If we learned anything about this game, it's that the Baylor-Texas overall rivalry is reaching a different level. There's a greater intensity because both programs are pretty solid.
You can just see it, especially in the second half spat between Rico Gathers and Isaiah Taylor. Of course, that drew technical fouls for both. But you get the idea.
As tight as this game was, Baylor never led for the final 35:16. That's really hard to do, especially when you're at home. You would have thought there would have been one run that would have done that. Baylor tied this game a couple of times in the second half -- the last at 43-43 with a little more than 11 minutes remaining. However, Texas had an answer and always kept the lead around 3-5 points before icing it with free throws in the final minute. Baylor fell to 17-5 and 6-3 in the Big 12. The Bears now trail West Virginia and Oklahoma, which are both 6-2.
You can get angry all you want. But you just have to play through it. I thought there were some bad calls. But I don't think it cost the Bears. The game was right there to win.
We can dissect how this game turned out and why it turned out in Texas' favor. For me, it comes down to the front court. The Bears lost Johnathan Motley to fouls with about five minutes to play. Before he left, Motley really hurt himself and this team in a series of about 10 seconds when he missed three of four free throws. If he makes all four, Baylor has the lead at 50-48. Instead the Bears are down 48-47, Motley fouls out 15 seconds later and the complexion of the game changes. Motley only had five points. As I've said about officiating over the years, some of it can be really ridiculous.
Because of the technical, Gathers had to return to the game with four and play a completely different style. He couldn't be a defensive enforcer. He also had to be a little careful on the offensive end except for the facial dunk. But then he fouled out when the Bears were trying to extend the game. Gathers had 20.
With Gathers tentative, Texas would work it into Prince Ibeh, he'd flush or score on a high percentage look because Gathers knew he couldn't touch him. So Baylor was left to try and pick up the pieces on the offensive end for the next sequence.
The game takes away a solid bounce back performance by senior point guard Lester Medford who had eight assists, two turnovers and 10 assists. He made a big 3-pointer that brought Baylor to within 62-59.
But that was it. Down 63-59 inside of 30 seconds, Taurean Prince has the ball but was hounded pretty well by (I think Texas' Javan Felix) on the baseline. Prince had no room and fired up a 3-pointer that really had no chance. You want the ball in Prince's hands there. And when you watch the replay, I don't know if anyone else has a good look either if he tries to kick it out. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. He finished with 18.
Yet I'm going to hound on the one part of Prince's game that's been a season-long issue - turnovers. He had four of Baylor's 11 and committed a killer in the paint with 1:15 to play. He tried to feed Terry Maston on a bounce pass through traffic. The ball was picked off. That led to Connor Lammert's back-breaking 3-pointer that extended the lead to 62-56.
Baylor got nothing out of its bench. Terry Maston, Jake Lindsey and King McClure combined for two points, two Maston free throws. Just a grinding game and Baylor couldn't get over the horizon.
Well, Baylor's 28-game home winning streak against unranked opponents is over Now, it's on to West Virginia Saturday night.
STORYLINES
• Monday is the 246th all-time series meeting, the most-played rivalry in Baylor history, dating back to 1905-06.
• Baylor is 9-6 in its last 15 games against UT after snapping a 24-game losing streak in the series in 2009.
• Baylor has won 16 of its last 17 home games, with the lone loss against No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 23.
• Baylor has won 27 straight home games against unranked opponents — last loss to WVU on Jan. 28, 2014.
• Baylor is 17-0 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
• Baylor is 12-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 12-0 when holding teams below 70 points.
• Baylor’s 6-2 record is tied for the Big 12’s best through 8 games, the latest BU has ever led in the league standings.
• Baylor’s 6-2 Big 12 record ties its best start to conference play since 1968 (began 7-1 in Southwest Conference).
• All 4 of Baylor’s losses have been against current top-12 RPI teams (at Oregon, at TAMU, at Kansas, vs. OU).
• Baylor has a 79% defensive rebound percentage in the last 3 games, allowing 14 offensive rebounds on 66 misses.
• Baylor is No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and No. 18 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 24 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor beat UGA on Saturday to improve to 6-1 in Conference Challenges (vs. Pac-10 and SEC), the Big 12’s best-record.
• Baylor leads the nation in assists/game and ranks top-10 in offensive rebound percentage (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (7th), steal percentage (9th) and rebound margin (10th).
• In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in assists (16.8), rebounding margin (+8.1), offensive rebound percentage (.388) and defensive rebound percentage (.749). BU ranks 2nd in field goal percentage (.483) and A-T ratio (1.2).
• Five BU players are averaging 10+ ppg in Big 12 play (Prince, Motley, Freeman, Medford and Gathers).
• Baylor is 39-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, including 16-2 since 2014-15.
• Baylor is the nation’s only school top-17 ranked by the AP in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
• Baylor has won 120 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (132).
• Baylor has a .714 winning percentage over the last five seasons (120-48).
• Baylor is 41-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 11-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
• Baylor is 79-65 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league’s first 11 years.
• Baylor is 95-11 when leading at the half since 2011-12, including 13-0 this season.
• Baylor has trailed at halftime in each of its last 4 games (3-1 record), but the Bears have won 40% of their games (25-37) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-4 this season.
QUICK HITS
• Monday’s game will be televised on ESPN, Baylor’s 159th straight televised game.
• Scott Drew is coaching his 410th game at Baylor (245-164). His .599 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .690 winning percentage (211-95) since 2007-08.
• Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12’s top-20 in scoring (7th), rebounding (12th), assists (18th) and steals (9th).
• Rico Gathers ranks 22nd on Baylor’s all-time scoring list (1,115) and has a school record 1,068 career rebounds.
• Gathers ranks 5th on the Big 12’s all-time rebounding list (1,068). He needs 9 more boards to pass Texas’ James Thomas (1,077) for 5th place and 16 more rebounds to pass Missouri’s Arthur Johnson (1,083) for 3rd place.
• Al Freeman has 14 double-figure scoring games this season. BU is 19-2 in Freeman’s 20 career games with 10+ points.
• Lester Medford has 27 career starts at point guard and has 184 assists and 52 turnovers in those games (3.5 A-T ratio).
• Medford is the nation’s only player ranked in the NCAA top 30 in assists (6th), A-T ratio (18th) and steals (26th).
• Medford leads the Big 12 in assists (7.1) and steals (2.0) and ranks 2nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4).
• Ishmail Wainright has 109 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
• King McClure is averaging 7.3 ppg in the last 6 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
• McClure has made 9-of-16 from 3-point range in his last 6 games, scoring 44 points in 81 minutes.
• Jake Lindsey has 50 assists and 13 turnovers, and his 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio trails only Iowa State’s Monte Morris (4.7) and Texas Tech’s Toddrick Gotcher (3.9) among all Big 12 players.
• Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terry Maston combine to average 17.9 points per game off the bench. They’ve accounted for 69 percent of Baylor’s bench scoring (376 of 540 points).
• BU’s bench is averaging 30.4 ppg in the last 7 games, led by Motley (91 pts), Maston (59 pts) and McClure (44 pts).
• Baylor has held opponents under 75 points in 62 of its last 66 games overall, and BU is 49-17 in that stretch.
• Baylor is 53-17 in its last 70 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fourteen of the 17 losses have been away from home (9 road, 5 neutral) and 12 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor is 330-74 in football and men’s and women’s basketball since 2011-12, the nation’s best record in that span.
• Baylor is 211-95 (24 wins per season) over the last 9 seasons and has made 7 postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament — 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015; NIT — 2009, 2013).
• Baylor’s 17-5 postseason record since 2009 is the nation’s 4th-best among teams with 3+ NCAA appearances.
• Baylor is one of only 14 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in 3 of the last 6 seasons.
• Baylor made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history in 2014 and 2015.
• Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
• Baylor was picked 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas.
• Drew is tied with Kansas’ Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th seasons).
• Baylor is 28-12 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last seven seasons.
• Baylor’s 5 NBA Draft picks in the last 4 years ranks 8th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA.
• Baylor has the Big 12’s 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 787 consecutive games. The last time BU didn’t make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs. Texas Tech.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
• Baylor ranks top 10 nationally in assists per game, offensive rebound percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, rebound margin and steal percentage.
• BU leads the nation in assists/game (1st, 20.3) and ranks top-10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (9th, 1.59), offensive rebound percentage (5th, 40.8), rebounding margin (10th, +10.1) and steal percentage (10th, 12.2).
• Individually, Rico Gathers ranks 2nd in offensive rebound percentage (19.3) and 21st in defensive rebound percentage (27.4), while Lester Medford ranks 19th in assist rate (36.5) and 50th in steal percentage (3.7).
LINEUP NOTES
• Baylor has used the same starting lineup in every game this season — 1 of 2 Big 12 teams to do so (BU, OU).
• Baylor’s starting lineup has 441 games of combined experience, including 192 starts.
• Rico Gathers and Lester Medford have both started 55 consecutive games.
• Gathers has played in all 130 games during his Baylor career. The Big 12 consecutive games played record is 142 by Texas’ Damion James, and Gathers can reach 140 consecutive games entering the Big 12 Championship.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 13-0 this season when leading at the half and 95-11 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
• Baylor is 15-1 this season when posting 16+ assists and 2-3 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
• Baylor is 16-1 this season when holding opponents below 35 rebounds and 1-3 when allowing 35+ boards.
• Baylor is 14-1 when out-rebounding its opponent and 3-3 when tying or losing the rebounding battle.
• Baylor is 17-1 this season when shooting 40% or better from the field and 0-3 when shooting less than 40%.
• Baylor is 12-0 when holding opponents below 70 points and 16-1 when holding teams below 80 points.
• BU is 12-0 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 12-0 when getting more points off turnovers.
• Baylor is 19-2 when Al Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 12-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 16-3 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including a 9-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 25-3 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 15-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 10-0 when Ishmail Wainright records 5+ assists, including a 6-0 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Give Baylor a 10-6 record in its last 16 games against Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
• Improve Baylor’s record to 85-161 all-time against Texas, including a 50-65 record in Waco, a 10-19 record in the Drew era and a 13-31 record in the Big 12 era.
• Be Baylor’s 28th consecutive home win vs. unranked opponents.
• Give Baylor an 18-4 record, tying 1947-48 for the 3rd-best record through 22 games in program history. Baylor started 20-2 in both 1945-46 and 2011-12.
• Give Baylor a 54-17 record over its last 71 games, including a 12-12 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
• Make Baylor 91-40 during Rico Gathers’ and Taurean Prince’s 4-year careers.
• Give Baylor a 121-40 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 212-95 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday is the 246th all-time meeting between Baylor and Texas, the most-played rivalry for both schools.
• Baylor has won 9 of the last 15 games in the series after snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
• Baylor is 84-161 all-time against Texas, including a 49-65 record in Waco and a 9-19 record in the Drew era.
• Baylor and Texas split the season series last year, with each team winning on its home court.
LAST SEASON VS. TEXAS
• Baylor and Texas split the season series last year, with BU winning 83-60 in Waco on Jan. 31 and Texas winning 61-59 in overtime in Austin on March 2.
• BU shot .463 from 3-point range against Texas, while holding the Longhorns to .265 from long range.
• Texas out-blocked Baylor 18-3, but the Bears had a 15-7 advantage in steals.
• In Baylor’s win in Waco, departed seniors Kenny Chery and Royce O’Neale combined for 43 of the team’s 83 points. Taurean Prince and Johnathan Motley posted 13 points apiece, and Rico Gathers had 8 points and 15 boards.
• In Texas’ win in Austin, Prince had a game-high 17 points in 32 minutes off the bench, but the Bears shot just .333 from the field, including 2-of-9 in overtime
HOME WINNING STREAK VS. UNRANKED TEAMS
• BU has won 27 straight home games against unranked teams, with the last loss on Jan. 28, 2014, vs. West Virginia.
• Baylor’s last home loss against an unranked opponent was Jan. 28, 2014, a 66-64 loss to West Virginia.
• Baylor is 16-1 in its last 17 games played at the Ferrell Center, with the lone loss to No. 1-ranked Oklahoma.
ONLY SCHOOL RANKED IN AP TOP 17 IN FB, MBB AND WBB
• Baylor is the nation’s only school top-17 ranked by the AP in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
• Baylor joins Michigan State and Oklahoma as the only schools ranked anywhere in the AP Top 25 in all three sports.
• Baylor men’s basketball is ranked No. 17, football is No. 13 and women’s basketball is No. 4.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 12 in men’s basketball and No. 18 in women’s basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football, No. 1 in men’s basketball and No. 21 in women’s basketball.
• Baylor, Louisville and Michigan State were the only teams to finish the 2014-15 academic year ranked in the final AP Polls for all three sports.
BEST IN TEXAS
• Baylor is 39-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced as deep into postseason play as any of Texas’ 21 Division I team in each of the last four seasons.
• BU is a 53-10 against Lone Star State teams over the last seven seasons (6-1 this season) after going 10-27 against in-state teams in Scott Drew’s first six seasons at Baylor ... (10-1 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 2013-14, 7-1 in 2012-13, 10-0 in 2011-12, 5-3 in 2010-11 and 9-1 in 2009-10).
You can just see it, especially in the second half spat between Rico Gathers and Isaiah Taylor. Of course, that drew technical fouls for both. But you get the idea.
As tight as this game was, Baylor never led for the final 35:16. That's really hard to do, especially when you're at home. You would have thought there would have been one run that would have done that. Baylor tied this game a couple of times in the second half -- the last at 43-43 with a little more than 11 minutes remaining. However, Texas had an answer and always kept the lead around 3-5 points before icing it with free throws in the final minute. Baylor fell to 17-5 and 6-3 in the Big 12. The Bears now trail West Virginia and Oklahoma, which are both 6-2.
You can get angry all you want. But you just have to play through it. I thought there were some bad calls. But I don't think it cost the Bears. The game was right there to win.
We can dissect how this game turned out and why it turned out in Texas' favor. For me, it comes down to the front court. The Bears lost Johnathan Motley to fouls with about five minutes to play. Before he left, Motley really hurt himself and this team in a series of about 10 seconds when he missed three of four free throws. If he makes all four, Baylor has the lead at 50-48. Instead the Bears are down 48-47, Motley fouls out 15 seconds later and the complexion of the game changes. Motley only had five points. As I've said about officiating over the years, some of it can be really ridiculous.
Because of the technical, Gathers had to return to the game with four and play a completely different style. He couldn't be a defensive enforcer. He also had to be a little careful on the offensive end except for the facial dunk. But then he fouled out when the Bears were trying to extend the game. Gathers had 20.
With Gathers tentative, Texas would work it into Prince Ibeh, he'd flush or score on a high percentage look because Gathers knew he couldn't touch him. So Baylor was left to try and pick up the pieces on the offensive end for the next sequence.
The game takes away a solid bounce back performance by senior point guard Lester Medford who had eight assists, two turnovers and 10 assists. He made a big 3-pointer that brought Baylor to within 62-59.
But that was it. Down 63-59 inside of 30 seconds, Taurean Prince has the ball but was hounded pretty well by (I think Texas' Javan Felix) on the baseline. Prince had no room and fired up a 3-pointer that really had no chance. You want the ball in Prince's hands there. And when you watch the replay, I don't know if anyone else has a good look either if he tries to kick it out. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. He finished with 18.
Yet I'm going to hound on the one part of Prince's game that's been a season-long issue - turnovers. He had four of Baylor's 11 and committed a killer in the paint with 1:15 to play. He tried to feed Terry Maston on a bounce pass through traffic. The ball was picked off. That led to Connor Lammert's back-breaking 3-pointer that extended the lead to 62-56.
Baylor got nothing out of its bench. Terry Maston, Jake Lindsey and King McClure combined for two points, two Maston free throws. Just a grinding game and Baylor couldn't get over the horizon.
Well, Baylor's 28-game home winning streak against unranked opponents is over Now, it's on to West Virginia Saturday night.
STORYLINES
• Monday is the 246th all-time series meeting, the most-played rivalry in Baylor history, dating back to 1905-06.
• Baylor is 9-6 in its last 15 games against UT after snapping a 24-game losing streak in the series in 2009.
• Baylor has won 16 of its last 17 home games, with the lone loss against No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 23.
• Baylor has won 27 straight home games against unranked opponents — last loss to WVU on Jan. 28, 2014.
• Baylor is 17-0 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
• Baylor is 12-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 12-0 when holding teams below 70 points.
• Baylor’s 6-2 record is tied for the Big 12’s best through 8 games, the latest BU has ever led in the league standings.
• Baylor’s 6-2 Big 12 record ties its best start to conference play since 1968 (began 7-1 in Southwest Conference).
• All 4 of Baylor’s losses have been against current top-12 RPI teams (at Oregon, at TAMU, at Kansas, vs. OU).
• Baylor has a 79% defensive rebound percentage in the last 3 games, allowing 14 offensive rebounds on 66 misses.
• Baylor is No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and No. 18 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 24 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor beat UGA on Saturday to improve to 6-1 in Conference Challenges (vs. Pac-10 and SEC), the Big 12’s best-record.
• Baylor leads the nation in assists/game and ranks top-10 in offensive rebound percentage (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (7th), steal percentage (9th) and rebound margin (10th).
• In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in assists (16.8), rebounding margin (+8.1), offensive rebound percentage (.388) and defensive rebound percentage (.749). BU ranks 2nd in field goal percentage (.483) and A-T ratio (1.2).
• Five BU players are averaging 10+ ppg in Big 12 play (Prince, Motley, Freeman, Medford and Gathers).
• Baylor is 39-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, including 16-2 since 2014-15.
• Baylor is the nation’s only school top-17 ranked by the AP in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
• Baylor has won 120 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (132).
• Baylor has a .714 winning percentage over the last five seasons (120-48).
• Baylor is 41-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 11-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
• Baylor is 79-65 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league’s first 11 years.
• Baylor is 95-11 when leading at the half since 2011-12, including 13-0 this season.
• Baylor has trailed at halftime in each of its last 4 games (3-1 record), but the Bears have won 40% of their games (25-37) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-4 this season.
QUICK HITS
• Monday’s game will be televised on ESPN, Baylor’s 159th straight televised game.
• Scott Drew is coaching his 410th game at Baylor (245-164). His .599 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .690 winning percentage (211-95) since 2007-08.
• Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12’s top-20 in scoring (7th), rebounding (12th), assists (18th) and steals (9th).
• Rico Gathers ranks 22nd on Baylor’s all-time scoring list (1,115) and has a school record 1,068 career rebounds.
• Gathers ranks 5th on the Big 12’s all-time rebounding list (1,068). He needs 9 more boards to pass Texas’ James Thomas (1,077) for 5th place and 16 more rebounds to pass Missouri’s Arthur Johnson (1,083) for 3rd place.
• Al Freeman has 14 double-figure scoring games this season. BU is 19-2 in Freeman’s 20 career games with 10+ points.
• Lester Medford has 27 career starts at point guard and has 184 assists and 52 turnovers in those games (3.5 A-T ratio).
• Medford is the nation’s only player ranked in the NCAA top 30 in assists (6th), A-T ratio (18th) and steals (26th).
• Medford leads the Big 12 in assists (7.1) and steals (2.0) and ranks 2nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4).
• Ishmail Wainright has 109 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
• King McClure is averaging 7.3 ppg in the last 6 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
• McClure has made 9-of-16 from 3-point range in his last 6 games, scoring 44 points in 81 minutes.
• Jake Lindsey has 50 assists and 13 turnovers, and his 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio trails only Iowa State’s Monte Morris (4.7) and Texas Tech’s Toddrick Gotcher (3.9) among all Big 12 players.
• Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terry Maston combine to average 17.9 points per game off the bench. They’ve accounted for 69 percent of Baylor’s bench scoring (376 of 540 points).
• BU’s bench is averaging 30.4 ppg in the last 7 games, led by Motley (91 pts), Maston (59 pts) and McClure (44 pts).
• Baylor has held opponents under 75 points in 62 of its last 66 games overall, and BU is 49-17 in that stretch.
• Baylor is 53-17 in its last 70 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fourteen of the 17 losses have been away from home (9 road, 5 neutral) and 12 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor is 330-74 in football and men’s and women’s basketball since 2011-12, the nation’s best record in that span.
• Baylor is 211-95 (24 wins per season) over the last 9 seasons and has made 7 postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament — 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015; NIT — 2009, 2013).
• Baylor’s 17-5 postseason record since 2009 is the nation’s 4th-best among teams with 3+ NCAA appearances.
• Baylor is one of only 14 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in 3 of the last 6 seasons.
• Baylor made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history in 2014 and 2015.
• Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
• Baylor was picked 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas.
• Drew is tied with Kansas’ Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th seasons).
• Baylor is 28-12 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last seven seasons.
• Baylor’s 5 NBA Draft picks in the last 4 years ranks 8th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA.
• Baylor has the Big 12’s 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 787 consecutive games. The last time BU didn’t make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs. Texas Tech.
AMONG NATION'S BEST STATISTICALLY
• Baylor ranks top 10 nationally in assists per game, offensive rebound percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, rebound margin and steal percentage.
• BU leads the nation in assists/game (1st, 20.3) and ranks top-10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (9th, 1.59), offensive rebound percentage (5th, 40.8), rebounding margin (10th, +10.1) and steal percentage (10th, 12.2).
• Individually, Rico Gathers ranks 2nd in offensive rebound percentage (19.3) and 21st in defensive rebound percentage (27.4), while Lester Medford ranks 19th in assist rate (36.5) and 50th in steal percentage (3.7).
LINEUP NOTES
• Baylor has used the same starting lineup in every game this season — 1 of 2 Big 12 teams to do so (BU, OU).
• Baylor’s starting lineup has 441 games of combined experience, including 192 starts.
• Rico Gathers and Lester Medford have both started 55 consecutive games.
• Gathers has played in all 130 games during his Baylor career. The Big 12 consecutive games played record is 142 by Texas’ Damion James, and Gathers can reach 140 consecutive games entering the Big 12 Championship.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 13-0 this season when leading at the half and 95-11 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
• Baylor is 15-1 this season when posting 16+ assists and 2-3 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
• Baylor is 16-1 this season when holding opponents below 35 rebounds and 1-3 when allowing 35+ boards.
• Baylor is 14-1 when out-rebounding its opponent and 3-3 when tying or losing the rebounding battle.
• Baylor is 17-1 this season when shooting 40% or better from the field and 0-3 when shooting less than 40%.
• Baylor is 12-0 when holding opponents below 70 points and 16-1 when holding teams below 80 points.
• BU is 12-0 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 12-0 when getting more points off turnovers.
• Baylor is 19-2 when Al Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 12-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 16-3 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including a 9-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 25-3 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 15-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 10-0 when Ishmail Wainright records 5+ assists, including a 6-0 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Give Baylor a 10-6 record in its last 16 games against Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
• Improve Baylor’s record to 85-161 all-time against Texas, including a 50-65 record in Waco, a 10-19 record in the Drew era and a 13-31 record in the Big 12 era.
• Be Baylor’s 28th consecutive home win vs. unranked opponents.
• Give Baylor an 18-4 record, tying 1947-48 for the 3rd-best record through 22 games in program history. Baylor started 20-2 in both 1945-46 and 2011-12.
• Give Baylor a 54-17 record over its last 71 games, including a 12-12 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
• Make Baylor 91-40 during Rico Gathers’ and Taurean Prince’s 4-year careers.
• Give Baylor a 121-40 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 212-95 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday is the 246th all-time meeting between Baylor and Texas, the most-played rivalry for both schools.
• Baylor has won 9 of the last 15 games in the series after snapping a 24-game series losing streak in 2009.
• Baylor is 84-161 all-time against Texas, including a 49-65 record in Waco and a 9-19 record in the Drew era.
• Baylor and Texas split the season series last year, with each team winning on its home court.
LAST SEASON VS. TEXAS
• Baylor and Texas split the season series last year, with BU winning 83-60 in Waco on Jan. 31 and Texas winning 61-59 in overtime in Austin on March 2.
• BU shot .463 from 3-point range against Texas, while holding the Longhorns to .265 from long range.
• Texas out-blocked Baylor 18-3, but the Bears had a 15-7 advantage in steals.
• In Baylor’s win in Waco, departed seniors Kenny Chery and Royce O’Neale combined for 43 of the team’s 83 points. Taurean Prince and Johnathan Motley posted 13 points apiece, and Rico Gathers had 8 points and 15 boards.
• In Texas’ win in Austin, Prince had a game-high 17 points in 32 minutes off the bench, but the Bears shot just .333 from the field, including 2-of-9 in overtime
HOME WINNING STREAK VS. UNRANKED TEAMS
• BU has won 27 straight home games against unranked teams, with the last loss on Jan. 28, 2014, vs. West Virginia.
• Baylor’s last home loss against an unranked opponent was Jan. 28, 2014, a 66-64 loss to West Virginia.
• Baylor is 16-1 in its last 17 games played at the Ferrell Center, with the lone loss to No. 1-ranked Oklahoma.
ONLY SCHOOL RANKED IN AP TOP 17 IN FB, MBB AND WBB
• Baylor is the nation’s only school top-17 ranked by the AP in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
• Baylor joins Michigan State and Oklahoma as the only schools ranked anywhere in the AP Top 25 in all three sports.
• Baylor men’s basketball is ranked No. 17, football is No. 13 and women’s basketball is No. 4.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 12 in men’s basketball and No. 18 in women’s basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football, No. 1 in men’s basketball and No. 21 in women’s basketball.
• Baylor, Louisville and Michigan State were the only teams to finish the 2014-15 academic year ranked in the final AP Polls for all three sports.
BEST IN TEXAS
• Baylor is 39-6 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced as deep into postseason play as any of Texas’ 21 Division I team in each of the last four seasons.
• BU is a 53-10 against Lone Star State teams over the last seven seasons (6-1 this season) after going 10-27 against in-state teams in Scott Drew’s first six seasons at Baylor ... (10-1 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 2013-14, 7-1 in 2012-13, 10-0 in 2011-12, 5-3 in 2010-11 and 9-1 in 2009-10).
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