No. 3 Baylor MBB Faces No. 6 West Virginia in Morgantown

Mon Mar 1 14:34:26 CST 2021

Complete game notes attached. Media materials available here: http://baylorbea.rs/MediaMBB

BAYLOR (18-1, 10-1) at WEST VIRGINIA (17-6, 10-4)
March 2, 2021 • 4 p.m. CT
Morgantown, W. Va. • WVU Coliseum (14,000)
WATCH: ESPN
Talent: Bob Wischusen (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst)
LIVE STATS: baylorstats.com

LISTEN: Baylor Sports Network | ESPN Central Texas
Talent: John Morris (pxp) and Pat Nunley (analyst)

3/3 BAYLOR BEARS (18-1, 10-1)
Location: Waco, Texas
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)

6/5 WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (17-6, 10-4)
Location: Morgantown, W. Va.
Head Coach: Bob Huggins (West Virginia, 1977)

STORY LINES
• No. 2 Baylor can clinch its first conference title since 1950 with a win Tuesday at West Virginia.
• Baylor is playing its 3rd game in 8 days since returning from a stretch of 18 days without practice.
• The Bears' 18-1 start ties the best 19-game record in program history (2019-20).
• BU is 3-0 vs. top-10 teams with wins at home (KU), on the road (UT) and at a neutral site (Illinois).
• Tuesday is the 20th series meeting, all in the last 10 seasons. Baylor is 11-8 all-time vs. WVU.
• Baylor has won 3 of the last 4 games vs. WVU, with the lone loss in last season's final game at WVU.
• Saturday's loss at KU was the first time Baylor trailed inside the final 4 minutes of a game this season.
• BU scored a season-low 58 points Saturday at Kansas, 9 points fewer than any other game.
• BU held its first 9 Big 12 opponents below 70 points before allowing 72 and 71 in the last 2 games.
• BU is 10-2 vs. AP Top 25 teams the last 2 seasons, the nation's best record vs. ranked teams.
• BU leads the nation in 3-point percentage (.421) and is top-6 nationally in scoring margin (2nd, +21.2), scoring (5th, 84.9), effective FG% (3rd, 57.6), steals (6th, 9.4), turnover margin (2nd, +6.3), turnovers forced (6th, 18.2), defensive turnover pct. (3rd, 25.7) and offensive rebound pct. (5th, 36.9).
• BU has faced a double-digit deficit in consecutive games after not doing so in any of its first 17 games.
• Baylor became the first team since UNLV in 1990-91 to win its first 17 games by 8+ points, but the Bears haven't led by more than 5 points since returning from the 21-day pause.
• BU has led by at least 10 points in 17 of 19 games this year (last 2 games largest leads were 4 & 5).
• Baylor has led by at least 4 points in all 49 games over the last 2 seasons (double-digit leads in 41 of 49).
• Baylor's 25-4 record in Big 12 play over the last 2 seasons is the league's best record in that span.
• BU is 13-3 in Big 12 road games over the last 2 seasons (rest of league is 55-92 in B12 road games).
• Jared Butler (Cousy Award finalist), MaCio Teague (West Award finalist), Davion Mitchell & Mark Vital (Naismith Defensive POY Semifinalists) were all recognized as national award candidates last week.
• Mitchell's Last 5 Games: 18.6 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.8 A-T ratio (23a/6t), shooting 55% on 3FGs (17-31).
• Butler leads the Big 12 in 3-pointers made (2.3/game), 3-point percentage (.434) and steals (2.3), ranks 3rd in assists (4.9), 5th in scoring (16.4) and 5th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.82).
• Teague leads the 5 West Award finalists in career ppg, assists, steals, 3-pointers, FTM and FT%.
• Vital holds the BU record for career Big 12 wins at 42-22. The previous record was A.J. Walton's 39.
• Five Baylor players are shooting at least 41% on 3FGs and averaging at least one 3FG made per game: Mitchell (47%), Butler (43%), Mayer (45%), Flagler (43%) and Cryer (41%).
• Baylor is 44-5 since Teague and Mitchell became eligible at the start of 2019-20.
• Baylor is 47-41 in Big 12 road games over the last 10 seasons, second-best behind Kansas (58-32).
• Baylor has been top-5 ranked for 26-straight weeks. BU was top-5 for 12 weeks all-time prior to this streak.
• BU's streak of 35-straight AP polls ranked is the nation's 3rd-longest active streak and longest in BU history.
• Baylor joins Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas as the only programs ranked No. 1 in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
• BU is 1 of 5 Power-5 schools (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan St.) to win 18+ every year since 2008.

QUICK HITS
• Three members of the BU bench average 7.5+ ppg – Flagler (10.5), Mayer (7.5) and Tchatchoua (7.5).
• BU's bench is out-scoring opposing benches 31-15 on average and has scored 33+ points in 11 games.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 18th season in Waco and is BU's all-time wins leader (360-214).
• Baylor's 18-game winning tied the 4th-longest in the Big 12's 25-year history. The Bears set the record with 23 straight last season, while Kansas had the 2nd and 3rd-longest streaks – 22 in 1997 and 20 in 2008.
• Baylor signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history (No. 4) in November. BU inked 5-star Kendall Brown, 4-star Langston Love and 4-star Jeremy Sochan for the 2021-22 season.
• Baylor has won double-digit Big 12 games for the 8th time (2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021).
• Baylor is 66-5 when leading at halftime over the last 4 seasons (36-2 over last 2 seasons, 15-0 this season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (184-21).
• BU is 132-23 since 2015-16 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game (44-3 last 2 seasons).
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 11 of the last 13 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• Baylor is 235-98 over the last 10 seasons, averaging 24 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 235 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (282).
• Baylor is 326-145 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• Eight of Baylor's players either have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Four after transferring to BU – Flagler, Mitchell, Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Teague, and four as freshmen — Moffatt, Turner, Vital and Dainja.
• Ten of Baylor's 11 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (15 of last 16 seasons).
• Baylor is 1 of 14 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (6 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor has the nation's 10th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 951 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 30 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).

SERIES HISTORY
• Tuesday is the 20th all-time series meeting, all of which have been played since 2011.
• Baylor won seven of the first eight series meetings, but the Bears are 4-7 vs. WVU since then.
• BU leads the series 11-8, including a 5-3 mark in Waco. BU won its first 3 trips to Morgantown, then lost the next 3 visits before getting back on track with an 85-73 win at WVU last season.

--

David Kaye | Assistant AD for Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-709-5147

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