TCU shooting touch disappears late during loss to No. 6 Baylor

TCU sold out its venue and revved up the crowd Saturday night in Schollmaier Arena.

But a late surge by No. 6 Baylor, with heavy doses of point guard Manu Lecomte in crunch time, proved to be the deciding factor that carried the Bears across the finish line, 62-53, in a contest that featured 13 lead changes in the second half.

Lecomte finished with 17 points and four assists, including a pair of big assists down the stretch, to help the Bears (18-1, 6-1 Big 12) outlast the Horned Frogs (14-5, 3-4) on a night when TCU held the lead, 48-47, with 5:27 to play.

But the Frogs’ oft-frigid shooting reached epic proportions down the stretch. TCU, which made only 29.3 percent of its shots from the field for the game (17 of 58), missed five consecutive shots and 7 of 8 during Baylor’s 15-4 run to put the game away over the final 4:16.

Despite the loud support from an overflow crowd of 7,276 (capacity: 6,700) and the double-double efforts of Vladimir Brodziansky (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Kenrich Williams (16 points, 12 rebounds), the Frogs dropped their second consecutive game. It marked the first time for TCU to lose consecutive games in this turnaround season under first-year coach Jamie Dixon.

The setback also marked TCU’s 18th consecutive loss to a Top 25 opponent since defeating No. 21 Oklahoma State on Feb. 14, 2015. It stung Dixon, in particular, because he thought the setting was ideal for a signature triumph with TCU holding a late lead as well as the momentum.

“We’ve got some disappointed guys in that locker room, me included. I really thought we were here to win this game and, simply put, we didn’t get it done,” Dixon said. “I’m disappointed for our fans. They deserved to have a win. I feel like I let them down.”

Dixon questioned himself after the game for tightening his rotation to the point that only six players posted double-figure minutes, with five players topping the 30-minute mark (Brodzianksy, Williams, Jaylen Fisher, Alex Robinson and Karviar Shepherd). Dixon said tired legs probably did not have as much to do with the Frogs’ shooting woes as Baylor’s upsized front line and perimeter defense.

Fisher (1 of 10 from the field) and Robinson (3 of 11), TCU’s primary point guards, combined to make just 2 of 12 from beyond the arc.

“We’ve got to shoot the ball better. That’s obvious,” Dixon said. “If we can’t shoot a higher percentage, we’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball inside.”

Yet TCU was well-positioned for the upset until Ish Wainwright’s 3-pointer with 4:16 to play provided the 16th, and final, lead change of the contest. That put Baylor on top 50-48, and Lecomte found ways to break the press down the stretch that included a pair of alley-oop feeds to Johnathan Motley (15 points, 8 rebounds) and Jo Lual-Acuil (11 points, 5 rebounds).

Lecomte also buried a jumper at the 2:48 mark during Baylor’s game-winning surge and made 4-of-4 free throws in the final minute.

“You’ve got to get the 50-50 balls because that’s a tough team,” Lecomte said. “We knew it was going to come down to free throws at the end. And we were able to get the job done.”

Motley said the Bears were unfazed by facing a 28-26 halftime deficit.

“They came out and played us real tough, and that’s what we expected,” Motley said. “In the second half, we picked up the intensity and played harder and got the ‘W.’ ”

TCU, on the other hand, absorbed its first loss of the season when leading at halftime. The Frogs are now 12-1 in such contests and still in search of that first signature win of the season.

“The Big 12 is a tough conference and every night is going to be a tough fight,” Brodziansky said. “We came out flat in the second half and that cost us some points. In these games, every point is important.”

BAYLOR 62, TCU 53

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 10:41 PM with the headline "TCU shooting touch disappears late during loss to No. 6 Baylor."