TCU hopes 30-year wait ends Saturday against Baylor

It has been 30 years since TCU swept Baylor on the basketball floor.

The Horned Frogs, who host the Bears at 11 a.m. Saturday at TCU's Schollmaier Arena, have already swept two Big 12 opponents this season, the most in a season since joining the league. But Oklahoma State and Iowa State haven't shown the kind of stretch of success that Baylor has pulled off over the past three weeks.

TCU will wear black uniforms and fans are encouraged to match them for a "black out" against the Bears.

Baylor won five consecutive games before losing at home 71-60 to No. 20 West Virginia on Tuesday. The Bears have been a streaky bunch this season. They lost four in a row before the five-game losing streak. They also had two five-game win streaks during non-conference.

Baylor (17-11, 7-8 in the Big 12) handed No. 13 Kansas its worst loss of the season when the Bears won 80-64 on Feb. 10. They led the Jayhawks during the final 26 minutes of the game.

In each of their past five wins, they held their opponent to under 40 percent shooting. Guard Manu Lecomte and forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. are averaging 16.4 and 14.3 points a game. They beat No. 6 Texas Tech last Saturday behind Terry Maston's 24 points.

TCU (19-9, 7-8) is healthy after going through a stretch in which the team often was relegated to two scholarship players available off the bench. Shawn Olden and Ahmed Hamdy have rebounded from injuries and are providing depth down the stretch.

"We've had our setbacks and we're not the team we thought we'd be but we now have a nice rotation," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.

"Every opponent, every game is a chance to get better."

Dixon said he is hoping the rough stretch is behind them and that experience has toughened his team for the postseason. The defense has improved despite the excessive playing time for the small rotation of players. Kenrich Williams is second in the Big 12 in average minutes played with 38.1 per game. Only Kansas' Devonte Graham averages more in the league games.

"Guys have played more minutes than they should have," Dixon said. "It's put us in a situation where we've had different lineups and now we can do more with the eight than we maybe anticipated early in the year."

And he's hoping that prepares TCU for success in the postseason.

TCU vs. Baylor

11 a.m. Saturday, Schollmaier Arena

TV: ESPN2

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 2:43 PM with the headline "TCU hopes 30-year wait ends Saturday against Baylor."