WHERE: Ferrell Center | Waco, TX

WHEN: 6:00 PM, Tuesday | Jan. 11th

WATCH IT ON: ESPN 2

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 78-59 all-time against Baylor. The Red Raiders have lost four straight matchups against the Bears with their last win coming on February 16, 2019, in Lubbock.

The Bears have a 15-0 record this season, and they're ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll and No. 1 in USA Today Coaches Poll. Baylor is one of four schools (Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga) to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll in three of the last five seasons. They have two wins over teams in the top 25 (No. 6 Villanova, No. 8 Iowa State). The Bears were picked to finish third in the 2021 Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.

Baylor has the nation’s longest winning streak at 21 games. They lost, 83-74, against Oklahoma State in the semifinals of the 2021 Big 12 Tournament, and they haven’t dropped a game since.

Bears head coach Scott Drew is on his 19th season at the helm for Baylor and has a 387-215 overall record. He’s led the Bears to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, three trips to the Elite 8, and one Final Four/National Championship appearance during his tenure. Drew has a 23-13 record against Texas Tech.

Baylor went 28-2 last year and was 13-1 in conference play. They would upset No. 1 Gonzaga, 86-70, to win their first NCAA National Championship. They also won the Big 12 Conference for the first time in school history. The 28 wins a season ago was the second highest total in school history.

The Bears are a balanced basketball team and excel on both ends of the court. They have the No. 12 scoring offense in the country, and they're 13th in field goal percentage. They're ranked 19th in scoring defense, 10th in turnovers forced, and 10th in steals per game.

Baylor is 1st out of 358 Division-I schools in the KenPom college basketball ratings for adjusted efficiency margin. They’re 4th in offensive efficiency and 7th in defensive efficiency. The Bears have four wins over teams in the KenPom top 50 (Michigan State, Villanova, Iowa State, Oklahoma).

The senior point guard transferred to Baylor after spending last season at Arizona. Akinjo played with former Red Raider Mac McClung his freshman and sophomore seasons at Georgetown before transferring to Arizona. He currently leads the Bears in scoring and assists with 14.4 points and 6.1 dimes per game. Akinjo is 22nd in the nation in steals and is averaging 2.2 takeaways per game. He’s an efficient offensive player, shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from behind the arc. Akinjo has 15 career games of 20 points or more and has a 1.97 assist-to-turnover ratio for his career.

The junior shooting guard averaged 22.8 minutes and was the fourth leading scorer with 9.1 points per game for Baylor last year. He had seven games of 15-plus points and reached double digit scoring in 14-of-28 games a season ago. Flagler scored 13 points and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the National Championship game against Gonzaga. He does a little bit of everything on the basketball court. Flagler is third in scoring with 12.3 points per game and second on the team with 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals. Flagler was named to the 2022 John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy preseason watch lists.

The sophomore guard appeared in 20 games off the bench for the Bears last season but averaged only 3.4 points. Fast forward one year and Cryer is third on the team in minutes played and second in scoring, averaging 13 points per game and shooting 50 percent from the field. He plays the pivotal sixth-man role for Baylor and gives their team an offensive spark off the bench. Cryer is ranked 11th in college basketball in three-point field goal percentage, knocking down 46.5 percent of his attempts from deep this season. The Bears like to run Cryer off screens to set him up with open looks from three.

Baylor lost their top three scorers from last year’s championship team to the NBA. The roster turnover doesn't seem to be holding back the top-ranked Bears from being championship contenders once again in 2022. Baylor is the only team in the country to be ranked inside the top 20 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. They’re a tough, hard-nosed basketball team that can break down their opponents in a multitude of different ways. The Bears can beat teams with their defense if the offense is lagging or they can simply outscore you on the offensive end.

There are still no updates on the health status and availability of multiple Red Raider athletes. But after Saturday's game, are we really that worried about it? It would be great to get those guys back, but Mark Adams has shown that he will have the players in uniform ready for a fight. It'll take another stellar defensive effort for Texas Tech to stroll into Waco and leave out with the upset. The Red Raiders are playing a team-centric brand of basketball, and they provide a tough matchup for even the best teams in college basketball. Bill Self would confirm just that if you asked him today.