Baylor
Florida
No. 13 MBB Set to Face Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game
11/23/2023 11:08:00โฏAM | Men's Basketball
The Bears aim for fifth regular-season tournament title in last six events
 |
13/12 BAYLOR BEARS (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location:ย Waco, Texasย Conference/Affiliation:ย Big 12 Head Coach:ย Scott Drewย (Butler, 1993) Rosterย |ย Statsย |ย Game Notesย (PDF) |
13/12 BAYLORย (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. nr/rvย FLORIDAย (4-1, 0-0 SEC)ย Nov. 24, 2023 โข 4:30 p.m. CT New York, N.Y. โข Barclays Center (19,000)ย LIVE STATS:ย Stat Broadcast WATCH:ย ESPN Talent:ย Kevin Brownย (pxp), Fran Fraschillaย (analyst) LISTEN:ย Baylor Sports Media Network viaย ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FMย in Central Texas and worldwide atย centexsportsfan.com Talent:ย John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM:ย SiriusXMย 84 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:ย  ย  ย  |
 |
nr/rv FLORIDA GATORS (4-1, 0-0 SEC 12) Location:ย Gainesville, Fla. Conference/Affiliation:ย SEC Head Coach:ย Todd Golden (St. Mary's, 2008) Rosterย |ย Statsย | Game Notes |
|
Story lines
โข No. 13/12 Baylor meets Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game.
โข Baylor is 41-13 in regular-season tournaments during the Drew era, and is seeking it's fifth regular-season tournamnent title in it's last six appearances.
โข The Bears and Gators meet for the fourth time, with Baylor holding a 2-1 series advantage.
โข In the last meeting, No. 1 Baylor beat Florida 72-61 to match the best start in school history at the time (1/25/20).
โข The Bears are 19-11 against SEC spponents during the Drew era, including 14-7 since 2012-13, and five of the last six meetings.
โข BU has won 14 of its last 15 regular-season neutral-site contests.
โข Baylor improved to 5-0 for the fourth time in the last six seasons with a 88-72 win over Oregon State in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
โข With the win, the Bears improved to 12-1 against their last 13 Pac 12 opponents, with wins in each of their last 7 meetings against teams from out west.
โข With his third 20-point performance of the season (24), Ja'Kobe Walter became the highest scoring freshman through five games in the Scott Drew era (96 points).
โข Walter is averaging 19.2 points per game, which ranks in the top-3 among freshman in Division I.
โข Walter is the first freshman in program history to collect Big 12 Player of the Week honors (11/13).
โข The Bears won four games in eight days to start a season for the first time since 1992-93.
โข Friday's game marks the second of four regular-season games in an NBA Arena, the most in program history.
โข Baylor is replacing four of its five starters and 68% of its scoring from a season ago.ย
โข Only one returning player averaged more than 20-minutes per game last season (Jalen Bridges).ย
โข 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.
โข 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.
โข 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.
โข 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.ย
โข Baylor is 82-13 vs. unranked teams over the last four seasons (.862%).
โข BU is 83-20 over the last four seasons, tied for the nation's best record by a Power-6 team in that span.
โข Baylor is 109-24 over the last four-plus seasons, the nation's best winning percentage among Power-6 teams in that span.
โข Baylor has built leads of 10+ points in 55 of 77 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament (52-3 record).
โข 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.
โข The Bears have been ranked in 75 of the last 76 AP Polls.
For the full version of Baylor's game notes, click here.
