13/12 BAYLOR BEARS (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	13/12 BAYLOR (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. OREGON STATE (3-1, 0-0 Pac 12)  Nov. 22, 2023 • 6:05 p.m. CT New York, N.Y. • Barclays Center (19,000)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Kevin Brown (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 84 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	OREGON STATE BEAVERS (3-1, 0-0 Pac 12) Location: Corvallis, Ore. Conference/Affiliation: Pac 12 Head Coach: Wayne Tinkle (Montana, 2005) Roster | Stats | Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
Playing its first game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and first of a program-record four games at NBA arenas this season, 13^th-ranked Baylor (4-0) will face Oregon State (3-1) at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday in the opener of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
 
"Most of our players grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, who is 40-13 in regular-season tournaments, with the Bears winning 13 of their last 14 neutral-site games. "Whenever you get a chance to play in a venue like that, it's something they'll always remember."
 
Florida (3-1) and Pitt (4-0) square off in the late game at 8:30 p.m. CT Wednesday, with the consolation game at 2 p.m. Friday, followed by the championship at 4:30 p.m.
 
"It's a blessing, first, that we even get the opportunity to play in Brooklyn," said senior forward Jalen Bridges, who is averaging 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. "Then, there are three really good teams that we have the possibility of playing. So, it's a great chance for us to test where we are. There's going to be adversity, and it's a great test to see how we'll stick together and how we'll come out."
 
The Bears are coming off their most complete game of the year, blowing out a good Kansas City team, 99-61, last Tuesday in their fourth game in eight days. VCU transfer Jayden Nunn and freshman Ja'Kobe Walter hit four 3-pointers apiece and led four players in double figures with 25 and 23 points, respectively.
 
It was the second 20-point outing for Walter, who is averaging 18.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while knocking down 39.1% from 3-point range. Freshman 7-footer Yves Missi has also made an immediate impact, averaging 8.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks and shooting 56.5% from the floor.
 
"Yves has really progressed from last year," Drew said. "His high school team, their staff, did a great job with him. He was prolific, had a great year, but that really helped give him some confidence. He's only played organized basketball for a couple years. He was 6-7 a couple years ago, so he's still growing into his body and figuring things out."
 
Both of the talented freshmen have shown up on NBA mock draft boards, with Walter projected as a high lottery pick.
 
"That's what happens when you have talented players," Drew said. "It's better to have more players on those boards than not."
 
Redshirt sophomore guard Langston Love, who's been a spark off the bench with three double-digit outings and 11.8 points per game, said the freshmen "came in and worked hard, and that's all you can ask for."
 
"The rest of it takes care of itself, really," Love said. "They're just willing to learn every day, willing to put the work in. As long as they do those two things, everything should go in their favor."
 
An Elite Eight team during Baylor's run to the 2021 national championship, Oregon State is coming off an 84-63 loss to Nebraska at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Bears came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat Auburn, 88-82, in the Nov. 7 season opener at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
Led by sophomore guard Jordan Pope (20.5 ppg), the Beavers have a big frontline with 6-9 sophomore forward Tyler Bilodeau (15.0 ppg, 8.8 rebounds) and 7-2 senior center Chol Marial and can bring a freshman 7-footer and two 6-10 forwards off the bench.
 
"Oregon State has a lot of size," Drew said. "Nowadays, there are a lot of four-out, one-in. And they've got a bigger team than you might face on a normal night. It's a program that's had a lot of success, an Elite Eight a couple years ago. And Pope, their point guard, is averaging over 20 a game. If you're doing that at the Power 5 level, or at any school, that's impressive.
 
"Again, it's New York, a great platform, a great opportunity for us to play against a Pac-12 school. And then, you have two quality opponents, win or lose, the next round."
 
Wednesdays Baylor-Oregon State game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Kevin Brown and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.


Story lines

• No. 13/12 Hits the road for the second time this season for the NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

• Baylor is 40-13 in regular-season tournaments during the Drew era, including titles in 4 of the last 5 tournaments.

• The Bears open the event against Oregon State, the second all-time meeting between the two, with the last coming 50 years ago, an 88-54 Beaver victory in Portland, Ore.

• BU has won 13 of its last 14 regular-season neutral-site contests.

• Baylor's stretch of four games in eight days to start a season are its most compressed start to a season since 2012-13.

• The Bears won four games in eight days to start a season for the first time since 1992-93.

• Wednesday's game marks the first of four regular-season games in an NBA Arena, the most in program history.

• Baylor is replacing four of its five starters and 68% of its scoring from a season ago. 

• Only one returning player averaged more than 20-minutes per game last season (Jalen Bridges). 

• Ja'Kobe Walter is averaging 18 points per game through his first four games of the season, earning Big 12 Player of the Week and NABC Player of the week honors. 

• Walter is the first freshman in program history to collect Big 12 Player of the Week honors 

• BU erased a nine-point halftime deficit in the season opener against Auburn to win 88-82 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

• The nine-point halftime deficit matched BU's largest halftime deficit overcome in a win since coming back from 11 down to beat Texas in overtime on Feb. 27, 2019 in Waco.

• Five-star freshman Walter burst out of the gates against Auburn with 28-points, the most by a freshman in a debut in program history.

• Walter is one of four freshman in Big 12 history to score at least 28 points in his debut, and the only one to do it against a power conference opponent. 

• Walter went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line making him the ninth different player in program history to shoot 1.000 percent from the line [min. 10 attempts]

• Baylor is 81-13 vs. unranked teams over the last four seasons (.862%).

• BU is 82-20 over the last three-plus seasons, tied for the nation's best record by a Power-6 team in that span.

• Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 54 of 76 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (51-3 record).

• The Bears opened the season as a ranked team for the fifth-straight season, and 11 of the last 14 seasons since its first preseason ranking in 2010-11.

• BU is one of just five schools to be ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll in at least two of the last four seasons

• The Bears have been ranked in 75 of the last 76 AP Polls.

• BU is the only program with three-straight top-16 picks and only one of two with three-straight top-20 picks (Duke).

• Baylor is 108-24 over the last four-plus seasons, the nation's best winning percentage among Power-6 teams in that span.

• BU is playing its 351st game as a ranked team under Scott Drew — Baylor was ranked in just two of 2,197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew.