Baylor
Kansas State
No. 10 MBB Wraps Up Road Swing at Kansas State
2/8/2022 11:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bears Look for third-straight win in the Little Apple
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#10/10 BAYLOR BEARS (19-4, 7-3) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
#10/10 BAYLOR (19-4, 7-3) at KANSAS STATE (12-10, 4-6) Feb. 9, 2022 • 7:00 p.m. CT Manhattan, Kan. • Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Ted Emrich (pxp), Bryndon Manzer (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield / 1660 AM & 92.3 FM in Central Texas Talent: John Morris (PBP), David Kaye (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 83, XM, 83, Internet 83 Baylor Social Media:    |
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KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (12-10, 4-6) Location: Manhattan, Kan. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Bruce Webber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1978) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Mac Davis once sang that "happiness was Lubbock, Texas, in my rearview mirror."
For the 10th-ranked Baylor Bears, there was nothing better than seeing Kansas in their rearview mirror after Saturday's 83-59 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.
Four days later, though, Baylor (19-4, 7-3) is back in Kansas for a matchup against Kansas State (12-10, 4-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.
"Hopefully, a different return trip," Baylor coach Scott Drew said, "because obviously all of us were embarrassed on how we performed on Saturday. Had a good opportunity to meet with guys, going over what went wrong. Usually, you have a game like that once or twice a year. We just haven't had one like that, to that extent, in three years or so. Obviously, not fun."
The last time Baylor was beaten that badly was during the 2018-19 season, when the Bears followed up an 86-61 loss at Texas Tech with a 73-69 win on the road over 19th-ranked Iowa State.
"I know we're going to spend some time on it, but not enough that it costs us the game on Wednesday, because we can't replay that game," Drew said. "We will do our best to make improvements, make adjustments. And then, at the same time, get prepared."
That includes a big emphasis on rebounding and transition defense. Against KU, the Bears were outrebounded, 46-37, giving up 20 second-chance points and 17 on fast breaks.
"Rebounding and transition defense were the biggest culprits that game," Drew said. "We got offensive rebounds, we just didn't convert enough and we didn't get them early enough. . . . Some of it was effort and rotations and getting back. As a coach, you always look first at, what could we do better? Obviously, we'll spend a little more time in practice on transition defense."
Dealing with players in and out of the lineup for the last month, Baylor's best game in that stretch was a 74-49 blowout victory over K-State 15 days ago at the Ferrell Center.
Holding the Wildcats to 31.7% shooting and a season-low 49 points, the Bears got double-double performances from Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (13 points, 12 rebounds) and freshman Kendall Brown (10 points, 11 boards).
While senior point guard James Akino missed that one with a tailbone injury, sophomore LJ Cryer hasn't played in a game since hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 14 points in the win over K-State.
"We had a lot of energy and focused from the defensive side, which helped us," said freshman forward Jeremy Sochan, who had missed four-straight games with a sprained ankle before getting five points, two rebounds, two steals and a block versus the Wildcats. "We scored in transition and they didn't. So, if we keep doing that, we'll get the same outcome as last time."
Much like the first meeting, Baylor's defensive focus is containing sophomore guard Nijel Pack, who is third in the Big 12 in scoring (17.0 ppg) and 3-point shooting percentage (.434).
"I think everybody knows, Nijel Pack is one of the best players in the league," said Baylor senior Matthew Mayer, who is averaging 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. "So, I think it starts with shutting him down."
After getting off to a 15-0 start and being ranked No. 1 for five-straight weeks before the injuries, the Bears are 4-4 since then, but seem to be putting all the pieces back in place. Adam Flagler (bruised knee), Akinjo and Sochan all played against Kansas, but Cryer has missed the last three with a foot injury, a stretch when the Bears have given up 79.3 points per game.
"Adam's getting better, James is getting better, Jeremy's getting better," Drew said. "Really now, it's just waiting on LJ, and hopefully we can get him back. We haven't lost when we've had everybody. But, having everybody and practicing and being in a rhythm all go hand in hand as well."
Wednesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Ted Emrich and former Oklahoma State standout Bryndon Manzer calling the action.
STORYLINES
• No. 10 Baylor heads back on the road for Wednesday's 7 p.m. CT game at Kansas State.
• Wednesday is the 48th all-time meeting. Baylor leads 24-23, including 23-18 in the Big 12 era.
• Baylor is 10-12 all-time in Manhattan and looks to win a 3rd-straight in Manhattan for the first time.
• BU has out-scored K-State 355-245 in 4 games over the last 2 seasons (average of 89-61).
• Baylor has won all 6 games vs. K-State over the last 3 seasons, its longest winning streak in series history.
• BU has held K-State below 70 points while scoring 73+ points in each of the last 6 meetings.
• BU hasn't trailed by more than 3 points in any of the 6 games against K-State over the last 3 seasons.
• The Bears have led for 96% of game time (229:49 of 240:00) and trailed for only 1% (3:05 of 240:00) in the last 6 meetings vs. K-State. BU led wire-to-wire in 4 of those 6 meetings.
• BU is tied for the nation's lead with 7 Quad 1 wins (tied with Auburn, Kansas, Marquette, Wisconsin).
• BU is 34-2 vs. unranked teams over the last 2 seasons (+21.6 avg margin) with all wins by 4+ points.
• Baylor is 4-1 in Big 12 road games this season, while the rest of the league is a combined 16-28.
• Baylor is 18-4 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons (rest of league is 75-127 in B12 road games).
• BU has won 14 of its last 16 games away from home – 9-0 neutral, 5-2 road.
• Baylor's 19-4 record is its lowest winning percentage through 23 games since 2018-19. BU was 22-1 in both 2020 & 2021. The Bears are a combined 63-6 through their first 23 games over the last 3 seasons.
• Baylor needs one more win to record the 13th 20-win season in the last 15 years. Prior to that, BU recorded only three 20-win seasons in the first 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• BU has been 7-2 or better midway through Big 12 play in 3-straight seasons (only once previously – 2012).
• BU is playing its 301st 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 286 of 423 games.
• Baylor's 35-7 Big 12 Conference record over the last 3 seasons is the best of any Power-5 team.
• Baylor's 47-6 record over the last 2 seasons is the nation's best among Power-5 teams, and the Bears' 73-10 record over the last 3 seasons is 2nd-best nationally, trailing only Gonzaga (81-5).
• BU is 16-0 this season when winning points off turnovers and 15-0 when winning points in the paint.
• Baylor is the nation's only team ranked top-40 in scoring offense (39th) and scoring defense (25th).
• Baylor ranks top-25 nationally in scoring margin (8th, +15.6), steals (10th, 9.6), assists (15th, 16.9), offensive rebounds (13th, 13.3), turnovers forced (18th, 17.1), turnover margin (21st, +4.0), rebounding margin (24th, +6.7), adj. offensive efficiency (9th, 117.5) and adj. defensive efficiency (17th, 90.9).
• Over the last 3 seasons, Baylor is 61-3 when leading at the half and 73-5 when taking a 2nd-half lead.
• BU has forced 10+ turnovers in 31-straight games, including 12+ TOs in 22 of 23 games this season.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 43-straight weeks top-10 ranked (top-5 ranked in 38 of those).
• BU is on a school-record streak of 51-straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 (previous record was 25). It's the nation's 3rd-longest active streak behind Gonzaga (109) and Villanova (54).
• Baylor has been ranked in all 25 spots in the AP Top 25 at some point in the last 7 years.
QUICK HITS
• 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.
• BU ranks 4th nationally in KenPom's offensive rebound pct (37.7), its 8th-straight year ranked top-10.
• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 26 of 29 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (25-4 record).
• BU has built double-digit leads in 71 of 83 games over the last 3 seasons (47 of 53 last 2 seasons).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 19th season at Baylor with a school-record 389 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 91-6 when leading at halftime over the last 5 seasons (61-3 over last 3 seasons, 24-0 last season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (208-22).
• BU is 73-5 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game over the last 3 seasons.
• Baylor is 264-103 over the last 10+ seasons, averaging 24.5 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 264 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (304).
• Baylor is 355-150 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 985 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 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 won 6-straight games against Kansas State, which is the Bears' longest winning streak in series history and ties the longest streak by either team (K-State won 6-straight in 2017-19).
• Baylor has taken a lead in 109-consecutive games (last wire-to-wire loss Dec. 1, 2018 at Wichita State).
• BU has won 58-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).
• Baylor has won 35-straight games when shooting 50% or higher (last loss March 18, 2018 vs. Mississippi State).
• Baylor has won 35-straight games when scoring 80+ points (last loss Jan. 5, 2019 vs. TCU).
• Baylor has had at least 3 players make 3-pointers in 26-consecutive games (last on March 27, 2021 vs. Villanova).
• Baylor has made 3 or more 3-pointers in 112-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 Kansas State's Game notes, click here.
