Texas @ Baylor preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2019 ) Texas 83, Baylor 84

No. 4 Baylor looks to extend its winning streak to 10 games when it opens up Big 12 Conference play at home against Texas on Saturday. The Bears cruised past Jackson State 83-57 on Monday to wrap up the month of December with an unblemished record for the eighth time in the last 13 seasons, and they hope to continue their climb up the national rankings by knocking off the Longhorns for the fourth consecutive time in Waco.

"We're healthy and hopefully we're ready for the grind of the Big 12," Baylor coach Scott Drew told reporters. "We all know the Big 12 has been the number one conference in college basketball the last six years RPI-wise and we have to be ready to go." Texas bounced back from a disappointing 70-48 loss to Providence in the Big East/Big 12 Battle with an 89-58 rout of High Point to end non-conference play with 10 wins for the first time since 2014-15. The Longhorns set season highs in points scored (89), largest margin of victory (+31) and shooting percentage (55.4) in the victory against the Panthers, and hope to ride the momentum to their first win over a Top 5 team since knocking off North Carolina on Dec. 12, 2015. "It's a new segment of our season and we open up with one of the best teams in the country with Baylor," Texas coach Shaka Smart told reporters. "It's exciting for us and obviously our focus is playing our best basketball one possession at a time."

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT TEXAS (10-2): Jase Febres went 4-of-6 from 3-point land en route to a game-high 16 points in the win against High Point to help Texas improve to 7-0 at home this season. Andrew Jones added 13 points and four assists in his first start in over two years while Courtney Ramey finished with 13 points and six rebounds as the Longhorns limited the Panthers to 33 percent shooting. Jericho Sims tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season while Matt Coleman finished with 10 points and a game-high eight assists compared to one turnover.

ABOUT BAYLOR (10-1): Jared Butler scored 18 points and dished out three assists in the win against Jackson State to lead the team in scoring for the eighth time in 11 games this season. MaCio Teague added 16 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals to finish in double figures for the ninth straight game while Davion Mitchell registered 14 points and five of the Bears' 16 assists against the Tigers. Freddie Gillespie tallied 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season while Tristan Clark finished with seven points in limited minutes after missing the previous two games with a sore knee.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Baylor is 41-7 at home against unranked opponents since 2016-17.

2. Texas needs one more win to become the 17th program in Division I history to reach 18,000.

3. Teague has made at least one 3-pointer in 36 straight games.

PREDICTION: Baylor 81, Texas 77