By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The only drama for Scott Drew’s Baylor basketball program is what seed the Bears would be, who they would play and when they would play.
For the eight time since 2014 – there was no tournament in 2020 – Baylor heading to the NCAA tournament. The No. 3 seed in the South Region, Baylor meets No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara in the first round at 12:30 pm Friday (TNT) at Ball Arena in Denver.
The winner will face the winner of No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 North Carolina State on Sunday.
This will be the third all-time meetings with the Gauchos but the first since 1970. Baylor and USCB split the first two meetings.
Baylor (22-10) is in the bracket held by the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, SEC regular and tournament champion Alabama. Arizona is the No. 2 seed.
The 2021 National Champions have the second most Quad 1 wins of any of the NCAA tournament teams with 11. Kansas has the most with 15. The unique part about Baylor’s schedule is that it lost all of its games to NCAA tournament teams – Iowa State, 3, Kansas State 2, Texas, Kansas, TCU, Marquette and Virginia. However, the Bears recorded wins over Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, UCLA, the No. 2 seed in the West, Texas, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and Gonzaga, the No. 3 seed in the West.
Even after their Big 12 tournament quarterfinal loss to Iowa State on Saturday, the Bears had been projected to remain a No. 2 seed. However, deep conference tournament runs between Texas and Marquette appeared to push the Bears down one seed line.
Baylor is making its 15th NCAA tournament appearance and won its last four first-round games. The Bears finished tied for third with Kansas State in the Big 12 at 11-7. Drew’s team struggled to start Big 12 play at 0-3. However, the Bears climbed out of the hole and at one point won 10 of 11 to become contenders for the conference championship.
Late in the season, they welcomed the return of big Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua from a devastating knee injury suffered last year. But they dealt with other injury issues. One-and-done Keyonte George missed time with a sprained ankle. Guard Langston Love has not played the last two games due to a cornea abrasion.
Love’s status for the tournament could be determined by a Monday doctor’s appointment.
Baylor turned was also an either/or team this season. The Bears were second in the Big 12 in scoring at 77.3 points and led the league in 3-point shooting at 36.8. Yet they were ninth in scoring defense at 70.0 points and last in field goal defense at 45.2. percent.
About UC Santa-Barbara
Record: 27-7, Big West Regular Season & Tournament Champions
Top Players: G Ajay Mitchell (16.4 ppg, 50.9%); F Miles Norris (14.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 38% 3-point).
Notable: UCSB is making its 7th appearance in the tournament, all since 1988. The program is 1-6. The Gauchos were in the 2021 field losing in the first round to Creighton, 63-62…This will be UCSB’s first game against Power 5 school in 2022-23
BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:
• Baylor has earned a top-three seed for a third-straight NCAA Tournaments. The Bears are one of just X teams to earn a top-three seed in three-straight NCAA Tournaments.
• Baylor is one of four teams in the country to be a top-three seed in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments (Kansas, Gonzaga and Purdue).
• Baylor is 21-15 in 14 previous NCAA Championships trips, including a 18-9 record in the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments.
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 11th-consecutive time (9 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in the modern tournament era. BU’s first three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1946, 1948 and 1950 were in an eight-team bracket.
• Baylor is 41-24 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 15 seasons.
• Baylor has played in three Final Fours (1948, 1950, 2021). The first two Final Four appearances were when it was an eight-team bracket.
• Baylor has played in two National Championship games (1948 lost to Kentucky, 2021 defeated Gonzaga).
• BU 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 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)
• Baylor and UCSB will be meeting for the 3rd 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.
• If the Bears advance to the second round, they will either play North Carolina State for the second time or Creighton for a sixth time.
Publisher
The only drama for Scott Drew’s Baylor basketball program is what seed the Bears would be, who they would play and when they would play.
For the eight time since 2014 – there was no tournament in 2020 – Baylor heading to the NCAA tournament. The No. 3 seed in the South Region, Baylor meets No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara in the first round at 12:30 pm Friday (TNT) at Ball Arena in Denver.
The winner will face the winner of No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 North Carolina State on Sunday.
This will be the third all-time meetings with the Gauchos but the first since 1970. Baylor and USCB split the first two meetings.
Baylor (22-10) is in the bracket held by the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, SEC regular and tournament champion Alabama. Arizona is the No. 2 seed.
The 2021 National Champions have the second most Quad 1 wins of any of the NCAA tournament teams with 11. Kansas has the most with 15. The unique part about Baylor’s schedule is that it lost all of its games to NCAA tournament teams – Iowa State, 3, Kansas State 2, Texas, Kansas, TCU, Marquette and Virginia. However, the Bears recorded wins over Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, UCLA, the No. 2 seed in the West, Texas, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and Gonzaga, the No. 3 seed in the West.
Even after their Big 12 tournament quarterfinal loss to Iowa State on Saturday, the Bears had been projected to remain a No. 2 seed. However, deep conference tournament runs between Texas and Marquette appeared to push the Bears down one seed line.
Baylor is making its 15th NCAA tournament appearance and won its last four first-round games. The Bears finished tied for third with Kansas State in the Big 12 at 11-7. Drew’s team struggled to start Big 12 play at 0-3. However, the Bears climbed out of the hole and at one point won 10 of 11 to become contenders for the conference championship.
Late in the season, they welcomed the return of big Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua from a devastating knee injury suffered last year. But they dealt with other injury issues. One-and-done Keyonte George missed time with a sprained ankle. Guard Langston Love has not played the last two games due to a cornea abrasion.
Love’s status for the tournament could be determined by a Monday doctor’s appointment.
Baylor turned was also an either/or team this season. The Bears were second in the Big 12 in scoring at 77.3 points and led the league in 3-point shooting at 36.8. Yet they were ninth in scoring defense at 70.0 points and last in field goal defense at 45.2. percent.
About UC Santa-Barbara
Record: 27-7, Big West Regular Season & Tournament Champions
Top Players: G Ajay Mitchell (16.4 ppg, 50.9%); F Miles Norris (14.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 38% 3-point).
Notable: UCSB is making its 7th appearance in the tournament, all since 1988. The program is 1-6. The Gauchos were in the 2021 field losing in the first round to Creighton, 63-62…This will be UCSB’s first game against Power 5 school in 2022-23
BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:
• Baylor has earned a top-three seed for a third-straight NCAA Tournaments. The Bears are one of just X teams to earn a top-three seed in three-straight NCAA Tournaments.
• Baylor is one of four teams in the country to be a top-three seed in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments (Kansas, Gonzaga and Purdue).
• Baylor is 21-15 in 14 previous NCAA Championships trips, including a 18-9 record in the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments.
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 11th-consecutive time (9 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in the modern tournament era. BU’s first three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1946, 1948 and 1950 were in an eight-team bracket.
• Baylor is 41-24 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 15 seasons.
• Baylor has played in three Final Fours (1948, 1950, 2021). The first two Final Four appearances were when it was an eight-team bracket.
• Baylor has played in two National Championship games (1948 lost to Kentucky, 2021 defeated Gonzaga).
• BU 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 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)
• Baylor and UCSB will be meeting for the 3rd 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.
• If the Bears advance to the second round, they will either play North Carolina State for the second time or Creighton for a sixth time.
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