Third-Seeded Bears Set to Open NCAA Tournament Run vs. No. 14 UCSB
3/16/2023 7:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Baylor is aiming for its fifth-straight opening-round victory
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No. 3 BAYLOR BEARS (22-10, 11-7 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
No. 14 UCSB (27-7, 15-5) vs. No. 3 BAYLOR (22-10, 11-7) March 17, 2023 • 12:30 p.m. CT Denver, Colo. • Ball Arena (21,000) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: TNT Talent: Lisa Byington (pxp), Steve Smith (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst) Andy Katz (Sideline) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and on the Varsity Network App. Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley National Radio: Westwood One Talent: Dave Pasch (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 203, XM 203, Internet 966 Baylor Social Media:    |
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No. 14 UC SANTA BARBARA (27-7, 15-5 Big West) Location: Santa Barbara, Calif. Conference/Affiliation: Big West Head Coach: Joe Pasternack (Indiana — 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Keyonte George thinks of Baylor's 2021 national championship and the 86-70 win over Gonzaga in the final as the "icing on the cake" on deciding where he wanted to go to college.
Now, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year is hoping to take the third-seeded Bears (22-10) back to those heights again with an NCAA Tournament run that begins with Friday's 12:30 p.m. CT first-round matchup against 14th-seeded UC Santa Barbara (27-7) at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
"I kind of knew where I wanted to be, and that put the icing on the cake," said George, who is averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game. "I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, playing with guys like LJ (Cryer) and (Adam) Flagler. It was an exciting team, and I feel like we can do the same. But we've got to take it one day at a time. Should be fun."
Baylor fell out of the top-10 (11th by both the AP and coaches' poll) with back-to-back losses to Iowa State and has dropped four of its last six, but this is a "fresh start for everybody coming into this tournament," Flagler said.
"It's a new beginning, a new opportunity," said Flagler, a first-team All-Big 12 pick who is averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists per game. "Nothing before this really matter. With the neutral siting and just the opportunity to play in one game, that dictates everything at this point. Anything that you did before just doesn't matter.
"We have the utmost excitement to go out there and just play hard and put everything out on the line for this one game."
While Baylor is just two years removed from winning the national championship and has been to eight of the last NCAA Tournaments, UC Santa Barbara is making just its second appearance in the Big Dance. The Gauchos' only tournament win came 33 years ago, when a ninth-seeded UCSB knocked off eighth-seeded Houston, 70-66, before falling to top-seeded Michigan State, 62-48.
"I don't think any team cares about seeding," said 6-5 sophomore guard Ajay Mitchell, the Big West Conference Player of the Year, who is averaging 16.4 points and 5.1 assists per game for the Gauchos. "It's the NCAA Tournament, it's a big stage, anyone can win. We're just focused on playing our game, having fun and competing with the biggest teams."
Like the 2021 championship team, Baylor is led by a talented guard trio of Flagler, George and Cryer, who is averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting at a 42.6% clip from 3-point range. The Bears also have backcourt depth with fifth-year senior Dale Bonner and redshirt freshman Langston Love (6.6 ppg), who missed the last two games with an eye injury.
Asked about the two teams' similarities, Baylor coach Scott Drew said "the thing that stands out right away is the offensive production at the guard spot."
"The year we won it all, this year, a lot of similarities as far as offensive talent," Drew said of a starting guard trio of Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague in 2021. "I think it's great having Flo (Thamba) and (Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua) in the interior that have national championship experience as well.
"But at the end of the day, that team that won the tournament defended at an elite level, and we're capable of that. And hopefully we can do that."
Love will be a game-time decision, Drew said, "but he has been able to go through practice, so that's a positive."
While the 6-4 George has had "huge games for us" on the offensive end, including a career-high 32 points in a win at West Virginia and a freshman-record dozen 20-point games, Drew said there are other "things that you don't always see in the stat sheet that show up in plus/minus and other things."
"And with his improved defense and rebounding, those two things will probably be more important than the scoring from the standpoint he's a gifted scorer," Drew said, "but in this tournament, you don't defend, you don't rebound, you don't stay. His ability to do both of those can really help our team."
One of just four teams in the country that have been a top-3 seed in each of the last three tournaments, Baylor was bumped out last year in the second round by a North Carolina team that eventually lost to Kansas in the championship game. Outrebounded 47-38 by the Tar Heels, the top-seeded Bears rallied from a 25-point deficit before falling in overtime.
"I think the main thing that I learned was the team that's most connected out there is going to win," said Flagler, who scored 21 of his team-high 27 points in the second half.
"North Carolina had a lot of momentum and they were connected and flying around out there, just having fun. . . . I felt like we went out there kind of taking it for granted, especially in the first half, and they smacked us in the mouth. I'm excited and thankful that I'm back here and I have the opportunity to play with these guys and have a different feeling at the end of the season."
UCSB had to play its way into the tournament, winning its last seven in a row and finishing off a three-game run at the Big West Tournament with a 72-62 win over Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.
"This past weekend, winning the Big West championship tournament was huge for our team," said head coach Joe Pasternack. "I think whenever you practice from July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, it's all shooting for those three games in three days. And to see the joy on our players' faces, the excitement when we won it, was amazing."
Baylor is in the South Region that saw the two biggest upsets of the day on Thursday, when 15th-seeded Princeton stunned second-seeded Arizona, 59-55, and fourth-seeded Virginia was ousted by No. 13 seed Furman, 68-67, on a late 3-pointer.
If the Bears advance, they will face the winner of a 3 p.m. CT matchup Friday between sixth-seeded Creighton (21-12) and 11th-seeded North Carolina State (23-10).
"It's always a blessing to be a part of March Madness," Drew said. "It's the best time of the year if you're a college basketball fan, player, coach. And during that month, unbelievable highs, unbelievable lows, but you've got to thank God every time you get an opportunity to be a part of it. I love this team, excited to see what we can do in March.
"Obviously, each and every year it seems like the parity is at an all-time high. But that's what makes March Madness so great."
Friday's game will be broadcast by TNT, with Lisa Byington, Steve Smith, Avery Johnson and Andy Katz calling the action.
STORY LINES
• No. 3 seed Baylor takes on No. 14 seed UC Santa Barbara on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on TNT at 11:30 a.m. MT.
• BU is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments.
• The Bears are 21-15 in 14 NCAA Championship appearances and 18-9 under Scott Drew.
• Drew is one of two active coaches to have won an NCAA Title and an NIT Title (John Calipari). He is the only active coach to have won both at the same school.
• Baylor is one of just four teams to be a three-seed or higher in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• BU is 8-5 all time when playing as a No. 3 seed.
• The Bears are appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 11th-consecutive time (9 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is 41-24 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 15 seasons.
• BU and UCSB will be meeting for the third time, and Baylor is 1-1 in the series. The Bears won 78-75 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 11, 1965 and lost 95-68 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 5, 1970.
• The Bears played 18 of 32 (.563%) games this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Baylor is 8-10 against the 2023 NCAA Tournament field – No. 1 seed Kansas (1-1), No. 2 seed Marquette (0-1), No. 2 seed UCLA (1-0), No. 2 seed Texas (1-1), No. 3 seed Gonzaga (1-0), No. 3 seed Kansas Stats (0-2), No. 4 seed Virginia (0-1), No. 6 Seed Iowa State (0-3), No. 6 seed TCU (1-1), No. 8 seed Arkansas (1-0), No. 9 seed West Virginia (2-0).
• BU is 7-4 (4-straight wins) in opening-round games in the modern-tournament era.
• Baylor is 1 of 10 teams to appear in eight of the last nine tournaments, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Villanova and Virginia.
• BU has won 17 of its last 18 neutral-site games against non-conference opponents (only loss in that span was vs. Virginia 11/18/22).
• All nine of BU's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top 30 of the latest NCAA Net rankings.
• 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.
• Baylor's Adam Flagler (First Team), Keyonte George (Second, All-Freshman and All-Newcomer Teams) and LJ Cryer (Third Team) were named All-Big 12 selections by league's coaches.
• Twelve of Baylor's 13 starting point guards during the Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
• Flagler is one of two Big 12 shooting guards on a five-man list of finalists for the Jerry West Award (nation's top shooting guard).
• Additionally, George was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, BU's first since Quincy Miller in 2012.
• With 490 points, George is just 19 points from Baylor's freshman record of 509 held by Aaron Bruce.
• In the Big 12 Tournament, George set Baylor's freshman record for made-threes in a season (76).
• BU is the only Power-Six team to have a guard trio each averaging more than 14.5 points per game.
• BU's 11 quad-one wins are the fourth-most in the nation.
