The Baylor men's basketball team will open the 2016-2017 season against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. ORU finished last season with a 14-17 record while the Bears finished 22-12.
- Friday is the 6th series meeting. Baylor has won the five previous meetings by an average of 14.4 points.
- BU has won 10 consecutive season openers by an average of 30.5 points. Drew is 12-1 in openers.
- BU did not receive any preseason poll votes for the first time since 2009-10.
- Baylor returns six letterwinners from last season's 22-12 NCAA Tournament team.
- Seven Bears have not yet played at Baylor, but four of those practiced with the team last season.
- Baylor has just one senior on the roster, but BU has five players in their fourth years of college basketball.
- Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons entering 2016-17.
- The Bears are coming off a school-record third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
- Head coach Scott Drew enters his 14th season at Baylor as the school's all-time wins leader (250).
Key Returners
Al Freeman - Junior - GuardLast Season: 11.3 ppg, 3.4 rebounds, 85.3% FTs
Johnathan Motley - Junior - ForwardLast Season: 11.2 ppg, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks
Ishmail Wainright - Senior - ForwardLast Season: 5.9 ppg, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 40.6% 3FG
Newcomers to Watch
Manu Lecomte - Junior - GuardBackground: Miami transfer who averaged 7.9 ppg and 1.8 assist while shooting 45.6% from 3-point range
Jo Lual-Acuil - Junior - Forward
Background: The 7-foot-0 Australian sat out the 2015-2016 season after transferring from Neosho College where he averaged 20.1 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.7 blocks in 30 games