The Bears begin a stretch where they play three of their next four on the road. But if you'll remember, last year's win in Morgantown ignited the turnaround midway through Big 12 play and culminated in this team play for the Big 12 tournament championship and then advancing to the Sweet 16.
In this stretch where the Bears have won four out of five, they have knocked of their last three Top 25 opponents - Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas. That certainly should help the NCAA tournament resume.
This should be a far different story. Bob Huggins probably has the team he finally needs to handle the rigors of Big 12 conference play. The Mountaineers; however, are coming off a pretty rough performance at Oklahoma last week in which the Sooners shot 61 percent.
If West Virginia isn't turning opponents over, then it's in trouble. The Mountaineers are leading all of Division I basketball in forcing 21.9 turnovers per game. However, they are eighth in the Big 12 in shooting at 39.1 percent. Devin Williams, who is averaging over 13 points and nine rebounds per game in league play, is a question mark to play because of an illness.
But Baylor has to find to shoot better on the road. Kenny Chery is hitting at 33.8 percent, while Rico Gathers, "Mr. Double Double" is shooting 36.7 percent. And the Bears were pretty poor at Oklahoma State shooting 34.5 percent.
If the Bears continue to take care of the ball, they will keep themselves in this give themselves a chance to steal one on the road. Baylor's lone conference road win was the 66-59 overtime win at TCU on Jan. 10.
--Kevin Lonnquist
STORY LINES
• Saturday is the 6th series meeting, all of which have come since 2011. BU leads 4-1, including a 2-0 mark at WVU.
• Baylor and Oklahoma State are the only teams to win in Morgantown in each of the last two seasons.
• BU is 6-16 in road games vs. AP ranked teams over the last 8 seasons -- prior to that span, Baylor was 2-65 in road games vs. ranked teams. BU has earned 7 of its 8 road wins vs. ranked teams during the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor has had 6 different players lead the team in scoring in its 9 Big 12 games this season.
• Baylor is 3rd nationally with 16.0 offensive rebounds per game and 5th with 41.2 total boards per game.
• Baylor started the season winning or tying in 2nd-chance points against its first 19 opponents, but the Bears have given up more 2nd-chance points than they've scored in each of the last 3 games.
• Baylor's defense has held teams to an average of 11.5 points below their season scoring averages. The Bears have held 20 of 22 opponents under their season scoring averages, including 14 times at least 10 points below.
• Baylor is 1 of 9 Division I teams to hold all opponents under 75 points this season.
• Baylor was the only Division I team to hold all non-conference opponents to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor has held opponents under 30 first-half points in 16 of 22 games this season, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• All 5 Baylor starters average 8.4-11.8 points per game, and reserve Taurean Prince leads the team with 12.1 ppg.
• Five BU players have scored 20+ points in a game this season (Chery, Gathers, Motley, O'Neale and Prince).
• Seven different BU players have led the team in scoring this season and Gathers has done so most often (5 times).
• Baylor is 29-8 in its last 37 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Seven of the eight losses have been away from home (four road, three neutral) and five of the eight losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor and Louisville are the nation's only teams ranked by the AP in football and men's and women's basketball.
• Over the last 7 seasons, Baylor is 35-20 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 10-1 in overtime games.
• Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last 8 seasons (67-60) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is 76-7 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 15-3 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 179-31 when leading at the half during the entire Drew era.
• BU has won 41% of its games (20-29) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 2-2 this season.
• BU is 83-5 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, and the Bears have done so 11 times this season (10-1).
• Rico Gathers ranks 2nd nationally in both offensive (5.5) and total rebounds (12.3) per game.
• Scott Drew is coaching his 377th game at Baylor (221-155). His .588 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .685 winning percentage (187-86) since 2007-08.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks 18th nationally in scoring defense (58.2).
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the Big 12 and 25th nationally in 3-point FG defense (29.6%).
• Baylor moved to season-highs of No. 19 in Monday's AP Top 25 and stayed at No. 19 in the coaches' poll. The Bears have been ranked in eight straight seasons, joining Kansas as the only Big 12 schools to make that claim.
• Baylor is 187-86 (24 wins per season) over the last eight seasons and has made six postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT -- 2009, 2013) with six 20-win seasons.
• Baylor is 15-3 in overtime games under Drew, including wins in 10 of its last 11 OT games.
• Baylor is 27-10 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last six seasons.
• Baylor is coming off a 2014 NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, which made Drew the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to take his current team to three Sweet 16s in the last five years.
• BU has six 20-win seasons in the last 7 years. BU had only three 20-win seasons prior to Drew's arrival.
• Baylor's 5 NBA Draft picks in the last 3 years ranks 5th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and Syracuse.
• Baylor is one of only 12 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in three of the last five seasons.
• Rico Gathers posted a Big 12 and school-record 28 rebounds Jan. 21, most bya DI player since Paul Millsap in 2006.
• Kenny Chery hit a game-winning shot with 4 seconds left to give Baylor a 74-73 win vs. No. 11 ISU on Jan. 14.
• Baylor shot 29.8% in the Jan.10 win at TCU, the worst shooting in any of Scott Drew's 220 wins at BU.
• Prior to allowing a season-high 73 points at Oklahoma on Jan. 3, Baylor's 12 straight games holding opponents to 66 or fewer points was its longest such streak since 1950.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN family of networks. The West Virginia game will be Baylor's 126th consecutive televised contest.
• Baylor has the nation's second-best postseason winning percentage over the last six years (17-4; .810).
• Baylor finished undefeated in December for the 6th time in the last 8 years (accomplished just twice prior; `96, `00)
• Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the second-longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference. Drew, who is in his 12th season at Baylor, is second only to Texas' Rick Barnes (17th season at UT).
• Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 754 consecutive games.
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday's game is the 6th all-time meeting between Baylor and West Virginia -- BU leads the series 4-1.
• The teams split their meetings last season, with the road team winning both games. WVU beat Baylor for the first time, 66-64, when the teams met in Waco, and BU avenged the loss with an 88-75 win in Morgantown.
• Baylor swept WVU in 2012-13 during the Mountaineers' Big 12 debut, 80-60 in Waco and 65-62 in Morgantown.
• Baylor won the inaugural series meeting, 83-81 in overtime, in the 2011 Las Vegas Classic championship game.
• Baylor and Oklahoma State were the only teams to win in Morgantown in 2013 and 2014.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Improve Baylor's record to 5-1 in the all-time series against WVU, including a 3-0 mark in Morgantown.
• Be Baylor's 9th all-time road win against an AP Top 25 team, improving to 9-82 in those games.
• Mark the 6th straight season the Bears have won a road game against a ranked opponent.
• Make Baylor the nation's only team to win in Morgantown in each of the last 3 seasons.
• Give Baylor an 18-5 start to the season for the third time in the last six years (2009-10, 2011-12).
• Give Baylor a 30-8 record over its last 38 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 37-52 in February games under Drew, including a 26-17 mark since the 2009-10 season.
• Give Baylor a 97-36 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 188-86 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .686 winning percentage.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Kenny Chery has scored 127 points in his last 8 games (15.9 ppg) and ranks 5th in the Big 12 with 14.6 ppg in conference play. He averaged 8.2 points per game in his previous 9 games this season.
• Taurean Prince has scored in double figures a team-high 16 times this season -- he entered the season with 12 career double-figure scoring games in 62 games played over two seasons.
• Prince has scored in double figures in 6 straight games, 1 shy of his career-best streak from earlier this season.
• Rico Gathers has 723 career rebounds and needs 4 more to pass Doug Brandt (1993-97) for 8th and 8 more to pass Darryl Middleton (1985-88) for 7th on Baylor's career rebounds list.
• Gathers has 18 career double-doubles, 1 shy of tying Willie Sublett (1991-94) and Jerome Lambert (1993-94) for 9th-most in program history. The Bears are 16-2 when Gathers posts a double-double (9-2 this season).
• Royce O'Neale is the Big 12's only player ranked in the league's top 12 in assists and rebounds. He's posted multiple assists in 19 of 21 games played this season, and at least 4 rebounds in 19 of 21 games.
• Lester Medford went 8 straight games scoring in single digits before averaging 11.5 ppg over his last 4 games.
• Medford has 28 assists and 7 turnovers over his last 6 Big 12 games, including 12 assists with 1 turnover in his last 2 games -- he had 1 assist and 5 turnovers over his first 3 Big 12 contests.
• Johnathan Motley has 32 blocks over his last 13 games -- he had 5 blocks in the previous 9 games.
• Motley had 13 points on Saturday vs. Texas after being held to a combined 16 points over the previous 4 games.
• Al Freeman has led Baylor in bench scoring 7 times this season, and the Bears have won all of those games.
• Freeman has contributed 7+ points off the bench 10 times this season, and BU is 9-1 in those games.
LOOKING FOR 6TH STRAIGHT SEASON WITH ROAD WIN VS. RANKED TEAM
• Baylor has won a road game against an AP Top 25 opponent in each of the last 5 seasons entering 2014-15.
• BU is 6-16 in road games vs. AP ranked teams over the last 8 seasons -- prior to that span, Baylor was 2-65 in road games vs. ranked teams. BU has earned 7 of its 8 road wins vs. ranked teams during the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor's road wins vs. ranked teams were at No. 8 Oklahoma State (2013-14), No. 8 Kentucky (2012-13), No. 18 Kansas State (2011-12), No. 16 Texas A&M (2010-11), No. 6 Texas (2009-10), No. 17 Texas A&M (2007-08), No. 13 Oklahoma State (2002-03) and No. 11 Arkansas (1978-79).
BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM OF DREW ERA
• Baylor is ranked 32nd nationally in KenPom.com adjusted defensive efficiency. The only previous times Baylor was in the top 50 nationally under Drew were 2009-10 (No. 45) and 2011-12 (No. 46) -- both Elite Eight seasons.
• Baylor is 1 of 9 Division I teams to hold all opponents below 75 points this season (Baylor, Cincinnati, George Washington, Louisiana-Monroe, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon State, Saint Peter's, Utah).
• BU was the only Division I team to hold every non-conference opponent to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor's current 58.2 points per game allowed is 5.8 points better than the Bears' best defensive season of the Scott Drew era (2010-11, 64.0 ppg allowed). The last time BU held opponents below 64 ppg was 1985-86 (61.2).
• Baylor has held 16 of 22 opponents under 30 first-half points, including 10 times at 25 or fewer first-half points.
• For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor has held four Division I opponents below 50 points.
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER SCORING AVERAGES BY 11.5 PPG
• Through 22 games, Baylor opponents are averaging 11.5 fewer points than their season averages against the Bears.
• Baylor has held 20 of 22 opponents below their season average, including 14 of 22 at least 10 points below.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 17-2 this season when scoring 60-plus points and 0-3 when being held under 60 points.
• Baylor is 13-2 this season when recording more points off turnovers than its opponent and 4-3 when not doing so.
• Baylor is 14-0 this season when posting more than 12 assists and 3-5 when recording 12 or fewer assists.
• Baylor is 12-3 this season when getting more than 15 points from the bench and 5-2 when getting 15 or less.
• Baylor has held 11 of 22 opponents under 60 points, and the Bears are 83-5 in the Drew era when doing so.
• Baylor is 4-2 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 1-0 in overtime games this season. The Bears are 35-20 in games decided by 5 or fewer points over the last 7 seasons and are 10-1 in overtime games over that span.
GATHERS ONE OF NATION'S BEST REBOUNDERS
• Rico Gathers ranks 2nd nationally in both offensive (5.5) and total (12.3) rebounds per game. He also leads the Big 12 and ranks 23rd nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.8).
• Gathers leads the Big 12 and ranks 15th nationally with 11 double-doubles this season, more than his first two seasons combined (7) and 4 more than any other Big 12 player.
• Gathers' 18 career double-doubles and 32 career double-digit rebound games are both tops among active Big 12 players.
• Gathers is 1 of 5 power-5 conference players averaging a double-double (10.7 ppg and 12.3 rpg), joining Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, Washington State's Josh Hawkinson, LSU's Jordan Mickey and UCLA's Kevon Looney.
• In his 25 career starts, Gathers is averaging 11.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.
• Gathers set Big 12 and Baylor records with 28 rebounds on Jan. 21, most by a DI player since Paul Millsap in 2006.
• Gathers is also one of the nation's least turnover-prone players, ranking 13th nationally with a 7.1 turnover rate. He has 11 more steals steals (27) than turnovers (16).
O'NEALE DOES IT ALL
• During his four years of Division I basketball, Royce O'Neale has 1,142 points, 721 rebounds, 354 assists, 141 steals and 38 blocks in 122 games played. If all of his games played were at Baylor, he would rank 20th in school history in scoring, 11th in rebounding, 7th in assists and 10th in steals.
• O'Neale is the only Big 12 Conference player to rank in the league's top 12 in rebounding and assists -- he currently ranks 9th in the Big 12 in rebounding (6.1) and 11th in assists (3.2).
• Last season, O'Neale became the first player in program history to post 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in the same season. He ranked second on the team with 110 assists and fourth with 205 rebounds in 2013-14.
• O'Neale has started 52 consecutive games against DI opponents -- (sat out vs. Huston-Tillotson on Jan. 21).
• Including his two seasons at Denver, O'Neale has 25 career games played touching all five stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).
MOTLEY SHOWING IMPROVEMENT DURING DEBUT SEASON
• Redshirt freshman Johnathan Motley has shown steady improvement during his redshirt freshman season.
• He's averaging 10.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.3 bpg over the last 14 games, up from 6.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 0.6 bpg over his first 8 collegiate games.
• After going scoreless in back-to-back games, Motley has led the team in scoring in four of the last 13 games.
• Motley has blocked 32 shots in his last 13 games (2.5 bpg) after blocking 5 shots over his first 9 games (0.6 bpg).
CHERY BACK AT FULL STRENGTH
• Kenny Chery is back at full strength after missing 5 starts with plantar fasciitis (came off bench once).
• Chery has 55 assists and 30 turnovers in 12 games since returning to the starting lineup. He had 14 assists and 16 turnovers in 5 games before taking the time to rest and recover.
• Chery has scored 127 points in his last 8 games (15.9 ppg), including a season-high 25 points against Kansas on Jan. 7, and he ranks 5th in the Big 12 with 14.6 points per game in conference play.
PRINCE LEADS TEAM IN SCORING AS 6TH MAN
• Taurean Prince entered the season averaging 5.2 points in 11.2 minutes over 62 games played in two seasons, but he is leading the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game in 25.5 minutes per game.
• Prince has scored in double figures in a team-high 16 of 21 games played this season after scoring in double figures 12 times in his first two seasons at Baylor combined.
• Prince has played 25+ minutes in 14 games this season after doing so in just 2 games over his first two seasons.
• Prince has also led the team in scoring 4 times this season after doing so in just 3 games over his first two seasons at Baylor. He's led the Bears in bench scoring in 12 of 15 games as a reserve this season
This post was edited on 2/7 11:13 AM by jake shaw
In this stretch where the Bears have won four out of five, they have knocked of their last three Top 25 opponents - Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas. That certainly should help the NCAA tournament resume.
This should be a far different story. Bob Huggins probably has the team he finally needs to handle the rigors of Big 12 conference play. The Mountaineers; however, are coming off a pretty rough performance at Oklahoma last week in which the Sooners shot 61 percent.
If West Virginia isn't turning opponents over, then it's in trouble. The Mountaineers are leading all of Division I basketball in forcing 21.9 turnovers per game. However, they are eighth in the Big 12 in shooting at 39.1 percent. Devin Williams, who is averaging over 13 points and nine rebounds per game in league play, is a question mark to play because of an illness.
But Baylor has to find to shoot better on the road. Kenny Chery is hitting at 33.8 percent, while Rico Gathers, "Mr. Double Double" is shooting 36.7 percent. And the Bears were pretty poor at Oklahoma State shooting 34.5 percent.
If the Bears continue to take care of the ball, they will keep themselves in this give themselves a chance to steal one on the road. Baylor's lone conference road win was the 66-59 overtime win at TCU on Jan. 10.
--Kevin Lonnquist
STORY LINES
• Saturday is the 6th series meeting, all of which have come since 2011. BU leads 4-1, including a 2-0 mark at WVU.
• Baylor and Oklahoma State are the only teams to win in Morgantown in each of the last two seasons.
• BU is 6-16 in road games vs. AP ranked teams over the last 8 seasons -- prior to that span, Baylor was 2-65 in road games vs. ranked teams. BU has earned 7 of its 8 road wins vs. ranked teams during the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor has had 6 different players lead the team in scoring in its 9 Big 12 games this season.
• Baylor is 3rd nationally with 16.0 offensive rebounds per game and 5th with 41.2 total boards per game.
• Baylor started the season winning or tying in 2nd-chance points against its first 19 opponents, but the Bears have given up more 2nd-chance points than they've scored in each of the last 3 games.
• Baylor's defense has held teams to an average of 11.5 points below their season scoring averages. The Bears have held 20 of 22 opponents under their season scoring averages, including 14 times at least 10 points below.
• Baylor is 1 of 9 Division I teams to hold all opponents under 75 points this season.
• Baylor was the only Division I team to hold all non-conference opponents to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor has held opponents under 30 first-half points in 16 of 22 games this season, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• All 5 Baylor starters average 8.4-11.8 points per game, and reserve Taurean Prince leads the team with 12.1 ppg.
• Five BU players have scored 20+ points in a game this season (Chery, Gathers, Motley, O'Neale and Prince).
• Seven different BU players have led the team in scoring this season and Gathers has done so most often (5 times).
• Baylor is 29-8 in its last 37 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Seven of the eight losses have been away from home (four road, three neutral) and five of the eight losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor and Louisville are the nation's only teams ranked by the AP in football and men's and women's basketball.
• Over the last 7 seasons, Baylor is 35-20 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 10-1 in overtime games.
• Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last 8 seasons (67-60) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is 76-7 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 15-3 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 179-31 when leading at the half during the entire Drew era.
• BU has won 41% of its games (20-29) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 2-2 this season.
• BU is 83-5 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, and the Bears have done so 11 times this season (10-1).
• Rico Gathers ranks 2nd nationally in both offensive (5.5) and total rebounds (12.3) per game.
• Scott Drew is coaching his 377th game at Baylor (221-155). His .588 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .685 winning percentage (187-86) since 2007-08.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks 18th nationally in scoring defense (58.2).
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the Big 12 and 25th nationally in 3-point FG defense (29.6%).
• Baylor moved to season-highs of No. 19 in Monday's AP Top 25 and stayed at No. 19 in the coaches' poll. The Bears have been ranked in eight straight seasons, joining Kansas as the only Big 12 schools to make that claim.
• Baylor is 187-86 (24 wins per season) over the last eight seasons and has made six postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT -- 2009, 2013) with six 20-win seasons.
• Baylor is 15-3 in overtime games under Drew, including wins in 10 of its last 11 OT games.
• Baylor is 27-10 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last six seasons.
• Baylor is coming off a 2014 NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, which made Drew the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to take his current team to three Sweet 16s in the last five years.
• BU has six 20-win seasons in the last 7 years. BU had only three 20-win seasons prior to Drew's arrival.
• Baylor's 5 NBA Draft picks in the last 3 years ranks 5th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and Syracuse.
• Baylor is one of only 12 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in three of the last five seasons.
• Rico Gathers posted a Big 12 and school-record 28 rebounds Jan. 21, most bya DI player since Paul Millsap in 2006.
• Kenny Chery hit a game-winning shot with 4 seconds left to give Baylor a 74-73 win vs. No. 11 ISU on Jan. 14.
• Baylor shot 29.8% in the Jan.10 win at TCU, the worst shooting in any of Scott Drew's 220 wins at BU.
• Prior to allowing a season-high 73 points at Oklahoma on Jan. 3, Baylor's 12 straight games holding opponents to 66 or fewer points was its longest such streak since 1950.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN family of networks. The West Virginia game will be Baylor's 126th consecutive televised contest.
• Baylor has the nation's second-best postseason winning percentage over the last six years (17-4; .810).
• Baylor finished undefeated in December for the 6th time in the last 8 years (accomplished just twice prior; `96, `00)
• Drew is tied with Kansas' Bill Self as the second-longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference. Drew, who is in his 12th season at Baylor, is second only to Texas' Rick Barnes (17th season at UT).
• Baylor has the Big 12's 2nd-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 754 consecutive games.
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday's game is the 6th all-time meeting between Baylor and West Virginia -- BU leads the series 4-1.
• The teams split their meetings last season, with the road team winning both games. WVU beat Baylor for the first time, 66-64, when the teams met in Waco, and BU avenged the loss with an 88-75 win in Morgantown.
• Baylor swept WVU in 2012-13 during the Mountaineers' Big 12 debut, 80-60 in Waco and 65-62 in Morgantown.
• Baylor won the inaugural series meeting, 83-81 in overtime, in the 2011 Las Vegas Classic championship game.
• Baylor and Oklahoma State were the only teams to win in Morgantown in 2013 and 2014.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Improve Baylor's record to 5-1 in the all-time series against WVU, including a 3-0 mark in Morgantown.
• Be Baylor's 9th all-time road win against an AP Top 25 team, improving to 9-82 in those games.
• Mark the 6th straight season the Bears have won a road game against a ranked opponent.
• Make Baylor the nation's only team to win in Morgantown in each of the last 3 seasons.
• Give Baylor an 18-5 start to the season for the third time in the last six years (2009-10, 2011-12).
• Give Baylor a 30-8 record over its last 38 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 37-52 in February games under Drew, including a 26-17 mark since the 2009-10 season.
• Give Baylor a 97-36 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 188-86 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .686 winning percentage.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Kenny Chery has scored 127 points in his last 8 games (15.9 ppg) and ranks 5th in the Big 12 with 14.6 ppg in conference play. He averaged 8.2 points per game in his previous 9 games this season.
• Taurean Prince has scored in double figures a team-high 16 times this season -- he entered the season with 12 career double-figure scoring games in 62 games played over two seasons.
• Prince has scored in double figures in 6 straight games, 1 shy of his career-best streak from earlier this season.
• Rico Gathers has 723 career rebounds and needs 4 more to pass Doug Brandt (1993-97) for 8th and 8 more to pass Darryl Middleton (1985-88) for 7th on Baylor's career rebounds list.
• Gathers has 18 career double-doubles, 1 shy of tying Willie Sublett (1991-94) and Jerome Lambert (1993-94) for 9th-most in program history. The Bears are 16-2 when Gathers posts a double-double (9-2 this season).
• Royce O'Neale is the Big 12's only player ranked in the league's top 12 in assists and rebounds. He's posted multiple assists in 19 of 21 games played this season, and at least 4 rebounds in 19 of 21 games.
• Lester Medford went 8 straight games scoring in single digits before averaging 11.5 ppg over his last 4 games.
• Medford has 28 assists and 7 turnovers over his last 6 Big 12 games, including 12 assists with 1 turnover in his last 2 games -- he had 1 assist and 5 turnovers over his first 3 Big 12 contests.
• Johnathan Motley has 32 blocks over his last 13 games -- he had 5 blocks in the previous 9 games.
• Motley had 13 points on Saturday vs. Texas after being held to a combined 16 points over the previous 4 games.
• Al Freeman has led Baylor in bench scoring 7 times this season, and the Bears have won all of those games.
• Freeman has contributed 7+ points off the bench 10 times this season, and BU is 9-1 in those games.
LOOKING FOR 6TH STRAIGHT SEASON WITH ROAD WIN VS. RANKED TEAM
• Baylor has won a road game against an AP Top 25 opponent in each of the last 5 seasons entering 2014-15.
• BU is 6-16 in road games vs. AP ranked teams over the last 8 seasons -- prior to that span, Baylor was 2-65 in road games vs. ranked teams. BU has earned 7 of its 8 road wins vs. ranked teams during the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor's road wins vs. ranked teams were at No. 8 Oklahoma State (2013-14), No. 8 Kentucky (2012-13), No. 18 Kansas State (2011-12), No. 16 Texas A&M (2010-11), No. 6 Texas (2009-10), No. 17 Texas A&M (2007-08), No. 13 Oklahoma State (2002-03) and No. 11 Arkansas (1978-79).
BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM OF DREW ERA
• Baylor is ranked 32nd nationally in KenPom.com adjusted defensive efficiency. The only previous times Baylor was in the top 50 nationally under Drew were 2009-10 (No. 45) and 2011-12 (No. 46) -- both Elite Eight seasons.
• Baylor is 1 of 9 Division I teams to hold all opponents below 75 points this season (Baylor, Cincinnati, George Washington, Louisiana-Monroe, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon State, Saint Peter's, Utah).
• BU was the only Division I team to hold every non-conference opponent to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor's current 58.2 points per game allowed is 5.8 points better than the Bears' best defensive season of the Scott Drew era (2010-11, 64.0 ppg allowed). The last time BU held opponents below 64 ppg was 1985-86 (61.2).
• Baylor has held 16 of 22 opponents under 30 first-half points, including 10 times at 25 or fewer first-half points.
• For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor has held four Division I opponents below 50 points.
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER SCORING AVERAGES BY 11.5 PPG
• Through 22 games, Baylor opponents are averaging 11.5 fewer points than their season averages against the Bears.
• Baylor has held 20 of 22 opponents below their season average, including 14 of 22 at least 10 points below.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 17-2 this season when scoring 60-plus points and 0-3 when being held under 60 points.
• Baylor is 13-2 this season when recording more points off turnovers than its opponent and 4-3 when not doing so.
• Baylor is 14-0 this season when posting more than 12 assists and 3-5 when recording 12 or fewer assists.
• Baylor is 12-3 this season when getting more than 15 points from the bench and 5-2 when getting 15 or less.
• Baylor has held 11 of 22 opponents under 60 points, and the Bears are 83-5 in the Drew era when doing so.
• Baylor is 4-2 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 1-0 in overtime games this season. The Bears are 35-20 in games decided by 5 or fewer points over the last 7 seasons and are 10-1 in overtime games over that span.
GATHERS ONE OF NATION'S BEST REBOUNDERS
• Rico Gathers ranks 2nd nationally in both offensive (5.5) and total (12.3) rebounds per game. He also leads the Big 12 and ranks 23rd nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.8).
• Gathers leads the Big 12 and ranks 15th nationally with 11 double-doubles this season, more than his first two seasons combined (7) and 4 more than any other Big 12 player.
• Gathers' 18 career double-doubles and 32 career double-digit rebound games are both tops among active Big 12 players.
• Gathers is 1 of 5 power-5 conference players averaging a double-double (10.7 ppg and 12.3 rpg), joining Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, Washington State's Josh Hawkinson, LSU's Jordan Mickey and UCLA's Kevon Looney.
• In his 25 career starts, Gathers is averaging 11.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.
• Gathers set Big 12 and Baylor records with 28 rebounds on Jan. 21, most by a DI player since Paul Millsap in 2006.
• Gathers is also one of the nation's least turnover-prone players, ranking 13th nationally with a 7.1 turnover rate. He has 11 more steals steals (27) than turnovers (16).
O'NEALE DOES IT ALL
• During his four years of Division I basketball, Royce O'Neale has 1,142 points, 721 rebounds, 354 assists, 141 steals and 38 blocks in 122 games played. If all of his games played were at Baylor, he would rank 20th in school history in scoring, 11th in rebounding, 7th in assists and 10th in steals.
• O'Neale is the only Big 12 Conference player to rank in the league's top 12 in rebounding and assists -- he currently ranks 9th in the Big 12 in rebounding (6.1) and 11th in assists (3.2).
• Last season, O'Neale became the first player in program history to post 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in the same season. He ranked second on the team with 110 assists and fourth with 205 rebounds in 2013-14.
• O'Neale has started 52 consecutive games against DI opponents -- (sat out vs. Huston-Tillotson on Jan. 21).
• Including his two seasons at Denver, O'Neale has 25 career games played touching all five stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).
MOTLEY SHOWING IMPROVEMENT DURING DEBUT SEASON
• Redshirt freshman Johnathan Motley has shown steady improvement during his redshirt freshman season.
• He's averaging 10.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.3 bpg over the last 14 games, up from 6.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 0.6 bpg over his first 8 collegiate games.
• After going scoreless in back-to-back games, Motley has led the team in scoring in four of the last 13 games.
• Motley has blocked 32 shots in his last 13 games (2.5 bpg) after blocking 5 shots over his first 9 games (0.6 bpg).
CHERY BACK AT FULL STRENGTH
• Kenny Chery is back at full strength after missing 5 starts with plantar fasciitis (came off bench once).
• Chery has 55 assists and 30 turnovers in 12 games since returning to the starting lineup. He had 14 assists and 16 turnovers in 5 games before taking the time to rest and recover.
• Chery has scored 127 points in his last 8 games (15.9 ppg), including a season-high 25 points against Kansas on Jan. 7, and he ranks 5th in the Big 12 with 14.6 points per game in conference play.
PRINCE LEADS TEAM IN SCORING AS 6TH MAN
• Taurean Prince entered the season averaging 5.2 points in 11.2 minutes over 62 games played in two seasons, but he is leading the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game in 25.5 minutes per game.
• Prince has scored in double figures in a team-high 16 of 21 games played this season after scoring in double figures 12 times in his first two seasons at Baylor combined.
• Prince has played 25+ minutes in 14 games this season after doing so in just 2 games over his first two seasons.
• Prince has also led the team in scoring 4 times this season after doing so in just 3 games over his first two seasons at Baylor. He's led the Bears in bench scoring in 12 of 15 games as a reserve this season
This post was edited on 2/7 11:13 AM by jake shaw
