Baylor
Seton Hall
No. 6 MBB Set for Big East-Big 12 Battle Against Seton Hall
12/4/2023 3:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BU is 2-0 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at home
 |
6/6 BAYLOR BEARS (8-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
SETON HALL (5-2, 0-0 Big East) vs. 6/6 BAYLOR (8-0, 0-0 Big 12) Dec. 5, 2023 • 8:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • The Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Pete Sousa (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), David Kaye (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 199 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
 |
SETON HALL PIRATES (5-2, 0-0 Big East) Location: South Orange, N.J. Conference/Affiliation: Big East Head Coach: Shaheen Holloway (Seton Hall, 2000) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
|
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Primed to record its 400th win in the 35-year history of the Ferrell Center, sixth-ranked Baylor (8-0) will host Seton Hall (5-2) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Big East/Big 12 Battle, the first of three-straight marquee games for the Bears.
After a break for semester final exams, Baylor will play Michigan State (4-3) on Dec. 16 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, then take on 22nd-ranked Duke (5-3) in the Garden Classic on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden.
"Oh, we love it," said freshman guard Miro Little. "We love the competition, to be honest. Everybody on the team is really competitive . . . Everybody's hungry to play. That's probably the best thing about our team and our backcourt, especially. No matter who's on the court, we're going to be good. We don't have (any) stress about it."
A part of the Finnish National Team for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the 6-4 Little is probably the fifth or six player in a deep rotation of guards. Fellow freshman Ja'Kobe Walter (14.9 ppg) and transfers RayJ Dennis (13.9 ppg, 6.5 assists) and Jayden Nunn (11.4 ppg) form the starting backcourt, while sophomore Langston Love is third on the team with 12.1 points per game.
"Having guards like RayJ, Jayden, Ja'Kobe, Langston, Dantwan (Grimes)," Little said, "everybody on the team is so talented that I'm getting pushed really hard every day in practice. And I love it. Love the competition. It makes me better every day, for sure."
Josh Ojianwuna, a 6-10 sophomore forward averaging 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds, is in the same boat as Little. Baylor has a solid three-man rotation at the "5" spot with Ojianwuna, freshman Yves Missi (9.6 ppg, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 blocks) and sixth-year senior Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, the 2022 Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
"I feel like from the starting five to the bench, everyone is talented enough to actually come into the game and impact the game," Ojianwuna said. "I feel like we have a chance to win the national championship with this team, for sure."
With arguably his deepest roster at Baylor, coach Scott Drew said the depth "allows you to overcome illness, injury, foul trouble."
"At the same time, I think we've played enough now where we feel comfortable with a rotation if you are in positions where you need to paly people, for whatever reason," Drew said. "Everybody brings strengths to the table. But at the same time, you're only playing five. We can cut the rotation down; if need be, we can play more. That's the great thing is we can go to the bench and we don't feel like we're losing anything."
This will be Seton Hall's first true road game after a 5-0 start at home and neutral-site losses to then-No. 23 USC and Iowa at the Rady Children's Invitational in San Diego. As a first-year head coach last season, Shaheen Holloway led the Pirates to a win over eventual national champion UConn and a postseason berth in the NIT.
Four starters average double-digit points, led by 6-6 point guard Richmond Kadaray with 14.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Al-Amir Dawes (13.6 ppg) and Dre Davis (13.0 ppg) are double-figure scorers as well, while 6-10 grad transfer Jaden Bediako is averaging 10.6 points and 7.4 rebounds.
"You have a 6-6, 6-7 point guard. Richmond is really talented and he's a mismatch," Drew said. "That's something you don't face every day. He poses obvious problems when he gets in the paint because of his size and length. Dawes is a great scorer, Davis was just all-tournament and Bediako is experienced and one of the best offensive rebounders in the country. If you don't have talented players, you're not going to compete in these types of conferences."
Bediako will be a difficult test on the boards for Ojianwuna and freshman 7-footer Yves Missi, who is averaging 9.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.
"Each game they play, each practice they have, each scouting report they go through helps prepare them for when they get to conference," Drew said. "When you go against great, physical rebounders, it again prepares you for what you're going to see night-in and night-out in the Big 12. I thought going against (Tyrese) Samuel and Florida was a really good experience for them, and they'll get the same with Bediako."
Tuesday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Pete Sousa and Fran Fraschilla calling the action. Baylor, which will play its final game in the Ferrell Center on Dec. 22 versus Mississippi Valley before moving to the Foster Pavilion, is 399-169 in 36 seasons at the 10,284-seat facility.
Story lines
• No. 6/6 Baylor hosts Seton Hall in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
• Entering Tuesday, The Big 12 holds a 4-3 lead in the challenge, which will conclude with 4 games on Tuesday night.
• 13 different NBA teams will have representatives at Tuesday's game.
• Baylor is 13-3 against the Big East in the Scott Drew Era, including a 2-1 mark in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
• Baylor's 13-4 record in conference challenges (Big 12-Big East, Big 12/SEC, Big 12/Pac-12) is best in the Big 12.
• BU is 2-0 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at home with wins over No. 18 Butler (2019) and No. 6 Villanova (2021).
• This will be the first meeting between Baylor and Seton-Hall, although the two were scheduled to play in Nov. 2020, before the contest was canceled because of COVID-19.
• The Pirates enter Tuesday night's game on five-days rest, while Baylor will be on just two. Since 2020-21, BU is second in the nation at 25-3 (.893) when faced with a rest disadvantage.
• Winners of eight-straight games, BU is tied for the longest active winning streak in the nation.
• BU enters Tuesday with 399 wins all-time at the Ferrell Center.
• Tuesday marks one of just two remaining home games scheduled for the Ferrell Center this season.
• Baylor is off to a blistering start and is ranked 6th in the first NET rankings released on Sunday, one of three Big 12 teams in the top six.
• The Bears lead the nation in 3-point FG% (42.9), offensive efficiency (122.8) and rank fourth in points per game (92.8)
• This season marks the third time in program history BU has won 7 games in November (2023, 2021 and 2016).
• After moving into the top-10 last week, The Bears have now made the top-10 for a fifth-straight year, one of just three programs (Duke and Kansas) to accomplish that feat.
• The Bears are coming off the best defensive performance of the season with a 91-40 win over Northwestern State.
• The Bears allowed 14 points in the first half against the Demons, the second-fewest points BU has allowed in half during the Big 12 Era.
• 40 points were the fewest BU has allowed in a game since it held Villanova to 36 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle in 2021.
• Baylor beat Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off over Thanksgiving to win its sixth title in the last seven regular-season tournaments.
• Baylor is 42-13 in regular-season tournaments during the Drew era
• BU has won 15 of its last 16 regular-season neutral-site contests.
• On the heels of his NIT Season Tip-Off MVP honor, Baylor's RayJ Dennis was named the Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Week on Monday.
• Jalen Bridges and Ja'Kobe Walter joined Dennis on the NIT Season Tip-Off All-Tournament Team.
• Walter's 119 points are the second most through eight games by a freshman in program history (Aaron Bruce 130).
