BEVO BEAT Men's Basketball
Men’s preview: Texas at No. 6 Baylor
Longhorns-Bears open Big 12 play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ferrell Center
Posted January 3rd, 2020
Texas at No. 6 Baylor
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Ferrell Center (capacity 10,284)
TV/radio: ESPN2/104.9 The Horn
About the series: Texas has the all-time series lead 163-91. Last season, the two teams split the regular-season series, but the Bears have won seven of the last eight.
TEXAS (10-2 overall, 0-0 Big 12)
No. Pos. Player Class Ht. PPG RPG
2 G Matt Coleman III Jr. 6-2 12.6 4.8*
1 G Andrew Jones Soph. 6-4 11.8 1.8
13 G Jase Febres Jr. 6-5 10.9 2.4
33 F Kamaka Hepa Soph. 6-9 1.0 0.8
20 F Jericho Sims Jr. 6-9 8.8 7.3
Coach: Shaka Smart (81-68, 5th year at Texas; 244-124, 11th year overall)
*-indicates assists per game.
About the Longhorns: Andrew Jones missed the last two trips to Waco while battling leukemia. Now, he’s something of a wildcard to opposing Big 12 coaches. Jones said the scouting report would say he’s an aggressive defender and an effective scorer if you give him comfort and space. “I’m not going to give you my whole scouting report,” Jones said. “They have to watch a little film for themselves.” Jones is second on the team in scoring, third in assists and shooting 37.9% from 3-point range. With one more victory, Texas would become the 17th college basketball program to win 1,800 games in school history. Illinois also has 1,799 victories.
No. 6 BAYLOR (10-1 overall, 0-0 Big 12)
No. Pos. Player Class Ht. PPG RPG
12 G Jared Butler Soph. 6-3 17.6 3.3*
31 G MaCio Teague Jr. 6-3 14.6 4.7
11 G Mark Vital Jr. 6-5 6.8 5.3
45 G Davion Mitchell Soph. 6-1 9.8 2.1
33 F Freddie Gillespie Sr. 6-8 9.0 9.3
Coach: Scott Drew (328-210, 17th year at Baylor; 348-221, 18th year overall)
*-indicates assists per game.
About the Bears: Coach Scott Drew’s club already has some impressive wins this season, including victories over No. 17 Villanova, No. 12 Arizona and No. 18 Butler. That’s fueled the Bears’ rise in the national rankings. They’ve got a tough start to Big 12 play, too. After Texas, Baylor has two brutal road games — at Texas Tech and Kansas. Thus far, the Bears’ defense has been impressive, allowing just 60.3 points per game, the second lowest total in the Big 12. Opposing teams are shooting just 38.1%. Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler both have 18 steals each. Tristan Clark had seven points and two rebounds in Baylor’s recent win over Jackson State. He had missed the two previous games with knee soreness.
Contact Brian Davis at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com.
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