2011–12 Baylor Bears basketball team

The 2011–12 Baylor Bears basketball team  represented Baylor University in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team finished 30–7 overall and 12–6 in Big 12 Conference play to finish in a third-place tie with Iowa State. In postseason play, Baylor lost to Missouri in the 2012 Big 12 men's basketball tournament championship game and Kentucky in the Elite Eight of the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Preseason
From August 12 to 15, the Baylor Bears participated in the Canadian Foreign Tour which began their preseason, going 3-1 during the tour. The Bears concluded their preseason against Abilene Christian University. The Bears began regular season play ranked 12th in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Preseason polls.

Coaching
9th season head coach Scott Drew coached the team to the fourth most conference wins (12) and tied for second in overall wins (30).

NCAA tournament
In the 2011-12 season, Baylor went 27-7, with their highest ranking being #3. They also won the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic. As a result they were placed as a #3 seed in the South region of the NCAA Tournament.

In Baylor's second-round game of the tournament, sophomore Brady Heslip had nine 3-pointers, which was a career high. Baylor beat 11th seed University of Colorado. They faced Xavier University in the Sweet 16.

In the Sweet 16 game vs Xavier University, Baylor had a 20-4 lead, with the lead shortening to 7 at the half. Quincy Acy finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Point guard Pierre Jackson added 15 and Perry Jones III had 14 points. Brady Heslip scored 4 free throws in the final minute.

On Sunday, March 25, 2012, the Baylor Bears played The University of Kentucky in an Elite 8 match up for a spot in to The Final Four in New Orleans. Kentucky led by 20 points going into half time. In the second half Baylor began a 9-1 run, but the Bears fell to Kentucky 82-70, ending their season.

One of Baylor's four senior's, Quincy Acy, scored double-digits in multiple games, including a career high in blocks with 6 in a game. Acy was named the Big 12 "Best Athlete" by Sporting News. Upon graduation, Acy is eligible prospect for the NBA draft.

Roster
Source


 * Gary Franklin, who transferred from California after the 2010 fall semester, became eligible to play for Baylor in the 2012 spring semester.
 * Logan Lowery transferred from Centenary after the 2010–11 season. Because Centenary had reclassified to the non-scholarship Division III, Lowery was allowed to immediately play without sitting out a transfer year, but chose to redshirt instead.

Rankings
On December 5, Baylor moved into sixth in the AP Poll and seventh in the Coaches Poll, achieving the highest ranking in school history.

Schedule and results
Source
 * All times are Central

!colspan=9| Exhibition

!colspan=9| Regular Season

!colspan=9| Big 12 Regular Season

! colspan=9|2012 Big 12 men's basketball tournament

!colspan=9| 2012 NCAA tournament