By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’s previous trips to the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA has been met with a raucous crowd coupled with pretty good Iowa State teams.
However, when the No. 2 Bears take to the floor at noon Saturday, they could be opposing neither. Hilton won’t be packed because of COVID-19 regulations. Plus, the Cyclones (2-4, 0-2) are just struggling.
A deeper, experienced team faces Iowa State as Big 12 play resumes as well as the Bears' push toward what they will hope will be their first conference championship.
“The good thing for us is we’re starting to get used to no fans,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “The bench has done such a great job of bringing their own energy and making sure everyone is engaged and excited. Really it’s on us and it’s an equal playing field because no one has many fans.”
The Bears scooted through their Christmas-New Year’s Holiday games against UAPB, UCA and Alcorn State winning by an average of 41 points. If there was any concern about those games was how Alcorn State finished. The Bears were outscored 18-7 and were a little sloppy with the ball. However, that was with a lineup that won’t be out for most of the time this season.
What has been a trend this year is when the Bears jump out to big leads, they don’t become complacent.
“Maybe the separation we’ve been able to get and sustain,'' Drew said. “Very seldom do you have a team that you win by the margins that we’ve won and consistently won. Sometimes, with teams, you’ll get up by 15 or 20 and then let the other team come back and it’s a 10 or 12-point game. We’ve really done a phenomenal job of building on leads and putting teams away and not allowing them to get back into games.”
Iowa State hasn’t played since Dec. 20, a 60-45 win over Jackson State. But the Cyclones did take No. 9 West Virginia to the end in a 70-65 loss in Morgantown, WV on Dec. 18. ISU led by as many as six in the second half and the game was tied, 65-65, inside the final 35 seconds.
Junior guard Rasir Bolton is off to a strong start this year averaging 15.7 points per game including 25 against West Virginia. ISU is having a solid shooting year at 47 percent but just 32 percent from the arc. DePaul transfer Jalen Coleman-Lands, a senior, has also been a solid contributor at 13.8 points per game.
Baylor should control the boards in this one. It may not operate offensively as efficiently as it did in the previous three games. However, as long as the turnover count is 12 or fewer, the Bears should be fine.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to Big 12 play with Saturday's noon CT game at Iowa State on ESPN+.
• Wednesday is the 41st series meeting, and the home team has won 29 of 35 campus-site games.
• Baylor is 10-3 against Iowa State since 2015 and 16-13 vs. ISU during the 18-year Scott Drew era.
• Baylor lost its first 12 trips to Ames, but BU is 4-2 in Ames since getting its first win at Hilton in 2015.
• Baylor is the Big 12's final undefeated team. BU leads the league in scoring (95.0), scoring margin (+32.8), field goal pct. (.521), 3-point pct. (.459), 3-pointers made (11.9), steals (9.8), assists (22.1),
assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92), offensive rebound percentage (.418) and rebounding margin (+10.1).
• Baylor has scored 80+ points in 8 straight games, which is the 2nd-longest streak in school history behind only the 1984-85 season, when BU scored 80+ points in its first 11 games.
• Baylor has scored 90+ in 4-straight games for the first time since 1984; BU has never gone 5-straight.
• Baylor has won 8 consecutive games by double-digits, matching the school record set when the Bears started the 2011-12 season with 8-consecutive double-digit wins.
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 13+ points this season (min. 3 games played).
• BU has built a lead of at least 16 points in every game this season and has won 7 of 8 by 25+ points.
• BU is looking to start a season 9-0 for the first time since starting 15-0 on its way to No. 1 in 2016-17.
• Baylor leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.459) and assists per game (22.1).
• The Bears rank 2nd nationally in AST-to-TO ratio (1.92), 2nd in scoring margin (+32.8), 3rd in scoring (95.0), 5th in 3-pointers made (11.9/gm), 6th in turnover margin (+8.4) and 13th in steals (9.8/gm).
• Baylor's bench has 33+ points in every game and is out-scoring opposing benches 43-20 on average.
• Four members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (13), Tchatchoua (10), Mayer (10), Cryer (8).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (350-213).
• With a win, Drew would tie his father Homer Drew's career Division I wins total (371 in 22 years at Valpo).
• Baylor is playing its 250th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since 2008-09, BU has been ranked in 247 of 429 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 17-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 26-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 5th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor's defense forced 15+ turnovers in 23 of 38 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• BU became the first team since 1992 to score 100 points in Manhattan in the Dec. 19 win at K-State.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 38 games since the start of 2019-20 (double-digit lead in 32 of 38).
• Baylor returned four All-Big 12 players from a 2019-20 team which went 26-4 and spent five weeks ranked No. 1 nationally. The Bears finished last season ranked No. 4 in the coaches poll (No. 5 in AP).
• Baylor is 42-40 in Big 12 road games over the last 10 seasons, second-best behind Kansas (55-27).
• Baylor signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) earlier this month. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
• BU has advanced to 8 consecutive postseasons, tied as the nation's 10th-longest active streak.
Publisher
Baylor’s previous trips to the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA has been met with a raucous crowd coupled with pretty good Iowa State teams.
However, when the No. 2 Bears take to the floor at noon Saturday, they could be opposing neither. Hilton won’t be packed because of COVID-19 regulations. Plus, the Cyclones (2-4, 0-2) are just struggling.
A deeper, experienced team faces Iowa State as Big 12 play resumes as well as the Bears' push toward what they will hope will be their first conference championship.
“The good thing for us is we’re starting to get used to no fans,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “The bench has done such a great job of bringing their own energy and making sure everyone is engaged and excited. Really it’s on us and it’s an equal playing field because no one has many fans.”
The Bears scooted through their Christmas-New Year’s Holiday games against UAPB, UCA and Alcorn State winning by an average of 41 points. If there was any concern about those games was how Alcorn State finished. The Bears were outscored 18-7 and were a little sloppy with the ball. However, that was with a lineup that won’t be out for most of the time this season.
What has been a trend this year is when the Bears jump out to big leads, they don’t become complacent.
“Maybe the separation we’ve been able to get and sustain,'' Drew said. “Very seldom do you have a team that you win by the margins that we’ve won and consistently won. Sometimes, with teams, you’ll get up by 15 or 20 and then let the other team come back and it’s a 10 or 12-point game. We’ve really done a phenomenal job of building on leads and putting teams away and not allowing them to get back into games.”
Iowa State hasn’t played since Dec. 20, a 60-45 win over Jackson State. But the Cyclones did take No. 9 West Virginia to the end in a 70-65 loss in Morgantown, WV on Dec. 18. ISU led by as many as six in the second half and the game was tied, 65-65, inside the final 35 seconds.
Junior guard Rasir Bolton is off to a strong start this year averaging 15.7 points per game including 25 against West Virginia. ISU is having a solid shooting year at 47 percent but just 32 percent from the arc. DePaul transfer Jalen Coleman-Lands, a senior, has also been a solid contributor at 13.8 points per game.
Baylor should control the boards in this one. It may not operate offensively as efficiently as it did in the previous three games. However, as long as the turnover count is 12 or fewer, the Bears should be fine.
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to Big 12 play with Saturday's noon CT game at Iowa State on ESPN+.
• Wednesday is the 41st series meeting, and the home team has won 29 of 35 campus-site games.
• Baylor is 10-3 against Iowa State since 2015 and 16-13 vs. ISU during the 18-year Scott Drew era.
• Baylor lost its first 12 trips to Ames, but BU is 4-2 in Ames since getting its first win at Hilton in 2015.
• Baylor is the Big 12's final undefeated team. BU leads the league in scoring (95.0), scoring margin (+32.8), field goal pct. (.521), 3-point pct. (.459), 3-pointers made (11.9), steals (9.8), assists (22.1),
assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92), offensive rebound percentage (.418) and rebounding margin (+10.1).
• Baylor has scored 80+ points in 8 straight games, which is the 2nd-longest streak in school history behind only the 1984-85 season, when BU scored 80+ points in its first 11 games.
• Baylor has scored 90+ in 4-straight games for the first time since 1984; BU has never gone 5-straight.
• Baylor has won 8 consecutive games by double-digits, matching the school record set when the Bears started the 2011-12 season with 8-consecutive double-digit wins.
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 13+ points this season (min. 3 games played).
• BU has built a lead of at least 16 points in every game this season and has won 7 of 8 by 25+ points.
• BU is looking to start a season 9-0 for the first time since starting 15-0 on its way to No. 1 in 2016-17.
• Baylor leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.459) and assists per game (22.1).
• The Bears rank 2nd nationally in AST-to-TO ratio (1.92), 2nd in scoring margin (+32.8), 3rd in scoring (95.0), 5th in 3-pointers made (11.9/gm), 6th in turnover margin (+8.4) and 13th in steals (9.8/gm).
• Baylor's bench has 33+ points in every game and is out-scoring opposing benches 43-20 on average.
• Four members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (13), Tchatchoua (10), Mayer (10), Cryer (8).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (350-213).
• With a win, Drew would tie his father Homer Drew's career Division I wins total (371 in 22 years at Valpo).
• Baylor is playing its 250th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since 2008-09, BU has been ranked in 247 of 429 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 17-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 26-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 5th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor's defense forced 15+ turnovers in 23 of 38 games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• BU became the first team since 1992 to score 100 points in Manhattan in the Dec. 19 win at K-State.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 38 games since the start of 2019-20 (double-digit lead in 32 of 38).
• Baylor returned four All-Big 12 players from a 2019-20 team which went 26-4 and spent five weeks ranked No. 1 nationally. The Bears finished last season ranked No. 4 in the coaches poll (No. 5 in AP).
• Baylor is 42-40 in Big 12 road games over the last 10 seasons, second-best behind Kansas (55-27).
• Baylor signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) earlier this month. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
• BU has advanced to 8 consecutive postseasons, tied as the nation's 10th-longest active streak.
