No. 21 MBB Opens Road Swing with a Trip to Lubbock
1/16/2023 11:31:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BU enters with four wins in the last six meetings with the Red Raiders
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21/22 BAYLOR BEARS (12-5, 2-3 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
TEXAS TECH (10-7, 0-5) vs. 21/22 BAYLOR (12-5, 2-3) Jan. 17, 2022 • 8:00 p.m. CT Lubbock, Texas • United Supermarkets Arena (15,098) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPNU Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Chris Spatola (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and on the Varsity Network App. Talent: John Morris (PBP) National Radio (Westwood One): Kyle Youmans (pxp), Doug Gottlieb (analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 83, XM 83, Internet 381 Baylor Social Media:    |
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TEXAS TECH (10-7, 0-5 Big 12) 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
Jumping back into the top 25 after a one-week absence, the No. 21/22 Baylor Bears (12-5, 2-3) will try to build on their two-game winning streak when they face Texas Tech (10-7, 0-5) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
Coming off one of its most complete games of the season, Baylor followed up an 83-78 road win at West Virginia with a tip-to-buzzer 74-58 victory over Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center. LJ Cryer led a balanced attack with 16 points, while Jalen Bridges and Flo Thamba added 12 points apiece and helped the Bears dominate the boards, 41-30.
"I take every game personally, especially when it comes to rebounding," said Thamba, who added four rebounds. "I always try to make sure I set the tone so that the rest of the guys follow. Throughout our history, Baylor has always prided ourselves on offensive rebounding. Defensive rebounding was down, but we'll try to get better at that. Offensive rebounding, there shouldn't be any letdown with that."
While Tech is on its first five-game losing streak in eight years, four of its five conference losses have come by six points or fewer. The Red Raiders led 10th-ranked Texas by as many as 12 points in the first half of Saturday's game in Austin before falling, 72-70.
"Teams can be dangerous if they're hungry and have their backs to the wall," said Tech head coach Mark Adams. "We have to fit that mold. I would like to think that we are dangerous. We want to get that win."
Last year, Tech swept the season series, knocking off a then-No. 1 Baylor, 65-62, on Jan. 11 in Waco and then winning 83-73 on Feb. 16 in Lubbock. The Bears are 20-47 all-time in Lubbock, but have won nine of the last 15 going back to the 2008 season.
"Everyone knows how good they are defensively," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, who is 22-15 all-time in the series. "Everyone knows how crazy the atmosphere is there. It's hard to win on the road, and we're really going to have to be focused and prepared. . . . We had great prep coming into (the OSU) game. If you have a great prep, it gives you a chance to be successful."
Fifth-year senior forward Kevin Obanor, who transferred from Oral Roberts last year, leads the Red Raiders with 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He is closing in on elite club with 1,937 career points and 996 rebounds. Oregon transfer De'Vion Harmon is next at 12.5 points per game, followed by freshman Pop Isaacs (11.9 ppg) and sophomore Daniel Batcho (10.4 ppg, 7.3 rebounds).
Highly touted transfer Aimaq Fardaws, a two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Year at Utah Valley State, played his first game in a Tech uniform and had 12 points and five rebounds in Saturday's loss at Texas.
Thamba, a fifth-year senior, said it's "always tough playing" in Lubbock.
"They have a great atmosphere, a great crowd," he said. "We've just got to go in there and be poised, try to handle our business, stay connected, and we'll be all right."
The Bears had four double-figure scorers in the win over Oklahoma State, with senior guard Adam Flagler adding 11 points and eight assists. Freshman guard Keyonte George had a 32-point outing in the road win at West Virginia and had eight points, five assists and a career-high eight rebounds against the Cowboys.
"He gives you somebody who can really pass," Drew said of George, who is second in the league in conference-only games with 21.0 points per game. "I know there's an adjustment turnover-wise, and he's getting better at that. His ability to make ball-screen reads, his ability to find open people and hit the bigs. We talk about three-level scorers. He's a three-level passer. He can hit any pass on the court."
Tuesday's game will be broadcast by ESPNU, with Rich Hollenberg and Chris Spatola calling the action.
Story lines
• Baylor travels to Lubbock for a Tuesday night tilt with Texas Tech at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
• After a one-week absence from the AP Top 25, the Bears returned to the Poll at No. 21 this week. They have now been ranked in 66 of the last 67 AP Polls.
• This will be the seventh-straight meeting between these two where BU is ranked, it matches the longest such streak in series history (2015-2017). Baylor was unranked in the first 116 meetings with Texas Tech.
• The Bears and Red Raiders meet for the 145th time, with Texas Tech holding an 82-62 series advantage, with Baylor winning six of the last nine meetings.
• Last year's sweep by Texas Tech was the first series sweep by the Red Raiders since 2004-2005.
• Baylor is 8-5 in 13 trips to Lubbock since 2010, and is 21-9 against Tech since 2007-2008, its first year under Drew without scholarship restrictions.
• Baylor is 77-21 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced deeper into postseason play than any of Texas' 23 Division I teams in five of the last nine seasons.
• BU is coming off a week where they were the only Big 12 road team to win a game.
• All five of BU's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25, and in the top 22 of the latest NCAA Net rankings.
• Baylor's 44-11 Big 12 record over the last 3+ seasons is the 2nd best of any Power-5 team.
• BU is 158-92 in Big 12 play in 13 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.
• The Bears are the best offense in the Big 12 (8th best in the nation) according to Ken Pom (117.8 Adj. Efficiency rating), averaging 80.6 points per game.
• With a KenPom experience rating of 1.72, the Bears are the second-youngest team in the Big 12.
• BU has won 73-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).
• Baylor is 24-8 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.
• Eleven of Baylor's 12 starting point guards during the Scott Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
• Baylor's starting point guard has earned All-Big 12 recognition in 17 of 18 seasons since 2004-05.
• Adam Flagler and Keyonte George were named to the Wooden Award Mid-season Top-25. BU is one of three schools with multiple players on the list (Kansas and North Carolina).
• George Has seven 20-point games this season, the most by a BU freshman since Aaron Bruce (9) (2004-05).
• George's 17.2 points per game rank second among freshman in Division I.
• George's 32 points at West Virginia were the most by a BU freshman since LaceDarius Dunn's 38 at Texas Tech (3/8/08).
• Baylor is 47-7 vs. unranked teams over the last three seasons.
• BU held NWST to 48 points and improved to 44-1 under Drew when holding an opponent under 50 points (12/20).
• The Bears spent a school record 54-straight weeks top-10 ranked in the AP Poll (12/19/19 -12/5/22).
• Flagler, George and L.J. Cryer are all in the top-12 in the Big 12 in points per game, one of four schools to have multiple players and the only one to have three in the top-12.
