The last time two top-five teams met inside of Allen Fieldhouse, it provided one of the best games of the college basketball season.
There’s certainly no promises that second-ranked Baylor will deliver a three-overtime classic against the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday night (8 p.m., ESPN 2), but there’s no doubt the Bears have proven themselves as one of the top teams in the country.
Baylor features the top scoring defense in the Big 12, holding opponents to 63.1 points in conference play. That leads the conference by more than 10 points per game.
The Bears hold opponents to a 39 percent field goal rate and own the top rebounding margin (+9.1), both numbers that top the Big 12.
“Kansas has a lot of experience in the backcourt obviously,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “They’re more of a perimeter team than they’ve been in the past. And because of that, they’re always good in transition, but now they’re even better in transition. This might be his best team offensively. They’re really, really potent.”
**Interesting note:** The Jayhawks have a 16-4 record against AP Top-5 teams in the Bill Self era, the best mark in the country in that span.
**Interesting note, Part II:** Baylor owns a 7-1 record when trailing at halftime.
**Series history:** Kansas leads 27-4. The Jayhawks are undefeated (13-0) against the Bears inside of Allen Fieldhouse.
**Vegas says:** Kansas by 6.
**BAYLOR STARTERS**
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*No. 20 — G Manu Lecomte | 5-11, 175, jr.*
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Career-high 26 points and an ESPN interview for Manu Lecomte. #SicKSU ???? #WSS pic.twitter.com/L8KdhWsZR1
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) January 14, 2017
– A transfer from Miami, Lecomte ranks second on the team with 12.3 points per game, shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from the 3-point line (sixth-best in Big 12). More than half of his shots are from deep.
– Lecomte ranks eighth in the Big 12 with 4.4 assists per game with a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio. Along with his passing, he ranks second on the team with 21 steals.
– At Miami, Lecomte averaged 7.8 points in two seasons. He shot 43 percent from the 3-point line, which ranked second in school history.
– Pronunciation: MAHN-ew la-CONN-t. The Brussels, Belgium native learned the sport from his uncle when he was a kid and is known as one of the strongest players on the team. Baylor center Jo Lual-Acuil said he heard “he benched 240 pounds like 20 times or something crazy.”
– *QUOTE:* “You can ask my teammates, when I get mad or frustrated I start speaking French,” Lecomte said. “That’s how I deal with it. But I don’t tell them what I’m saying.”
*No. 24 — G Ishmail Wainright | 6-5, 235, sr.*
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– In 21 starts, Wainright is averaging 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game. He’s shooting 41 percent from the floor and 28 percent from deep.
– The Kansas City native played at Raytown South before finishing his prep career at Montrose Christian in Maryland. He’s the only senior on the roster.
– According to hoop-math.com, Wainwright has converted on 84.2 percent of his shots at the rim for layups/dunks. However, only 19 percent of his shots are at the rim.
– His grandfather, Maurice King, played at Kansas on the same team as Wilt Chamberlain. King was the first African-American starter in KU history and later went on to win an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1960.
– *QUOTE:* “In our minds, we still suck,” Wainright said. “We’re still trash. That keeps us with level heads. We’re not labeled a Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Villanova, Oregon, UCLA. I was watching a UCLA game on TV and someone was asked who has the talent to win (a title). The guy named 15 teams, and never said Baylor.
*No. 25 — G Al Freeman | 6-3, 200, jr.*
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– Baylor’s top returning scorer from last year, Freeman is averaging 10.2 points on 43.5 percent shooting, including a 37.3 percent mark from deep.
– Freeman is one of the top free throw shooters on the squad, converting on 49 of his 60 attempts (81.7 percent). His .809 career free throw percentage ranks just outside of the top 10 in school history.
– He’s scored in double digits in 12 of 21 games this season.
– His uncle, Arturo Freeman, played six seasons in the NFL as a defensive back with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.
– *QUOTE:* “I just think they’re a better team,” KU coach Bill Self said. “They’re so deep up front, and then their point guard has had a terrific year, and then you’ve got Ish (Wainright) and you’ve got Freeman and all those other guys with experience on the perimeter.”
*No. 5 — F Johnathan Motley | 6-10, 230, jr.*
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– A force inside of the paint, Motley leads the Big 12 in rebounding (9.6 per game), fifth in scoring (16.2), eighth in field goal percentage (.511) and 11th in blocked shots per game (1.2). He tops to the conference in both offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding.
– He’s posted seven double-doubles this season. That includes a 32-point, 20-rebound effort against Texas, the first 30-20 game in Big 12 play since Blake Griffin in 2009.
– According to hoop-math.com, Motley takes 37.1 percent of his shots at the rim (the second-highest mark on the team), which he converts 67 percent of the time.
– The Houston native is listed with a 7-4 wing span and 9-1 standing reach with a 6.3% body fat.His appendix burst during his junior year of high school and only weighed 190 pounds when he arrived to college.
– *QUOTE:* “I thought he was terrific before this year,” Self said. “As a matter of fact, I was hoping that he would test the waters last year because I thought he could be without question a first-round draft pick last year. He’s played himself — it was smart for him to come back to school, and he’s certainly played himself into a higher pick.”
*No. 0 — F Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. | 7-0, 220, jr.*
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– A transfer from Neosho Community College, Lual-Acuil sat out all of last season because of a heart issue. The NCAA granted him a waiver for a sixth year of eligibility.
– In 21 starts, Lual-Acuil is averaging 10.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game. He’s shooting a team-best 59 percent from the floor, including 5-of-13 from deep. On defense, he leads with 59 blocks, which leads the Big 12 by 10.
– He’s dominant at the rim, according to hoop-math.com. He takes a team-high 47 percent of his shots at the rim, which he converts at an incredibly high rate (86.6 percent).
– Pronunciation: LOO-ahl ah-CHU-ill. His father is a former politician in South Sudan where he was the country’s first Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management. During the civil war in Sudan, Lual-Acuil [moved with his mother and rest of family to refugee camp in Uganda before relocating to Australia.][1]
– *QUOTE:* “He not only blocks shots, but the shots he alters as well have a great impact in the game and that gets us in transition,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “It gets us easy baskets on the other end and allows us to be more aggressive on the perimeter knowing you’ve got a real good shot blocker on the back side to protect things.”
**BAYLOR BENCH**
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*No. 3 — G Jake Lindsey | 6-5, 200, soph.*
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– A backup point guard, Lindsey is averaging 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game off of the bench. He’s dished 54 assists with only 19 turnovers.
– He’s turned into more of a 3-point threat this season. He’s shooting 42 percent from deep (13 of 31) after making only four triples last year.
– Lindsey has a long list of ties to Baylor. His dad, Dennis Lindsey, played basketball at Baylor (1988-91) and is now the GM for the Utah Jazz. His grandfather, F.A. Dry, was a football coach at Tulsa and TCU and an assistant at Baylor. His cousin, Alyssa Dry, plays for the women’s basketball team.
– *QUOTE:* “It’s almost like an environment where you’ve got to go in and you’ve got to take the fight to them,” Lindsey said of facing KU at Allen Fieldhouse. “They’re a great team and you know they’re prepared. We think we’re just as prepared. They’ve taken some hits in their depth, so hopefully we can find ways to exploit that.”
*No. 21 — F Nuni Omot | 6-9, 205, jr.*
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– A transfer from Indian Hills CC, Omot sat out the fall semester while academically ineligible. He’s averaging 5.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11 games off of the bench.
– He’s played at least 18 minutes in three of the past four games. He’s shooting 8 of 22 from the 3-point line (36 percent) this season.
– Born in Nairobi, Kenya, he moved to the United States as a baby. He didn’t make the varsity basketball team at Mahtomedi HS in St. Paul, Minn., until his senior year. He’s grown eight inches since his junior year.
*No. 22 — G King McClure | 6-3, 215, soph.*
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– A valedictorian out of high school, McClure is averaging 4.2 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He’s an 81 percent free throw shooter and has made 11 of 37 3-pointers.
– Returned against Ole Miss last week after missing three games with a knee strain.
– Was told his basketball career was over because of a heart condition in June 2015. He pursued additional treatment options and was cleared three months later following surgery to implant a cardioverter defibrillator.
– *QUOTE:* “Really, it’s unbelievable,” McClure said. “It’s a blessing really I’m still able to play the game that I love.”
*No. 31 — F Terry Maston | 6-8, 230, jr.*
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– Averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds off of the bench off of 55 percent shooting.
– He’s scored in double figures six times this season. He’s listed with a 7-foot wingspan and 40.5-inch vertical leap.
– His uncles, Tony and Derrick Battie, played college basketball at Texas Tech and Temple, respectively. Tony Battie was the fifth pick in the 1997 NBA draft.
*No. 1 — G Wendell Mitchell | 6-3, 180, r-fr.*
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– After redshirting last season, Mitchell is averaging 3.4 points on 46 percent shooting. He’s only 6 of 21 from the 3-point line.
– The Rockdale, Texas native led the state with 1,010 points as a senior in high school in 2014-15.
– Nickname is “Chuck,” which comes from his middle name Charles. He shares his first name with his father.
[1]: http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/baylor/mens_basketball/acuil-takes-hard-circuitous-route-to-baylor/article_c9a62058-9066-5be0-b2e9-341f0a3516ce.html
