STORY LINES
• Monday will mark the 8th series meeting between Baylor and Texas Southern and first since Nov. 11, 2011.
• Baylor has won all seven previous meetings, which were all played at the Ferrell Center. BU has an average margin of victory of 17.3 points in the series (76.4-59.1) and has won all seven games by at least 8 points.
• Baylor has allowed only 309 points over its first 6 games, the fewest points it has allowed in any 6-game stretch against DI teams since allowing 306 points in 6 games from Feb. 9-25, 1952.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 and ranks 8th nationally in scoring defense at 51.5 points allowed per game. The Bears are 5th nationally in FG percentage defense at 33.6% and 14th in 3-point FG defense at 24.4%.
• Baylor held Memphis to 47 points on Thursday, marking the first time BU held an opponent under 50 points in its last 48 away games. The Bears' 15 points allowed in the 2nd half tied the lowest in any half of the Drew era.
• Newcomers have scored 43% of BU's points through 6 games (174 of 401), led by Johnathan Motley's 53 points.
• Baylor is 25-4 against in-state opponents since 2011-12 and 39-8 against Lone Star State teams since 2009-10.
• Royce O'Neale needs 5 points to reach 1,000 points in his collegiate career (665 in 2 years at Denver, 330 at BU).
• Baylor is 65-5 when leading at the half over the last four seasons -- 4-1 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12. BU is 169-29 when leading at the half during the entire Drew era.
• BU has won 39% of its games (19-30) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 1-0 this season.
• Baylor has won 7 straight games at the Ferrell Center, tying the 11th-longest winning streak in arena history.
• Baylor is 175-82 (24 wins per season) over the last seven-plus seasons and has made six postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT -- 2009, 2013) with six 20-win 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 has the nation's second-best postseason winning percentage over the last six years (17-4; .810).
• Baylor was picked tied for 6th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, BU's lowest since 2009-10.
• Baylor is one of only 12 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in three of the last five seasons.
• Baylor is one of two Big 12 schools to be ranked in each of the last seven seasons (Kansas) entering 2014-15.
• Baylor is receiving votes in both national polls. BU finished 2013-14 ranked No. 18 by the coaches.
• All 31 of Baylor's regular-season games will be televised this season, including 22 games on the ESPN family of networks. The Texas Southern game will be Baylor's 110th consecutive televised contest.
• Baylor is 14-3 in overtime games under Drew, including a 3-0 mark last season.
• Drew is coaching his 361st game at Baylor (209-151). His .581 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with four or more seasons, and his teams have a .681 winning percentage since 2007-08.
• Baylor is 27-10 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last six seasons.
• Baylor has more Big 12 wins in the last 7 seasons (62-56) than its first 11 years in the league combined (45-131).
• 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 with at least one 3-point FG made in 738 consecutive games.
• Baylor has 22 games on ESPN networks this season, giving BU 106 ESPN appearances in the last seven seasons.
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday will mark the 8th series meeting between Baylor and Texas Southern and first since Nov. 11, 2011.
• Baylor has won all seven previous meetings, which were all played at the Ferrell Center. BU has an average margin of victory of 17.3 points in the series (76.4-59.1) and has won all seven games by at least 8 points.
• Baylor is 45-0 all-time against current SWAC members, including a win vs. Prairie View A&M this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Make Baylor 8-0 all-time vs. Texas Southern and 46-0 all-time against current SWAC members.
• Give Baylor a 6-1 start to the season for the 8th time in the last 9 years.
• Be Baylor's 8th consecutive victory at the Ferrell Center, which would break a tie for the 11th-longest winning streak in the arena's 27-year history.
• Give Baylor an 18-4 record over its last 22 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014.
• Make Baylor 48-14 in December games under Drew, including a 24-5 record since 2009-10.
• Give Baylor an 85-35 record since the start of the 2011-12 season.
• Make Baylor 176-82 since the start of the 2007-08 season, good for a .682 winning percentage.
BEST DEFENSIVE STRETCH IN 62 YEARS
• Baylor ranks 8th nationally and leads the Big 12 in scoring defense at 51.5 points allowed per game.
• The Bears' 309 points allowed over its first 6 games, the fewest points it has allowed in any 6-game stretch against Division I teams since allowing 306 points in 6 games from Feb. 9-25, 1952.
• Baylor's 309 points allowed are its fewest through the first six games of a season since 1948-49 when BU allowed 298 points in its first six games.
• The 39 points Baylor allowed against McNeese State in the season opener tied the best defensive performance by the Bears against a Division I opponent since a 43-37 win vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State on Dec. 11, 1958.
• Baylor held Memphis to 15 points in the 2nd half, tying the fewest allowed in any half of the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor has held four opponents to 51 or fewer points this season after doing so just twice last year.
SEVEN NEWCOMERS COMBINE FOR 43% OF SCORING
• Baylor welcomed seven newcomers to its 2014-15 roster, headlined by two junior college transfers: G Lester Medford (Tucson, Ariz./Indian Hills CC) and F Deng Deng (Melbourne, Australia/Lee College).
• BU also added two players from the high school ranks -- T.J. Maston (DeSoto, Texas) and Dee Durham (Oakwood, Texas) -- as well as junior walk-on transfer Austin Mills (Beverly Hills, Calif./Pepperdine).
• Additionally, redshirt freshmen Johnathan Motley and Al Freeman are playing their first collegiate seasons.
• The seven newcomers have combined for 174 of Baylor's 401 points (43%) through the season's first six games, but the veterans have shouldered more of the load lately.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS PAYING OFF
• Baylor has won 93% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12. The Bears are 65-5 when leading through the first 20 minutes in that stretch (4-1 this season, 18-2 in 2013-14, 17-1 in 2012-13 and 26-1 in 2011-12).
• BU has won 39% of games in which its been tied or trailing at the half since 2011-12, going 19-30 in those.
• BU has led at halftime in 70 of 119 games over the last three-plus seasons. With wins in 65 of those 70 games, and victories in 19 of 49 games it has trailed or been tied at the half, Baylor is 84-35 since 2011-12.
BEARS 55-10 BEFORE NEW YEAR SINCE 2009
• The Bears are 47-14 in December games during the Scott Drew era, including a 23-5 record since 2009-10.
• Baylor is 51-10 in November games during the Drew era, including a 32-5 mark since 2009-10.
• Baylor is a combined 98-24 in games before the New Year under Drew, including a 55-10 record since 2009-10.
O'NEALE NEEDS 5 POINTS FOR 1,000 IN COLLEGE CAREER
• Royce O'Neale needs 5 points to reach 1,000 career Division I points.
• O'Neale scored 665 points in two seasons at Denver -- 308 as a freshman in 2011-12 and 357 as a sophomore in 2012-13 -- before transferring to Baylor for the 2013-14 season.
• O'Neale scored 270 points as a junior at BU, and he's scored 60 points through six games as a senior.
• Last season, O'Neale became the first player in program history to post 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in the same season. He ranked second on the team with 110 assists and fourth with 205 rebounds in 2013-14.
• The only other Big 12 Conference player to reach those numbers in 2013-14 was Iowa State's DeAndre Kane.
BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
• Baylor has benefited from a balanced scoring attack that has seen seven different players combine to score in double figures 15 times through the first six games.
• BU has had five different players lead the team (or tie for team lead) in scoring this season -- Deng Deng vs. McNeese State, Kenny Chery at South Carolina, Royce O'Neale vs. SFA and Illinois (tied), Rico Gathers vs. Illinois (tied) and Taurean Prince vs. Prairie View A&M and Memphis.
• Prince leads the team with 13.2 points per game, including 61 points in his last four games, while Royce O'Neale has contributed 44 points in his last three games after scoring 16 points in his first three games.
BEST IN TEXAS
• Baylor is 25-4 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, including a 2-0 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 39-8 against Lone Star State teams after going 10-27 vs. in-state teams in Scott Drew's first six seasons at Baylor. (2-0 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).
PRINCE'S ROLE INCREASING
• Taurean Prince entered the season averaging 5.2 points in 11.2 minutes over 62 games played in two seasons, but he is leading the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game in 24.0 minutes per game.
• Prince has scored in double figures in a career-best four straight games after not doing so in more than two consecutive games in his first two seasons at Baylor. He's averaging 15.3 points per game during the streak.
• Prince has also led or tied for the team lead in scoring in three of the last four games, equaling the number of times he led the team in points in 63 previous games played.
FERRELL CENTER WINNING STREAK UP TO SEVEN
• Baylor has won seven consecutive games at the Ferrell Center, which ties for the 11th-longest winning streak in the arena's 27-year history.
• The Bears have defeated Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Iowa State, McNeese State, Prairie View A&M and Stephen F. Austin during the streak. BU's last home loss was Feb. 4 vs. Kansas.
DREW IS PROGRAM'S ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
• Scott Drew holds Baylor's school record with 209 career wins as head coach.
• Drew became the all-time wins leader by defeating Texas on March 14, 2014 for his 202nd Baylor victory, passing Bill Henderson (201 wins; 1941-43 and 1945-61) for the all-time wins mark.
• Drew's .581 winning percentage is the best ever by a Baylor coach with four or more years at the helm.
UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
• Baylor has enjoyed unprecedented success over the last seven-plus seasons under 12th-year head coach Scott Drew. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Baylor is 175-82 (24 wins per season) and has made six postseason appearances (NCAA -- 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014; NIT -- 2009, 2013) and posted six 20-win seasons.
• Prior to 2007-08, Baylor won only 135 games in the first 11 seasons of the Big 12 era (12.3 wins per season).
• Baylor has made 13 postseason appearances (six under Drew) and won 20+ games just nine times (six under Drew) in the program's first 108 seasons.
BAYLOR PICKED SIXTH IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
• Baylor was picked to finish tied for sixth in the 2014-15 Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll in a vote by the league's head coaches in October. Sixth is the lowest the Bears have been picked since 2010, when BU was projected 10th and ended up advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
• In the last eight seasons, BU has been picked ninth in 2007-08 (NCAA Tournament), third in 2008-09 (NIT runner-up), 10th in 2009-10 (Elite Eight), fourth in 2010-11, third in 2011-12 (Elite Eight), second in 2012-13 (NIT champions), third in 2013-14 (Sweet 16) and sixth in 2014-15.
DREW AMONG NATION'S ELITE
• Head coach Scott Drew is the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to take his current program to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons.
• Drew (44) is joined by Arizona's Sean Miller (46), Ohio State's Thad Matta (47), Florida's Billy Donovan (49), Kansas' Bill Self (51), Kentucky's John Calipari (55), Michigan State's Tom Izzo (59), Louisville's Rick Pitino (62), Wisconsin's Bo Ryan (66), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (67) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (70).
BAYLOR BASKETBALL ON THE RADIO
• Baylor basketball is aired live via the Baylor-IMG College Radio Network on ESPN Central Texas and flagship station 1660AM ESPN Radio (KRZI) in Waco and worldwide on Sirius XM Radio and the TuneIn Radio App. All games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley. Morris is in his 27th year doing Baylor broadcasts, while Nunley is in his 32nd season as color analyst.
• The radio call from all of Baylor's games can be heard live on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com.
UP NEXT
• Baylor heads to Nashville for a game at Vanderbilt on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT as part of ESPN's SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Baylor defeated Kentucky in the inaugural event last season.
• Baylor is 4-1 in conference challenges, including a 3-1 record during the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, which was played from 2007 through 2010.
• The Big 12 Conference went 7-3 in the series last year and is 35-23 (.603) in challenge series dating back to 2007.
