WACO, Texas - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team will take on the nationally-ranked Baylor Bears for the second straight season as the Colonels close out 2022 with their final nonconference game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at The Ferrell Center and the game will air on ESPN+.

Nicholls (6-6) is 0-2 all-time against the Bears, who enter Wednesday's matchup with a No. 12 ranking in the AP Top 25 after compiling a 9-2 start. Both of the previous matchups have been in fifth-year head coach Austin Claunch's tenure with BU winning 89-60 last season and 81-54 in 2018.

Baylor will be the third nationally-ranked team that the Colonels have faced this campaign. Nicholls opened the season with a 117-75 loss at Arizona and then fell 68-66 against Mississippi State with both teams being ranked No. 17 at the time. The Colonels nearly knocked off the Bulldogs for their first program win over a Top 25 team but a last-second 3-pointer was off the mark. 

On the offensive end, Claunch's squad features a Top 50 scoring offense at 79.7 points per game. Ten days ago at Mississippi State, the Colonels became the first team to score over 60 points against the Bulldogs who boast the No. 3 scoring defense in the NCAA. The duo of Latrell Jones and Caleb Huffman continue to pace the offense as each rank in the top 4 of the Southland in scoring at over 15 points per game. 

Defensively, the Colonels have not only been one of the nation's best in steals ranking eighth with 10.8 per game, but they also rank 15th in the NCAA in 3-point percentage defense at 27.2 percent. Over the last four games which include Mississippi State and Southeastern, opponents have made just 17 of 77 from 3-point range (22.1 percent).

Baylor has won its last four games and is a perfect 6-0 at home this season. The last win for BU was a 58-48 victory against Southland member Northwestern State on Dec. 20. The Bears also defeated McNeese earlier this season, 89-60.

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