9/9 BAYLOR BEARS (20-6, 9-4 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	5/7 Kansas (21-5, 9-4) vs. 9/9 BAYLOR (20-6, 9-4) Feb. 18, 2023 • 3:00 p.m. CT Lawrence, Kan. • Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN Talent: Dan Shulman (pxp), Jay Bilas (analyst) Holly Rowe (sideline) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and on the Varsity Network App. Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley SIRIUS XM: Sirius 83, XM 83, Internet 83 Baylor Social Media:
	5/7 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (21-5, 9-4 Big 12) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Bill Self (Ok. State — 1985) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Jalen Bridges remembers walking into historic Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in 2020, the year that he redshirted at West Virginia.
            "It was a surreal experience, obviously, because as a hooper growing up, you see that court and James Naismith, that's a legendary place," he said. "And then when you're finally there, it's like, 'Woah, that's crazy!' You've really got to focus and lock in on the game plan and all that stuff. You can't really let the venue distract you. But it's a really difficult place to play."
            Winless in three trips at West Virginia, Bridges will get another chance when ninth-ranked Baylor (20-6, 9-4) plays No. 5 Kansas (21-5, 9-4) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
            "You've got to have composure or that crowd is going to tear you apart," said Bridges, who's averaging 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in his first season with the Bears. "Just playing with mental toughness, playing for each other, not playing out of character, doing things we don't usually do. Playing within our roles, playing within ourselves. That's really all we've got to do, just take care of business."
            Baylor and Kansas have split the last 10 meetings overall, but the Bears' only road win in the series (1-19) came three years ago when Jared Butler and MaCio Teague combined to hit six 3-pointers and score 38 points in beating the Jayhawks, 67-55.
While senior guard Adam Flagler (15.8 ppg, 4.9 assists) was redshirting that season, fifth-year senior forward Flo Thamba (5.3 ppg, 4.9 rebounds) is the only holdover from that game for either team. And he played four minutes with no other stats.
"I'm super-excited to be able to step out there on the court with them and try to get a win," Flagler said. "We have a lot of confidence going into Allen Fieldhouse. I feel like we're becoming more connected. We have (Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua back, and he just brings a different type of energy."
            Baylor comes in as the hottest team in the league, winning four-straight and 10 of its last 11 games overall. After starting out 0-3 in league play, the Bears have climbed the ladder to tie Kansas and No. 6/5 Texas (20-6, 9-4) atop the standings after Monday's 79-67 win over West Virginia.
            With five games left in conference play, the Bears are in position to win their third-straight Big 12 championship.
            "Sometimes we talk about it, sometimes we don't," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of trying to win another title. "At the end of the day, we all know what's important. And that is, you've got to go 1-0 each game. Doesn't matter what happens a week from now, it's what happens today. Did you win today?
"And I know that's coach talk, so it really comes down to the upperclassmen convincing the players of that. We have pretty good upperclassmen, and that's why we've been successful since that 0-3 start."
            Of course, it also helps to have three of the top-10 scorers in the league, with freshman Keyonte George (16.5 ppg, 4.5 rebounds), Flagler and junior LJ Cryer (14.9 ppg). Cryer hit a career-best eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points in the win over West Virginia.
            The Bears have won their last two with George going 1-for-6 from distance and scoring a combined 10 points. But Flagler scored 20 of his season-high 28 points in the second half of a 72-68 road win at TCU last Saturday.
            "That's what makes a good team, you have to have different people stepping up, because every night isn't your night," Drew said. "You always try to exploit whatever advantages you might have. But at the same time, the teams that are really good, multiple people are capable of stepping up and having great games. . . . Some games it's Jalen, some games Flo and Jon have had more production. The fact is, those teams are more dangerous to play."
            Kansas has a similarly balanced attack. While senior forward Jalen Wilson (20.3 ppg, 8.2 rebounds) leads the league in scoring and ranks second in rebounds, the Jayhawks have other weapons in 6-8 freshman Gradey Dick (14.7 ppg, 4.9 rebounds), Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar (10.8 ppg, 7.4 rebounds) and 6-8 sophomore KJ Adams Jr. (10.5 ppg).
            In Baylor's 75-69 win over KU three weeks ago in Waco, Dick and Wilson combined for 47 points, but the Bears held Adams to just four points and three rebounds in 28 minutes.
            "They have a lot of guys similar size, and Coach (Bill) Self dioes a good job utilizing that," Drew said. "Obviously, they've had some tremendous bigs in the past. KJ gives them a different kind of dimension than the past. With us, the big thing is on the road in the Big 12, you just have to make sure you're not giving people easy buckets. That starts with taking care of the basketball and getting back in transition defense."
            The matchup of the last two NCAA national champions will be featured on ESPN's College GameDay, with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Holly Rowe calling the game action.
 

 STORY LINES

• No. 9/9 Baylor travels to Lawrence on Saturday to face No. 5/7 Kansas on at 3 p.m. on ESPN. 

• ESPN's College Gameday will broadcast live from Lawrence on Saturday morning.

• This will be the fourth time BU is featured on Gameday and the third time in the last four seasons.

• This matchup features each of the last two National Champions.

• After a 75-69 BU win in Waco last month, The Bears aim to win multiple games against the Jayhawks in the same season for the first time ever.

• Baylor is looking to become the first B12 team to sweep a season-series from Kansas since Texas in 2021.

• BU's five wins over Kansas since 2018 are the most in the conference (Texas — 4).

• Saturday is the 45th series meeting. BU is 5-5 in the last 10 meetings after starting 4-30 in the series.

• BU's nine quad-one wins are tied for the second-most in the nation (Kansas — 12).

• Baylor is 12-2 against top-10 ranked teams over the last 3 years, beating Nos. 5, 9, 6, 6, 10, 6, 1, 6, 8, 5, 8 an 9.

• In the last meeting, BU led for nearly 39 minutes to win its third-straight game against KU in Waco.

• LJ Cryer finished with a team-leading 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting with three assists and two boards in 37 minutes against the Jayhawks.

• Last time out, Cryer scored 26 points with eight three-pointers, two shy of the school record to top WVU 79-67.

• Drew has won 20+ games in 14 of the last 16 years — the Bears had 3 seasons of 20+ wins prior to his arrival.

• BU has won 8+ Big 12 games in 12-straight seasons after winning 8+ just 3 times in the league's first 15 years.

• BU has won 75-straight when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent (last loss March 2, 2019 at K-State).

• The Bears are a nations-best 26-9 vs. AP top-25 teams over the last four years, with 16 of those wins coming away from home.

• At 25-7, BU has the best Big 12 road record over the last four seasons, and is one of just three teams with a .500+ road record in the conference during that span.

• Baylor's 52-12 Big 12 record over the last four seasons is the best of any Power-5 team.

• BU is 163-93 in Big 12 play in 13 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons.

• Against TCU, BU trailed by 10 with 8:44 to play, overcoming a 10-point deficit 2nd-half deficit on the road for the first time in over three years (1/18/20, at OSU). 

• Adam Flagler scored 16-straight second-half points against the Frogs to lift BU to its fourth Big 12 road win of the season (T-most in the conference).

• Flagler leads the Big 12 (9th in the nation) in assist-turnover ratio (2.98).

• Keyonte George and Flagler were named to the Jerry West Top-10 and the Naismith Midseason team.

• The BU duo made the Bears one of two teams in the nation with multiple members on the Naismith Midseason Team.

• George has 10, 20-point games this season, the most by a BU freshman since Lawrence Roberts (11) in 2001-02.

• George's 16.5 points per game rank third among freshman in Division I.

• With a win over TCU, Flo Thamba surpassed Matthew Mayer for the most Big 12 wins in program history (54).

• Against WVU, Thamba played in his 142nd career game, the most in program history.