25/21 BAYLOR BEARS (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF )	UTAH (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) vs. 25/21 BAYLOR (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)  Dec. 31, 2024 • 1:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Chris Spatola (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: Pete Sousa (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 385 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	Utah Utes (8-3, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Sal Lake City, Utah Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Craig Smith (North Dakota, 1996) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – While the 25^th-ranked Baylor men (8-3) will host Utah (8-3) in the Utes' first Big 12 game, the Bears will see a couple familiar faces in Tuesday's 1 p.m. league opener at Foster Pavilion.
 
Caleb Lohner and Miro Little, who both played limited minutes off the bench for Baylor last year, transferred to Utah and are part of the Utes' 10-man rotation. Starting at point guard, the 6-3 Little is averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 assists, while the 6-7 Lohner has played in four games after catching four touchdown passes as a tight end for the football team.
 
"First and foremost, (we) love Miro, love Caleb, and they're great teammates, great guys, and so appreciative that they spent time here at Baylor," BU head coach Scott Drew said. "Now, we don't want them to be successful when they're here on the court again. But Utah is a really well-coached, disciplined team, and they're always going to play hard, they're always going to play the right way."
 
Utah's balanced attack is led by 6-6 guard Gabe Madsen, who is averaging 18.8 points while shooting 39.6% from 3-point range. A 7-1 senior center, Lawson Lovering is averaging 13.7 and 6.0 rebounds, with Mason Madsen and Ezra Ausar are averaging 12.5 and 10.6 points, respectively.
 
"It's one of those teams that schematically, they do a lot of good things and make it tough on a defense," Drew said. "So, you have to beat them. Sounds like every Big 12 coach and every Big 12 program. We don't have as much familiarity, obviously, with the first time going against this coach and staff and going against this team. But definitely know about Miro and Caleb, and nothing but respect for them."
 
Of course, Little and Lohner don't have a lot of familiarity with this year's Bears. With seven newcomers, the only players that Little and Lohner even played with just a year ago were senior guard Jayden Nunn (12.1 ppg), 6-10 junior forward Josh Ojianwuna (7.5 ppg, 6.4 rebounds) and 6-5 junior guard Langston Love (7.4 ppg).
 
They're also the Bears' only players with returning experience in the Big 12. Miami transfer Norchad Omier (16.2 ppg, 10.6 rebounds) is coming off a monster double-double with 19 points and 24 rebounds in a 107-53 win over Arlington Baptist and is one of five players averaging double-digit points.
 
"I think our staff did a good job of trying to bring in guys that they thought would blend well and have good chemistry and represent the university the right way," Drew said. "And as a staff, we're blessed to be around really good guys that you enjoy working with and going to practice with every day. . . . A lot of the guys have said this is the closest team that they've been on."
 
Going 2-3 against ranked teams, with wins over Arkansas and St. John's, Baylor has certainly challenged itself with one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. On the flip side, Utah has lost to the only two P4 teams it's faced this season, losing to Mississippi State (78-73) and Iowa (95-88).
 
"Definitely thought the two scrimmages we did, and then playing the five high-major teams . . . and besides that, we played some good guarantee (money) games that were teams that have a chance to win their conference, and really did a great job playing well in those games, and not giving them a chance. You always wish you were 4-1 or 5-0 instead of 2-3. But I think at the same time, all of us learned something."
 
With the football team facing LSU at 2:30 p.m. in the Kinder's Texas Bowl in Houston, Baylor Athletics is offering free tickets to the first 5,000 fans for the men's basketball's conference opener.
 
"You definitely want to have a good feeling going into the conference grind," Drew said. "And at the same time, I know we want everyone to go to Houston, cheer on the Bears down there. But if you can't make it, it's a great opportunity to invite some family and friends to the Foster, because the price is right. You can tell them you bought the tickets. They can buy lunch or dinner for you, and you take care of the rest."
 
Tuesday's game will be streamed by ESPN+, with Rich Hollenberg and Chris Spatola calling the action.


Story lines

• No. 25/21 Baylor closes its 4-game home stand with the Big 12 Conference Opener against Utah at 1 p.m. on ESPN+

• Baylor is offering free admission to the first 5,000 fans as a way to thank the community for their support and invite them to experience Baylor Basketball at Foster Pavilion

• Tuesday marks just the second time since 2013-14 the Bears have opened conference play at home

• Baylor has won four of its last five conference lid-lifters and is 11-10 in the Drew Era

• The Bears and Utes are meeting for the first time since 1960 and the first time as conference foes

• BU is 171-111 in Big 12 play in 14 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons

• Baylor is the only team in the Big 12 with 11+ conference wins in a Power conference in 5-straight seasons

• The Bears are averaging 98.0 points per game in six home tilts this year, while giving up an average of just 57.8 points, for an average margin of 40.2 points per game

• Last time out the Bears blasted Arlington Baptist 107-53, the 54-point win was the 10th largest margin of victory in program history and the second-largest this season

• Seven Bears scored in double figures for the second time this season, a feat that had not been previously accomplished since 2013

• The Bears pulled down 66 rebounds, the fifth-most in program history and the most since grabbing 70 against Texas A&M on Jan. 23, 2008

• Scott Drew secured his 450th win at Baylor and the 470th of his career overall earlier this month against ACU

• Drew is one of just seven active coaches with at least 450 wins at their current institution (Mark Few, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Greg Kampe, Randy Bennett, Matt Painter)

• One of six active coaches who have won a national title, Drew will see four of the five other coaches as a part of its regular season schedule. Drew has wins against John Calipari & Rick Pitino, with his only loss coming to Dan Hurley in Dec.

• Hailing from basketball families, the Drews are the second winningest father-son combination in NCAA history, compiling 1,380 wins between Scott, Bryce and Homer, trailing only the Iba family (1,624) for the most by a family in NCAA history.

• Over the last six seasons the Bears are 135-38, the second-best record among power-conference teams for the duration of that span

• Baylor is one of five programs to be ranked inside the top-10 in each of the last six seasons

• The Bears have played five ranked teams in its first nine games of the season, the first time in program history they have played five ranked teams before January

• The Bears are led by Miami transfer, Norchad Omier, The NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,432), double-doubles (74) and rebound average (10.9), while sitting 10th in career points (2,001)

• The senior is just 68 rebounds from becoming the 14th player in NCAA history with 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds

• Freshman Rob Wright ranks second on the team in scoring averaging 12.9 points and 5.7 assists. Already with 63 assists, Wright is on pace to shatter the freshman assists record held by John Lucas (120)

• Duke Transfer Jeremy Roach ranks third on the team in points per game (12.2), and second in assists per game (4.4), and joins Omier with Final Four experience