15-0 since Syracuse in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

• Baylor's streak of 9 consecutive postseasons is tied as the nation's 7th-longest active streak.

• Baylor is 92-6 when leading at halftime over the last 5 seasons (62-3 over last 3 seasons, 24-0 last season).

• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (209-22).

• BU is 75-5 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game over the last 3 seasons.

• Baylor is 266-103 over the last 11 seasons, averaging 24.5 wins per season since 2011-12.

• Baylor's 266 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (306).

• Baylor is 357-150 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 987 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was nearly 32 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).

• 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.

NOTABLE STREAKS

• Baylor has taken a lead in 111-consecutive games (last wire-to-wire loss Dec. 1, 2018 at Wichita State).

• BU has won 60-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).

• Baylor has won 20-straight when winning points in the paint and 22-straight when winning points off turnovers.

• Baylor has won 36-straight games when shooting 50% or higher (last loss March 18, 2018 vs. Mississippi State).

• Baylor has won 36-straight games when scoring 80+ points (last loss Jan. 5, 2019 vs. TCU).

• Baylor has had at least 3 players make 3-pointers in 28-consecutive games (last on March 27, 2021 vs. Villanova).

• Baylor has made 3 or more 3-pointers in 114-consecutive games (last on Nov. 23, 2018 vs. Ole Miss).

• Baylor has won 9-consecutive neutral-site games – (last loss Nov. 8, 2019 vs. Washington in Alaska).

• Baylor has won 21-consecutive non-conference home games (last loss Dec. 18, 2018 vs. SFA).

For the full version of Baylor's game notes, click here. For the full version of Texas Tech's game notes, click here.