25/21 BAYLOR BEARS (9-3, 1-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF )	25/21 BAYLOR (9-3, 1-0 Big 12) vs. No. 3/3 IOWA STATE (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) Jan. 4, 2024 • 1:00 p.m. CT Ames, Iowa • Hilton Coliseum (14,276)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: CBS Talent: Rich Waltz (pxp), Bill Raftery (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 380 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	3/3 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: TJ Otzelberger (Wis-Whitewater, 2001) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Much like Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse, walking into Iowa State's 14,267-seat Hilton Coliseum can be intimidating for visiting teams.
 
But it's nothing that the 25^th-ranked Baylor men (9-3, 1-0) haven't already experienced this season in trips to Gonzaga and UConn. Of course, both of those games ended in losses, with the Bears getting blown out 101-63 at then-No. 6 Gonzaga and falling to the two-time defending national champion Huskies, 76-72, in Storrs, Conn.
 
"I think the best thing we did was play that first game at Gonzaga," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose Bears will play third-ranked Iowa State (11-1, 1-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Ames. "You played at Gonzaga, you've been at UConn. The Big 12 environments are great, but there's nothing that is going to blow you away when you've been to those two to begin with.
 
"Those two environments are awesome. We did a lot better from Game 1 to Game 2 in that kind of environment. And obviously, we will need to continue that progression."
 
Baylor has lost four of its last five against Iowa State and is 6-15 all-time at Hilton Coliseum, where the Cyclones have won 25 in a row, the third-longest homecourt winning streak in the nation among Power-5 teams. They split a pair of games last year, the Bears winning 70-68 at Foster Pavilion and losing 76-62 in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City.
 
"I've been here, what, three years?" said 6-10 junior forward Josh Ojianwuna, who is averaging 7.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. "Every time we play Iowa State, I feel like there's always a stigma going in, 'Oh, Baylor always loses to Iowa State.'
 
"But I'm not trying to think about losing, I'm going in there to beat these guys, because I'm tired of losing to them. . .  It's going to be tough because of the arena and stuff. But if we're locked in as a team going into this battle, I feel like we're going to come out with a victory."
 
Iowa State has a balanced attack with six double-figure scorers. The backcourt trio of Keshon Gilbert (16.3 ppg, 5.0 assists), Curtis Jones (16.3 ppg) and Tamin Lipsey (10.1 ppg) are "as good as anybody in the country," while head coach T.J. Otzelberger picked up 6-9 junior forward Joshua Jefferson (11.6 ppg, 8.3 rebounds) of St. Mary's and 6-11 senior center Dishon Jackson (10.8 ppg) from Charlotte out of the transfer portal.
 
"We all know that if you retain really good players, you have such an advantage early in the year," Drew said. "Having all those guys that have played in the system, know what it's like, know what it's like to be through the war, know exactly what their coach wants. T.J. and the staff did a great job bringing in a really caliber front line that makes them so dangerous."
 
Ojianwuna said the Cyclones' balanced attack helps Baylor's defense "not go into the game thinking it's an individual battle" and keep with the team defensive principles.
 
"We're going into it as a team," Ojianwuna said. "That team bonding . . . and everyone together, that's going to actually help us overcome, because I know the game is a long game. There's going to be times where we might be down, where we might not score, but I feel like if we stick together, we can go through anything during the game."
 
The Bears are coming off arguably their best game of the season, opening league play with a dominant 81-56 win over Big 12 newcomer Utah in a Tuesday afternoon matchup at Foster. Freshman VJ Edgecombe had a game-high 19 points, while Miami transfer Norchad Omier recorded his 75^th-career double-double and seventh of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
 
"We just came out and played hard," Edgecombe said. "That was the main thing for us, just to play hard, let our defense start our offense. We stayed with the coaches' game plan, executed. We tried to make it hard for their shooters to get off shots. If they don't shoot the ball, they don't score."
 
Saturday's game will be a national broadcast on CBS, with Rich Waltz and Bill Raftery calling the action.
 

Story lines

• No. 25/21 Baylor heads to Ames, Iowa for its Big 12 road opener at No. 3 Iowa State for a 1 p.m. tip on CBS

• Baylor holds a 25-24 series edge after splitting a pair of meetings last season with a win in Waco and a loss in the Big 12 semifinals in Kansas City 

• BU will try to snap Iowa State's 25-game home winning streak, in search of it's first true-road win since Feb. 26, 2024 at TCU 

• ISU's home-court winning streak is the third-longest in the Power-5, UCONN is 2nd (26) and Houston is first (29), Baylor will have played at all three of those venues by Feb. 10

• This is the ninth meeting between these two where both teams are ranked, with the Bears holding a 6-2 advantage in those previous eight meetings 

• In the last regular-season meeting, Baylor survived a 20-0 run by Iowa State in the second half, erasing a 7-point deficit late when Jayden Nunn hit the game-winning shot with two seconds to play, snapping a three-game losing streak against the 'Clones

• BU is 164-99 in Big 12 play in 15 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons

• Baylor is 34-18 against ranked teams over the last four seasons, including a 18-15 mark away from home

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

• Last time out Baylor won its fifth conference opener in six tries with an 81-56 over Utah 

• The Utes scored just 56 points, the fewest allowed by BU in Big 12 play since surrendering just 54 to TCU on Feb. 26 of last season

• The 25-point margin of victory is the largest in a Big 12 game since BU beat Texas Tech by 27 on Feb. 4, 2023

• Scott Drew secured his 450th win at Baylor and the 470th of his career overall earlier this month against ACU, and now sits just 12 wins shy of 200-career Big 12 wins

• 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 1,381 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 137-38, the 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 are led by Miami transfer, Norchad Omier, The NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,446), double-doubles (75) and rebound average (11.0), while sitting 10th in career points (2,016)

• The senior is just 54 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 13.1 points and has a team-leading 5.4 assists. With 65 assists, Wright is on pace to shatter the freshman assists record held by John Lucas (120)