11/11 BAYLOR BEARS (22-8, 11-6 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	11/11 BAYLOR (22-8, 11-6 Big 12) vs. TEXAS TECH (21-9, 10-7 Big 12) March 9, 2024 • 5:00 p.m. CT Lubbock, Texas • United Supermarkets Arena (15,098)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Adrian Branch (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 83 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (21-9, 10-7 Big 12) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Grant McCasland (Baylor, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
In the new-look Big 12 (with more additions coming), the double round-robin schedule in basketball that was such a unique staple for the first 27 years of the league is no more.
 
But in the final regular-season game of the year, the 11^th-ranked Baylor men (22-8, 11-6) will go for their first series sweep when they face Texas Tech (21-9, 10-7) at 5 p.m. Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
 
Baylor, which split with Texas, BYU, Kansas and TCU, used a 13-0 second-half run to defeat the shorthanded Red Raiders, 79-73, back on Feb. 6 at Foster Pavilion. Freshman 7-footer Yves Missi was 7-for-8 from the line and finished with 17 points and seven boards.
 
"When you do play somebody you've already played, it really allows for the adjustments to kick in," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team can clinch the No. 3 seed for next week's Big 12 tournament with a win in Lubbock or a Kansas loss to top-ranked Houston.
 
"You're watching film, what worked, what didn't work. You're so used to doing that from years past in the Big 12. It is really hard to sweep people, because human nature – you lost, you're upset. If you win, you probably feel a little good about yourself. And you've got to have that edge to win. That does make it hard to do. We know, especially on the road, it's hard to do."
 
Other than TCU, where both road teams won, the home team held court in the series splits with Texas, Kansas and BYU. And for all but a handful of Baylor players, this is their first trip to the hostile environment at Tech's 15,098-seat arena.
 
"Seems like so many places you go with four new starters, it's new for a lot of people," said Drew, who starts two freshmen and two first-year transfers with senior forward Jalen Bridges. "The great thing is every game prepares you for that. Every atmosphere is tough, they're all unique. So, I think by now, everyone is used to hostile crowds and tough environments. Obviously Texas Tech, just like every other place in the Big 12, very hard to win on the road."
 
In the first meeting, Tech 7-footer Warren Washington (9.9 ppg, 7.4 rebounds) was dealing with the flu and sat out the game. Baylor dominated the boards, 33-24, and outscored the Red Raiders in the paint, 36-20.
 
Washington has played sparingly over the last month and is questionable for Saturday's game with a nagging foot injury. On the flip side, Baylor has played seven of its last eight games without sophomore guard Langston Love (11.1 ppg) because of an ankle injury and got 15 minutes from him in a loss at BYU.
 
"One thing about Coach (Grant) McCasland, it doesn't matter who he plays, he's going to find a way to put them in position to win and be successful," Drew said. "So, not surprised at all that they've been successful without (Washington). When they do get him back, and it might be our game, it might be the Big 12 tournament, whenever it is, I know they'll be just that much better."
 
In his first year as the Tech head coach, McCasland was a walk-on player at Baylor (1995-99) and was an assistant coach with Drew for a six-year run that included an Elite Eight appearance in 2012 and an NIT championship the next year. Picked to finish eighth, the Red Raiders are tied for fourth and could earn the No. 3 seed for the Big 12 tournament.
 
"He's somebody who is a proven winner," Drew said. "Everywhere he's gone, he's won. I know we learned a lot from him and were a better program because of him being here and what he poured into our program. So, there was no doubt they were going to be successful. We just hope each year we play them once."
 
Drew is 1-3 against his former Baylor assistants, losing all three meetings with Jerome Tang and Kansas State and beating McCasland once.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Rich Hollenberg and Adrian Branch calling the action.  



STORY LINES

• No. 11/11 Baylor heads to Lubbock for the final regular season game of the season looking for the season sweep of Texas Tech for the second-straight season on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. 

• The Bears and Red Raiders are completing a home-and-home series for the 67th-straight year.

• While the Red Raiders own the all-time series 82-65, The Bears lead the series with a 25-15 edge in the Scott Drew era.

• BU has won seven of the last nine in the series overall and three of the last four on the South Plains.

• Baylor is 84-25 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced deeper into postseason play than any of Texas' 23 Division I teams in five of the last ten seasons.

• The Bears are third in the nation in 3-point FG% (40.3), rank fifth in nation in offensive efficiency (124.5) and second in the Big 12 in points per game (82.0).

• The Bears are the only team in the nation with six active players averaging double-digit points.

• In the last meeting, Baylor used a 13-0 second half run to top No. 23 Texas Tech and former BU assistant coach Grant McCasland. The win over McCasland gave Drew his first win over a former assistant coach (1-3).

• Last time out, Baylor erased a 14-point first-half deficit against Texas for the second-straight year, shooting .692 from three a program-record for three-point percentage in a conference game.

• Jalen Bridges set a career high with 32 points on 6-of-7 shooting from three with zero turnovers.

• In the absence of guard Langston Love, Bridges and Jayden Nunn have helped shoulder the scoring load averaging 15.1 and 13.3 points respectively.

• RayJ Dennis continues to climb in the Baylor history books climbing to fifth on Baylor's single-season assist chart. His 203 assists are 19 shy of the fourth-best season in program history (Lester Medford 222, 2015-16.)

• Dennis' 6.7 assists per game would rank as the fifth-best single-season average in program history.

• Freshman Ja'Kobe Walter is averaging a team-leading 14.7 points per game, most among Big 12 freshmen.

• Fellow freshman Yves Missi is averaging 11.1 points 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. His 1.5 blocks pre game are tied for the second-most in the conference.

• Langston Love is averaging 11.1 points per game in Big 12 play, most in the league among players with no starts.

• Baylor has had six players win Big 12 Sixth-Man of the Year, no other conference school has more than two.

• BU has now secured double-digit Big 12 wins for the sixth-straight season, and the 11th time in the Drew Era, after winning double-digit conference games just eight times prior to that.

• The Bears are the only school in the conference to win double-digit Big 12 games in six-straight seasons.

• BU's 126-32 record since 2019-20 is the best among Power Six teams in that span.

• Baylor is 64-51 in Big 12 road games since 2012, second-best in the league behind only Kansas (70-45).

• Baylor's 317 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (354).

• Baylor has played four overtime games in 2023-24, its most since playing four overtimes in 1970-71.

• BU has been ranked in the top-10 for a fifth-straight year, one of just four programs to accomplish that feat.