By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
In a non-COVID world, the emphasis of No. 2 Baylor at No. 6 Texas Tuesday at the Erwin Center would have been about the rematch.
But with the Dec. 13 game in Waco wiped out due to virus protocols within Baylor’s program, this Top 10 matchup actually has more hype because it is the first meeting. This could have been a blessing in disguise as it is one the most anticipated meetings in the 257th renewal of this series.
There are serious repercussions. A win would give the Bears a 3 ½-game lead over Texas in the Big 12 standings halfway through the conference season. A loss means Texas keeps title hopes alive.
Texas is expected to be at full strength. Longhorns coach Shaka Smart, who personally went through COVID-19, is expected to return. There should also be some fans in the Erwin Center.
“A lot of similarities to our team from the standpoint that’s two top 10 defenses in the country, two teams that are really good on the glass, two teams that are really good in transition,’’ Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Very talented players and experienced players. I think you look across the country, and teams that have more experienced players and depth usually are more successful this year. That’s why us and Texas are off to such great starts.’’
This should be a battle of the back courts. Baylor’s starting trio of Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell have combined to average 44.6 points and shoot at least 47.5. But Texas’ back court of Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and Matt Coleman presents its production at 41.3 points and shooting above 40 percent.
“We know their scouting report, they know our scouting report,’’ Mitchell said. “It’s just the team that gets the easiest shots is going to come out with the win. And the team that plays the better defense is going to win.”
Indeed, this could be a case of the first one to 65 wins. That didn’t happen last year when Baylor won both meetings, 59-44 in Waco and 52-45 in Austin.
Baylor’s defense is holding opponents to 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc. Texas is holding opponents to 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from the arc. Still, there’s going to be more pressure on the Texas defense since this Baylor offense is so diversified and shooting 50 percent.
This where the glass is going to be a factor between limiting to one possessions and second chance points. Texas’ national recruit Greg Brown, a probable one-and-done, is at 12 points and eight rebounds but even more dynamic defensively with 17 blocks. What he and Jericho Sims (7.8, 6.4) should be telling against Baylor’s Mark Vital (5.9, 5.3) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (8.2, 6.3).
Familiarity breeds so much.
“It definitely makes it easier, because at the end of the day people improve, but usually the things they do at the highest level you’re used to by now,’’ Drew said. “The big thing for us is their players have gotten better like our players have gotten better, and that’s why both of our programs are doing so well.”
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to Big 12 play in Austin against No. 6 Texas at 6 pm CT Tuesday on ESPN.
• BU is 1 of 3 undefeated teams (Gonzaga, Drake) and is the last remaining undefeated Power-5 team.
• Tuesday is the 257th series meeting – the most-played rivalry in Baylor history dating back 106 years.
• Baylor is 9-1 in its last 10 games vs. Texas since Feb. 20, 2016 (4-0 in Waco, 4-1 in Austin, 1-0 in KC).
• BU is 18-8 vs. Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak at the 2009 Big 12 Championship.
• Baylor swept Texas last year, winning 59-44 in Waco on Jan. 4 and 52-45 in Austin on Feb. 10.
• BU leads the nation in scoring margin (+24.8) and 3-point percentage (.434) and is top-10 nationally in steals (4th, 9.7), scoring (5th, 87.2), effective FG% (2nd, 58.6), offensive rebound pct. (4th, 38.6), assists (6th, 18.5), turnover margin (5th, +6.2), turnovers forced (6th, 18.6) and defensive turnover pct. (4th, 26.0).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season (14 of 16 wins by 11+).
• BU is the nation's only team top-5 ranked in adjusted offensive (3rd) and defensive (1st) efficiency.
• BU has led by at least 10 points in every game this season and has led by 13+ at halftime in 10 of 16.
• Baylor has trailed for only 45:21 of 640 minutes (7.1%) this season and led wire-to-wire in 7 games.
• Baylor is 9-1 against ranked teams over the last two seasons, including 3-0 in true road games.
• Baylor needs a win to tie the best start to a season in program history (17-0 in 2011-12).
• Baylor's 16-game winning streak is the 3rd-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012).
• BU looks to start 9-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (first was 13-0 start last season).
• Baylor's 23-3 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• BU is 12-2 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 42-74 in B12 road games).
• Jared Butler was named National Player of the Week on Jan. 26 after averaging 26.0 points and 7.0 assists in wins vs. Kansas and at OSU. He shot 13-of-16 (81.3%) from 3-point range last week.
• Baylor is 42-4 since MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20.
• Mitchell had a career-high 31 points Wednesday vs. K-State, including 22 pts in 12 second-half minutes.
• BU has 3 of 15 players on the Naismith Defensive POY midseason watch list – Mitchell, Vital and Butler.
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 33-17 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games.
• Six Baylor players are shooting at least 37% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (47%), Butler (45%), Mayer (45%), Flagler (43%), Cryer (43%) and Teague (37%).
• Three members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (10.4), Mayer (8.4) and Tchatchoua (8.2).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (358-213).
• Baylor is playing its 258th 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 255 of 437 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 22-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 31-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 4th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 46 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 40 of 46).
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
Publisher
In a non-COVID world, the emphasis of No. 2 Baylor at No. 6 Texas Tuesday at the Erwin Center would have been about the rematch.
But with the Dec. 13 game in Waco wiped out due to virus protocols within Baylor’s program, this Top 10 matchup actually has more hype because it is the first meeting. This could have been a blessing in disguise as it is one the most anticipated meetings in the 257th renewal of this series.
There are serious repercussions. A win would give the Bears a 3 ½-game lead over Texas in the Big 12 standings halfway through the conference season. A loss means Texas keeps title hopes alive.
Texas is expected to be at full strength. Longhorns coach Shaka Smart, who personally went through COVID-19, is expected to return. There should also be some fans in the Erwin Center.
“A lot of similarities to our team from the standpoint that’s two top 10 defenses in the country, two teams that are really good on the glass, two teams that are really good in transition,’’ Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Very talented players and experienced players. I think you look across the country, and teams that have more experienced players and depth usually are more successful this year. That’s why us and Texas are off to such great starts.’’
This should be a battle of the back courts. Baylor’s starting trio of Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell have combined to average 44.6 points and shoot at least 47.5. But Texas’ back court of Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and Matt Coleman presents its production at 41.3 points and shooting above 40 percent.
“We know their scouting report, they know our scouting report,’’ Mitchell said. “It’s just the team that gets the easiest shots is going to come out with the win. And the team that plays the better defense is going to win.”
Indeed, this could be a case of the first one to 65 wins. That didn’t happen last year when Baylor won both meetings, 59-44 in Waco and 52-45 in Austin.
Baylor’s defense is holding opponents to 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc. Texas is holding opponents to 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from the arc. Still, there’s going to be more pressure on the Texas defense since this Baylor offense is so diversified and shooting 50 percent.
This where the glass is going to be a factor between limiting to one possessions and second chance points. Texas’ national recruit Greg Brown, a probable one-and-done, is at 12 points and eight rebounds but even more dynamic defensively with 17 blocks. What he and Jericho Sims (7.8, 6.4) should be telling against Baylor’s Mark Vital (5.9, 5.3) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (8.2, 6.3).
Familiarity breeds so much.
“It definitely makes it easier, because at the end of the day people improve, but usually the things they do at the highest level you’re used to by now,’’ Drew said. “The big thing for us is their players have gotten better like our players have gotten better, and that’s why both of our programs are doing so well.”
STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor returns to Big 12 play in Austin against No. 6 Texas at 6 pm CT Tuesday on ESPN.
• BU is 1 of 3 undefeated teams (Gonzaga, Drake) and is the last remaining undefeated Power-5 team.
• Tuesday is the 257th series meeting – the most-played rivalry in Baylor history dating back 106 years.
• Baylor is 9-1 in its last 10 games vs. Texas since Feb. 20, 2016 (4-0 in Waco, 4-1 in Austin, 1-0 in KC).
• BU is 18-8 vs. Texas since snapping a 24-game series losing streak at the 2009 Big 12 Championship.
• Baylor swept Texas last year, winning 59-44 in Waco on Jan. 4 and 52-45 in Austin on Feb. 10.
• BU leads the nation in scoring margin (+24.8) and 3-point percentage (.434) and is top-10 nationally in steals (4th, 9.7), scoring (5th, 87.2), effective FG% (2nd, 58.6), offensive rebound pct. (4th, 38.6), assists (6th, 18.5), turnover margin (5th, +6.2), turnovers forced (6th, 18.6) and defensive turnover pct. (4th, 26.0).
• Baylor is the nation's only team to win every game by 8+ points this season (14 of 16 wins by 11+).
• BU is the nation's only team top-5 ranked in adjusted offensive (3rd) and defensive (1st) efficiency.
• BU has led by at least 10 points in every game this season and has led by 13+ at halftime in 10 of 16.
• Baylor has trailed for only 45:21 of 640 minutes (7.1%) this season and led wire-to-wire in 7 games.
• Baylor is 9-1 against ranked teams over the last two seasons, including 3-0 in true road games.
• Baylor needs a win to tie the best start to a season in program history (17-0 in 2011-12).
• Baylor's 16-game winning streak is the 3rd-longest in program history (23 in 2020, 17 in 2012).
• BU looks to start 9-0 in Big 12 play for the 2nd time in program history (first was 13-0 start last season).
• Baylor's 23-3 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• BU is 12-2 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 42-74 in B12 road games).
• Jared Butler was named National Player of the Week on Jan. 26 after averaging 26.0 points and 7.0 assists in wins vs. Kansas and at OSU. He shot 13-of-16 (81.3%) from 3-point range last week.
• Baylor is 42-4 since MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20.
• Mitchell had a career-high 31 points Wednesday vs. K-State, including 22 pts in 12 second-half minutes.
• BU has 3 of 15 players on the Naismith Defensive POY midseason watch list – Mitchell, Vital and Butler.
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 33-17 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games.
• Six Baylor players are shooting at least 37% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (47%), Butler (45%), Mayer (45%), Flagler (43%), Cryer (43%) and Teague (37%).
• Three members of the BU bench average 8+ ppg – Flagler (10.4), Mayer (8.4) and Tchatchoua (8.2).
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (358-213).
• Baylor is playing its 258th 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 255 of 437 games.
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 22-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 31-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 4th-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor has led by at least 5 points in all 46 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 40 of 46).
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
