10/10 BAYLOR BEARS (9-1, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	10/10 BAYLOR (9-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. 21/19 DUKE (7-3, 0-1 ACC) Dec. 20, 2023 • 6:00 p.m. CT New York, N.Y. • Madison Square Garden (19,736)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN Talent: Karl Ravech (pxp), Jay Bilas (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 119 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	21/19 DUKE BLUE DEVILS (7-3, 0-1 ACC) Location: Durham, N.C. Conference/Affiliation: ACC Head Coach: Jon Scheyer (Duke, 2010) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
In Scott Drew's eyes, the 10^th-ranked Baylor Bears can't get back on the floor soon enough.
 
Coming off an "embarrassing 88-64 loss to Michigan State in Saturday's game at the Detroit Pistons' Little Caesars Arena, Baylor (9-1) will face its second straight preseason top-five team when the Bears play No. 21/19 Duke (7-3) at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
 
"One blessing to basketball is games are played a lot quicker than football, where football you have to wait a week," Drew said. "Obviously, everyone was embarrassed and disappointed with our performance against Michigan State. But I credit them for making that happen. They played a great game, and we weren't up to the challenge. We've got a bunch of competitive players, and I know they're excited and ready to get back out there."
 
Not many things went right for the Bears in Saturday's game against the Spartans (5-5), who had lost three of their previous four games after starting the season at No. 4 in the polls.
 
Michigan State opened up a 15-point lead in the first nine minutes, 22-7, on back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyson Walker. The first one came off a blocked shot, while one of Baylor's 11 first-half turnovers led to the second one.
 
The Spartans, who led 45-17 at halftime, scored 29 points off the Bears' 21 turnovers, dominated the boards (29-20) and shot a sizzling 63.3% for the game.
 
"Honestly, we were dominated on both ends of the court," Drew said. "I don't know, research-wise, when the last time we scored that (few) points in a half. But I can tell you, the turnovers were atrocious. We didn't give ourselves a chance to win that and (it) put our defense in a bad position. And them shooting 63%, I think that's the highest we've had against us in 15 years.
 
"So, it all compounded, snowballed. If you've seen the movie, Perfect Storm, that's kind of what the first half was."
 
In a very similar scenario, Baylor lost to Marquette, 96-70, last year in its first true road game, and then came back to knock off 12^th-ranked Gonzaga, 64-63, three nights later in a neutral-site matchup at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
"Both games, you were thoroughly embarrassed and disappointed," Drew said. "I know we played a lot better after the Marquette game, and I think our team got better after that. Hopefully, we have the same response after the Michigan State game as we go into Duke."
 
With the dubious task of following coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), former Duke All-American Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils to an ACC tournament title and their 45th NCAA Tournament appearance last year before a second-round loss to Tennessee.
 
This year's team started out with even loftier expectations, picked No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press rankings and expected to contend for its sixth national championship. But Duke nearly fell out of the polls altogether after an early home-court loss to Arizona and back-to-back losses on the road at Arkansas and Georgia Tech.
 
"Similar to us, (a) younger team," Drew said. "Beginning of the season, they were trying to establish roles, and I think they're a lot more established this part of the season than they were in the beginning, as far as who's playing, what they're playing and what they're doing. Their three losses are all within five points. They've been in every game. And, obviously, they've got two players, (Kyle) Filipowski and (Jeremy) Roach, that a lot of people had as All-Americans."
 
Filipowski, a 7-foot sophomore, is averaging close to a double-double with 18.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and flirted with a triple-double in last Tuesday's 89-68 win over Hofstra, finishing with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Roach is averaging 14.8 points per game, while 6-9 sophomore forward Mark Mitchell checks in at 11.4 points per game.
 
Baylor has one of the most balanced offenses in the nation, with six double-figure scorers led by 6-5 freshman Ja'Kobe Walter (14.3 ppg). Toledo transfer RayJ Dennis is next with 13.9 points and 6.6 assists per game, followed by Langston Love (10.8 ppg), Jayden Nunn (10.6 ppg), Jalen Bridges (10.5 ppg) and freshman 7-footer Yves Missi (10.1 ppg, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 blocks).
 
Wednesday's game is the second-ever meeting between these two teams, with eventual national champion Duke closing on a 15-3 run to pull out a 78-71 win in an Elite Eight matchup in Houston in 2010. Scheyer played in that game, hitting five 3-pointers and scoring 20 points.
 
"When you play these games, you get better as a team," Drew said. "Sometimes, you need adversity to improve. We need to keep getting better each and every day, because the goal is always to win the last game. Everyone wants to win every game, but at the end of the day, the last game is the one we're all shooting for."
 
Tweety Carter, who returned to Baylor last year as Director of Player Development, had 12 points with four assists and two steals versus Duke in his final game in a Baylor uniform.
 
"I don't want to make it seem like it's just about when we played them," Carter said, "because everybody's got to go through their experiences and get to experience everything for themselves.
 
"The 2010 game was my last game, and it just so happens that Duke was the one who stopped me from playing on and stopped my teammates from playing on, stopped my coaches from playing on. So, I'm going to forever carry that. Especially going into Wednesday, you want to see something different happen at the end of the game. But I just want the guys to go out there and compete and compete at the highest level. I think if we do that, we're going to be okay."
 
Wednesday's game will be broadcast by ESPN, with Karl Ravech and Jay Bilas calling the action. Baylor will return home for its final game in the Ferrell Center, facing Mississippi Valley State (0-10) in a 6 p.m. tip on Friday.
 

Story lines

• No. 10/10 Baylor faces No. 21/19 Duke in the Garden Classic at famed Madison Square Garden.

• Baylor will be making its sixth appearance at Madison Square Garden and its first since 2017 (3-2).

• The Bears won the '13 NIT Championship, and finished runners up in the '09 NIT at the iconic New York venue.

• The only previous meeting between these two teams came in the 2010 Elite Eight in Houston.

• Holding a two-point lead with under five minutes to play, the Blue Devils closed on a 15-3 run, to beat BU en route to the 2010 national championship.

• Reaching the top-10 again this season, BU and Duke are two of the four programs to reach the AP top-10 in each of the last five seasons. (Kansas & Gonzaga).

• BU and Duke are the only two programs to have three-straight top-20 NBA Draft picks, while BU is the only program to have three-straight top-16 selections.

• The matchup is one of eight on BU's schedule against an opponent that has played in the Final Four since 2019. Over one quarter of Baylor's regular-season games will be played against a Final Four team from the last six seasons.

• The Bears are a nations-best 27-11 vs. AP top-25 teams over the last four years, with 16 of those wins coming away from home.

• The Bears are 13-3 in the last 16 games against AP Top-10 teams, beating Nos. 5, 9, 6, 6, 10, 6, 1, 6, 8, 5, 8, 9 and 8. 

• Entering on just three-days rest, Baylor is second in the nation with a 26-3 record when faced with a rest disadvantage since 2020-21.

• The Bears are 2nd in the nation in 3-point FG% (42.1), 4th in offensive efficiency (121.5) and rank eighth in points per game (88.4).

• The Bears are 126-101 following a loss under Scott Drew, and have won six of their last eight games (3-straight) when losing by 20+ points in the previous game.

• Last season BU lost at Marquette by 26-points, then beat No. 14 Gonzaga three days later 64-63, in Sioux Falls, S.D.

• BU is 2-1 in NBA venus so far this season (2-0 at Barclays Center, 0-1 at Little Caesars Arena).

• BU enters this contest winners of 15 of its last 17 regular-season neutral-site contests (3-1 this year).

• Baylor has posted a combined 195-38 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 121-16 mark in November and December games since 2013.

• The Bears opened the season 9-0 or better for the third time in the last four years.

• Last time out, BU dropped its first game of the season against Michigan State where the Bears never led, snapping a streak of 164 games where Baylor held a lead.

• Baylor improved to 14-3 against the Big East in the Scott Drew Era, including a 3-1 mark in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.

• RayJ Dennis ranks 11th in the nation in assists per game (6.6), with the Bears getting 14.3 points per game from Ja'Kobe Walter to lead the offense. 

• Six Bears are averaging at least 10 points per game, including Dennis (14.3), Langston Love (10.8), Jayden Nunn (10.6), Jalen Bridges (10.5) and Yves Missi (10.1). Missi leads the team with 6.2 rebounds per game.