It goes without saying that this is a must win for the Bears after dropping the last two to Oklahoma State and Kansas. Really, the Bears offense played fine in Lawrence. Shots just didn't go down. But Lester Medford has been really poor offensively for pretty much the last month. He scored five total points against the Cowboys and Jayhawks.
Tech is the worst offensive team in the Big 12 averaging 60.9 points per game. Devaugntah Williams leads the Red Raiders in scoring at 10.3 points per game. But the Bears know United Supermarkets Arena wasn't friendly in the 2014 meeting when the Red Raiders upset them, 82-72.
It's a game Baylor should win. We'll see what happens.
STORY LINES
• Tuesday is the 129th series meeting. Baylor is 52-76 in the all-time series, including 16-46 in Lubbock.
• Baylor is 4-1 in its last 5 trips to Lubbock, with an average scoring margin of +13.4 in those games.
• Baylor is 13-9 against Texas Tech under Scott Drew, including an 11-3 mark since 2008.
• Baylor is 30-10 in its last 40 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Eight of the 10 losses have been away from home (5 road, 3 neutral) and 7 of the 10 losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor is 31-4 against in-state opponents since 2011-12 and 45-8 against Lone Star State teams since 2009-10.
• Baylor is 3rd nationally with a +9.7 average rebound margin, 3rd with 15.4 offensive rebounds per game, 4th with 40.8 total boards per game. The Bears have out-rebounded 23 of 25 opponents this season.
• Baylor's current 59.9 ppg allowed is its lowest season average in 57 years (59.1 ppg in 1958-59). The last time Baylor allowed fewer than 64 ppg in a season was 1985-86 (61.2).
• Baylor has trailed at halftime only 3 times all season -- vs. Memphis, at Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State.
• Baylor is 1 of 6 Division I teams to hold all opponents under 75 points this season (Baylor, Utah, New Mexico, Saint Peter's, New Hampshire, Louisiana-Monroe).
• Baylor's defense is holding teams to an average of 10.2 points below their season scoring averages. The Bears have held 22 of 25 opponents under their season scoring averages, including 13 times at least 10 points below.
• Baylor was the only Division I team to hold all non-conference opponents to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor has held teams to 30 or fewer 1st-half points in 19 of 25 games this season, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• All 5 Baylor starters average 7.9-11.9 points per game, and reserve Taurean Prince leads the team with 12.7 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 (7 times).
• 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 (68-62) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is 77-9 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 16-5 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 180-31 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.
QUICK HITS
• Scott Drew is coaching his 380th game at Baylor (222-157). His .586 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .681 winning percentage (188-88) since 2007-08.
• BU is 83-5 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, and the Bears have done so 11 times this season (10-1).
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the Big 12 Conference and 31st nationally in scoring defense (59.9).
• Baylor leads the Big 12 and ranks 24th nationally in 3-point FG defense (29.9%).
• Baylor is ranked No. 20 in both the AP and coaches polls, marking BU's 9th consecutive week in the polls. The Bears have been ranked in eight straight seasons, joining Kansas as the only Big 12 schools to make that claim.
• Baylor won 3 consecutive Big 12 games by 23, 20 and 18 points vs. Texas, TCU and West Virginia, respectively. It was the first time in program history the Bears won 3 straight conference games by 18+ points.
• Baylor is 188-88 (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 leads the nation in rebounds per game (12.4) and is 2nd nationally in offensive rebounds per game (5.4).
• 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 wins at BU.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN family of networks. The Texas Tech game will be Baylor's 129th 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 (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 757 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs. Texas Tech.
SERIES HISTORY
• Baylor is 52-76 in the all-time series against Texas Tech, including a 16-46 mark in games played in Lubbock.
• Baylor has won 4 of its last 5 games in Lubbock, and all of those games have been decided by double figures. BU won by 18 in 2010, 12 in 2011, 13 in 2012 and 34 in 2013, and Tech won by 10 last season
• Baylor is 13-9 against Texas Tech under Scott Drew, including an 11-3 mark since 2008.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Make Baylor 5-1 in 6 trips to Lubbock since 2010 -- prior to that, Baylor was 12-45 in Lubbock.
• Give Baylor 19 wins for a 4th straight season and the 7th time in the last 8 seasons -- BU had only 4 seasons with 19+ wins prior to the Drew era (1945-46, 1947-78, 1987-88 and 2000-01).
• Give Baylor a 31-10 record over its last 41 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 27-19 in February games since the 2009-10 season and 38-54 in February games under Drew.
• Give Baylor a 98-38 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 189-88 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .682 winning percentage.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Kenny Chery has scored 164 points in his last 11 games (14.9 ppg) and ranks 4th in the Big 12 with 14.0 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 19 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 a career-best 9 straight games and is averaging 14.4 ppg during the streak.
• Rico Gathers has 311 rebounds this season, 9th-most in a season in BU history. He needs 2 more to pass Darrell Hardy (312) and Cory Jefferson (312) for 7th and 4 more to pass Jerry Mallett (314) for 6th.
• Gathers has 20 career double-doubles, tied for 8th-most in program history. His 13 double-doubles this season are tied for 7th-most in a season, and his next will tie William Chatmon and Cory Jefferson (14) for 5th-most.
• Gathers last 3 games: 17.0 ppg, 13.7 rpg, .708 FG pct. (17-of-24), 1.8 bpg, 1.3 spg.
• Royce O'Neale is the Big 12's only player ranked in the league's top 10 in assists and rebounds. He ranks 8th in rebounding (6.2) and 9th in assists (3.5), while posting the league's 4th-best assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3).
• O'Neale last 5 games: 12.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.8 spg; 24 assists and only 6 turnovers.
• Lester Medford has 37 assists and 17 turnovers over his last 9 Big 12 games -- he had 1 assist and 5 turnovers over his first 3 Big 12 contests.
• Medford ranks 6th in the Big 12 with a .444 3-point percentage in league play, up from .340 in non-conference.
• Johnathan Motley has 35 blocks over his last 16 games -- he had 5 blocks in the previous 9 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 11 times this season, and BU is 10-1 in those games.
BEST IN TEXAS
• Baylor is 31-4 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, including an 8-0 mark this season. The losses in that stretch came at Texas in 2013 and 2014, at Texas Tech in 2014 and home vs. Texas in 2014.
• Since 2009-10, BU is 45-8 against Lone Star State teams after going 10-27 vs. in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor. (8-0 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 13-14, 7-1 in 12-13, 10-0 in 11-12, 5-3 in 10-11, 9-1 in 09-10).
BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM OF DREW ERA
• Baylor is ranked 47th 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 6 Division I teams to hold all opponents below 75 points this season (Baylor, Louisiana-Monroe, New Hampshire, New Mexico, 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 59.9 points per game allowed is 4.1 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 19 of 25 opponents to 30 or fewer first-half points, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor has held four Division I opponents below 50 points.
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER SCORING AVERAGES BY 10.2 PPG
• Through 25 games, Baylor opponents are averaging 10.2 fewer points than their season averages against the Bears.
• Baylor has held 22 of 25 opponents below their season average, including 13 of 25 at least 10 points below.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 11-0 this season when scoring 70+ points and 18-4 when scoring 60+ points.
• Baylor is 13-2 this season when recording more points off turnovers than its opponent and 5-5 when not doing so.
• Baylor is 14-1 this season when posting 14 or more assists and 4-6 when recording 13 or fewer assists.
• Baylor has held 11 of 25 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 leads the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game. He ranks 2nd nationally in offensive boards (5.4) and 14th in defensive rebounds (7.1), and he leads the Big 12 in offensive, defensive and total rebounding.
• Gathers leads the Big 12 and ranks 14th nationally with 13 double-doubles this season, twice as many as his first two seasons combined (7) and 6 more than any other Big 12 player.
• Gathers' 20 career double-doubles and 34 career double-digit rebound games are both tops among active Big 12 players.
• Gathers is 1 of 4 power-5 conference players averaging a double-double (11.5 ppg and 12.4 rpg), joining Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, Washington State's Josh Hawkinson and LSU's Jordan Mickey.
• In his 28 career starts, Gathers is averaging 11.8 points and 12.3 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 22nd nationally with an 8.5 turnover rate. He has more steals steals (31) and blocks (25) than turnovers (22).
This post was edited on 2/17 8:47 PM by K Lonnquist
Tech is the worst offensive team in the Big 12 averaging 60.9 points per game. Devaugntah Williams leads the Red Raiders in scoring at 10.3 points per game. But the Bears know United Supermarkets Arena wasn't friendly in the 2014 meeting when the Red Raiders upset them, 82-72.
It's a game Baylor should win. We'll see what happens.
STORY LINES
• Tuesday is the 129th series meeting. Baylor is 52-76 in the all-time series, including 16-46 in Lubbock.
• Baylor is 4-1 in its last 5 trips to Lubbock, with an average scoring margin of +13.4 in those games.
• Baylor is 13-9 against Texas Tech under Scott Drew, including an 11-3 mark since 2008.
• Baylor is 30-10 in its last 40 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Eight of the 10 losses have been away from home (5 road, 3 neutral) and 7 of the 10 losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor is 31-4 against in-state opponents since 2011-12 and 45-8 against Lone Star State teams since 2009-10.
• Baylor is 3rd nationally with a +9.7 average rebound margin, 3rd with 15.4 offensive rebounds per game, 4th with 40.8 total boards per game. The Bears have out-rebounded 23 of 25 opponents this season.
• Baylor's current 59.9 ppg allowed is its lowest season average in 57 years (59.1 ppg in 1958-59). The last time Baylor allowed fewer than 64 ppg in a season was 1985-86 (61.2).
• Baylor has trailed at halftime only 3 times all season -- vs. Memphis, at Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State.
• Baylor is 1 of 6 Division I teams to hold all opponents under 75 points this season (Baylor, Utah, New Mexico, Saint Peter's, New Hampshire, Louisiana-Monroe).
• Baylor's defense is holding teams to an average of 10.2 points below their season scoring averages. The Bears have held 22 of 25 opponents under their season scoring averages, including 13 times at least 10 points below.
• Baylor was the only Division I team to hold all non-conference opponents to 66 or fewer points this season.
• Baylor has held teams to 30 or fewer 1st-half points in 19 of 25 games this season, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• All 5 Baylor starters average 7.9-11.9 points per game, and reserve Taurean Prince leads the team with 12.7 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 (7 times).
• 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 (68-62) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• Baylor is 77-9 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 16-5 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 180-31 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.
QUICK HITS
• Scott Drew is coaching his 380th game at Baylor (222-157). His .586 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .681 winning percentage (188-88) since 2007-08.
• BU is 83-5 under Drew when holding teams under 60 points, and the Bears have done so 11 times this season (10-1).
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the Big 12 Conference and 31st nationally in scoring defense (59.9).
• Baylor leads the Big 12 and ranks 24th nationally in 3-point FG defense (29.9%).
• Baylor is ranked No. 20 in both the AP and coaches polls, marking BU's 9th consecutive week in the polls. The Bears have been ranked in eight straight seasons, joining Kansas as the only Big 12 schools to make that claim.
• Baylor won 3 consecutive Big 12 games by 23, 20 and 18 points vs. Texas, TCU and West Virginia, respectively. It was the first time in program history the Bears won 3 straight conference games by 18+ points.
• Baylor is 188-88 (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 leads the nation in rebounds per game (12.4) and is 2nd nationally in offensive rebounds per game (5.4).
• 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 wins at BU.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN family of networks. The Texas Tech game will be Baylor's 129th 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 (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 757 consecutive games. The last time BU didn't make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs. Texas Tech.
SERIES HISTORY
• Baylor is 52-76 in the all-time series against Texas Tech, including a 16-46 mark in games played in Lubbock.
• Baylor has won 4 of its last 5 games in Lubbock, and all of those games have been decided by double figures. BU won by 18 in 2010, 12 in 2011, 13 in 2012 and 34 in 2013, and Tech won by 10 last season
• Baylor is 13-9 against Texas Tech under Scott Drew, including an 11-3 mark since 2008.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Make Baylor 5-1 in 6 trips to Lubbock since 2010 -- prior to that, Baylor was 12-45 in Lubbock.
• Give Baylor 19 wins for a 4th straight season and the 7th time in the last 8 seasons -- BU had only 4 seasons with 19+ wins prior to the Drew era (1945-46, 1947-78, 1987-88 and 2000-01).
• Give Baylor a 31-10 record over its last 41 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 27-19 in February games since the 2009-10 season and 38-54 in February games under Drew.
• Give Baylor a 98-38 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 189-88 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .682 winning percentage.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Kenny Chery has scored 164 points in his last 11 games (14.9 ppg) and ranks 4th in the Big 12 with 14.0 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 19 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 a career-best 9 straight games and is averaging 14.4 ppg during the streak.
• Rico Gathers has 311 rebounds this season, 9th-most in a season in BU history. He needs 2 more to pass Darrell Hardy (312) and Cory Jefferson (312) for 7th and 4 more to pass Jerry Mallett (314) for 6th.
• Gathers has 20 career double-doubles, tied for 8th-most in program history. His 13 double-doubles this season are tied for 7th-most in a season, and his next will tie William Chatmon and Cory Jefferson (14) for 5th-most.
• Gathers last 3 games: 17.0 ppg, 13.7 rpg, .708 FG pct. (17-of-24), 1.8 bpg, 1.3 spg.
• Royce O'Neale is the Big 12's only player ranked in the league's top 10 in assists and rebounds. He ranks 8th in rebounding (6.2) and 9th in assists (3.5), while posting the league's 4th-best assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3).
• O'Neale last 5 games: 12.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.8 spg; 24 assists and only 6 turnovers.
• Lester Medford has 37 assists and 17 turnovers over his last 9 Big 12 games -- he had 1 assist and 5 turnovers over his first 3 Big 12 contests.
• Medford ranks 6th in the Big 12 with a .444 3-point percentage in league play, up from .340 in non-conference.
• Johnathan Motley has 35 blocks over his last 16 games -- he had 5 blocks in the previous 9 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 11 times this season, and BU is 10-1 in those games.
BEST IN TEXAS
• Baylor is 31-4 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, including an 8-0 mark this season. The losses in that stretch came at Texas in 2013 and 2014, at Texas Tech in 2014 and home vs. Texas in 2014.
• Since 2009-10, BU is 45-8 against Lone Star State teams after going 10-27 vs. in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor. (8-0 in 2014-15, 6-3 in 13-14, 7-1 in 12-13, 10-0 in 11-12, 5-3 in 10-11, 9-1 in 09-10).
BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM OF DREW ERA
• Baylor is ranked 47th 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 6 Division I teams to hold all opponents below 75 points this season (Baylor, Louisiana-Monroe, New Hampshire, New Mexico, 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 59.9 points per game allowed is 4.1 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 19 of 25 opponents to 30 or fewer first-half points, including 10 times at 25 or fewer.
• For the first time since 2009-10, Baylor has held four Division I opponents below 50 points.
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER SCORING AVERAGES BY 10.2 PPG
• Through 25 games, Baylor opponents are averaging 10.2 fewer points than their season averages against the Bears.
• Baylor has held 22 of 25 opponents below their season average, including 13 of 25 at least 10 points below.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 11-0 this season when scoring 70+ points and 18-4 when scoring 60+ points.
• Baylor is 13-2 this season when recording more points off turnovers than its opponent and 5-5 when not doing so.
• Baylor is 14-1 this season when posting 14 or more assists and 4-6 when recording 13 or fewer assists.
• Baylor has held 11 of 25 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 leads the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game. He ranks 2nd nationally in offensive boards (5.4) and 14th in defensive rebounds (7.1), and he leads the Big 12 in offensive, defensive and total rebounding.
• Gathers leads the Big 12 and ranks 14th nationally with 13 double-doubles this season, twice as many as his first two seasons combined (7) and 6 more than any other Big 12 player.
• Gathers' 20 career double-doubles and 34 career double-digit rebound games are both tops among active Big 12 players.
• Gathers is 1 of 4 power-5 conference players averaging a double-double (11.5 ppg and 12.4 rpg), joining Auburn's Cinmeon Bowers, Washington State's Josh Hawkinson and LSU's Jordan Mickey.
• In his 28 career starts, Gathers is averaging 11.8 points and 12.3 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 22nd nationally with an 8.5 turnover rate. He has more steals steals (31) and blocks (25) than turnovers (22).
This post was edited on 2/17 8:47 PM by K Lonnquist
