By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
With the final full season of the Ferrell Center in the rearview mirror, it presents an opportunity to look back at the many great moments that took place in the venue over the last 35 years. We’ve compiled what we believe are five of the most memorable moments in the history of the Ferrell Center for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
Lady Bears score monster upset of No. 1 UConn
It doesn’t take much research to find that the University of Connecticut has one of the most successful women’s basketball programs of all time. And when the Huskies, who were the No. 1 team in the country at the time, rolled into Waco on Jan. 3, 2019, everyone knew the daunting challenge that head coach Geno Auriemma and UConn brought.
But Baylor, which was ranked No. 8, decided to make that day a historic one, as it knocked off the top-ranked Huskies 68-57 for UConn’s first regular season loss in over four years. Senior All-American Kelani Brown dominated that game with a 22-point, 17-rebound performance in front of a sold out Ferrell Center crowd of 10,284.
The win extended Baylor’s own home-court, non-conference winning streak to 45 straight. UConn hadn’t lost a regular-season game since Nov. 17, 2014, and it snapped a string of 126 consecutive wins.
The Lady Bears held the Huskies to their lowest scoring output of the season, and it was the first time Baylor has ever beaten a No. 1 team. In the game, UConn shot 29% from the floor, which was the worst percentage it has shot in over 20 years. The Huskies had also not lost a game by double digit points since 2012.
Baylor’s upset win over UConn will go down as one of the best in program history and among all upsets in the history of the sport.
Bittersweet icing on the cake: Bears finish undefeated at home with win vs. Tech
With an 88-73 win over No. 18 Texas Tech University, No. 3 Baylor men’s basketball finished the 2020-21 season undefeated at home for the first time since the 1947-48 season. It completed an 11-0 campaign in the Ferrell Center that year, capped off with the Senior Day win over the Red Raiders.
MaCio Teague was unconscious from deep in the March 7, 2021 contest, as Teague tied a school record with 10 made 3-pointers – the second-most in the 25-year history of the Big 12 – and posted a Baylor career-high 35 points.
Additionally, fellow senior Mark Vital recorded his first double-double of that season and third of his career, courtesy of 10 points and 15 rebounds. Vital finished with a school-record 45 conference wins that is now held by fifth-year senior forward Flo Thamba (55).
Griner scores career-high 41, Baylor women’s basketball tops Iowa State, 77-53
Junior forward Brittney Griner stepped up to the plate with a 41-point performance to lead top-ranked Baylor women’s basketball to its first undefeated regular season in program history. Griner’s dominance helped the Lady Bears cruise past Iowa State University with a score of 77-53 on March 3, 2012 in the regular season finale in the Ferrell Center.
Griner and the team continued to roll, as it wound up as the 2012 NCAA national champions, going 40-0 in the process.
At the time of the win over the Cyclones, Baylor had been winning its games by an average margin of nearly 28 points. The Lady Bears also stretched their home-court winning streak to 40 in a row with the success over ISU.
No. 10 Baylor MBB finds redemption with victory over No. 5 Kansas
The No. 10 Baylor men’s basketball team knocked off the No. 5 University of Kansas Jayhawks 80-70 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 10,628 on Feb. 26, 2022. The raucous, over-capacity “white-out” crowd helped the Bears secure the top-five win over the 2022 national champions in the Ferrell Center.
ESPN’s College GameDay was also in Waco for the top-10 matchup.
Senior forward Flo Thamba poured in a career-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds. Freshman forward Jeremy Sochan, who is now with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA, followed with 17 points and five boards.
The win over the Jayhawks marked the Bears’ third win over a top-10 opponent in 2021-22.
Landrum sets NCAA 3-point record, No. 7 Baylor women’s basketball crushes Arkansas State
It was raining 3-pointers in the Ferrell Center on Dec. 18, 2019, as No. 7 Baylor women’s basketball’s senior guard Juicy Landrum poured in an NCAA record 14 treys. Landrum set the record in front of a sellout crowd, and the noise level actually reached a jet plane-level of 131.7 decibels when she hit the final 3-pointer.
Hoisting 42 points, Landrum had doubled her previous scoring high (23), and the 42 points were the 10th-most in program history. She also snagged eight rebounds and had seven assists.
