A disastrous first-half stretch by TCU ruined its upset chances at No. 1 Baylor
TCU missed nine straight shots, turned it over four times and saw a tie game turn into a 14-point deficit in just over six minutes.
As coach Jamie Dixon put it bluntly, the Horned Frogs simply don’t have enough firepower to overcome that kind of stretch against the No. 1 team in the country.
Baylor 68, TCU 52 on Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears (19-1, 8-0 Big 12) are in the midst of the program’s longest winning streak at 18 games. The Frogs (13-8, 4-4 Big 12), meanwhile, have lost five of their last six, including four road games by an average of 22.3 points.
TCU dropped to 1-7 against top-ranked teams in program history, 2-86 against ranked teams in true road games and 1-7 in Waco since joining the Big 12 for the 2012-13 season.
“Our field-goal percentage isn’t good enough. Our turnovers aren’t good enough. Our free-throw percentage isn’t good enough,” Dixon said. “The only thing we’re doing a pretty good job of is shooting threes at a pretty good percentage, but we probably rely on that too much.
“There’s a lot of things we can work on.”
TCU didn’t shoot the 3-pointer well against Baylor’s suffocating defense, making just 6 of 21 from long range. The Horned Frogs also lost the rebounding battle, 37-30, and missed five free throws (8 of 13).
TCU has missed at least five free throws in four consecutive games, and 13 of 21 games this season. The Frogs also scored just two points off 12 offensive rebounds and had 15 turnovers, which turned into 19 points for the Bears.
“They’re old and they’ve been through it,” said TCU senior guard Desmond Bane, who was held scoreless in the first half before finishing with a team-best 14 points.
“They play really hard and that’s what they do. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.”
This game, though, boiled down to a frustrating first-half stretch for TCU where Baylor built a comfortable lead and stayed in front by multiple possessions the rest of the way.
With the game tied at 17-17 with 8 minutes, 1 second left in the first half, Baylor went on a 14-0 run to take a 31-17 lead. The Bears dominated over a 6-minute, 11-second stretch.
TCU went 0 for 9 from the field, including three missed 3-pointers and three blocked shots. The Horned Frogs also turned it over four times.
Baylor capitalized on two of those turnovers with 3-pointers by junior guard MaCio Teague. Teague finished with a team-high 19 points, including a season-best five 3-pointers.
Asked about those 3-pointers in the run, Teague said: “Very important. We stretched the lead out and gave us a little bit of a cushion.”
Dixon tried to make light of the run when asked about it, saying: “Well, we didn’t score. That was part of it.
“They’re a good defensive team,” Dixon continued. “Our shot selection has been a challenge. ... Our decision-making just isn’t good enough. Simply put.”
TCU’s Kevin Samuel ended the scoring drought with a basket with 1:50 left, but the damage had been done. Baylor closed the half with a 3-pointer by Matthew Mayer to take a 35-24 lead into the locker rooms.
More importantly, the Bears held Bane scoreless in the first half.
“I had a couple of good looks that didn’t go down,” Bane said. “But just picking and choosing the spots.”
Bane and TCU showed some resiliency in the second half with an 8-0 run to pull to within 51-45 with 8:53 left, including Bane scoring six of those points. But that was as close as the Horned Frogs would come.
Baylor put the game out of reach on a steal and fastbreak layup by sophomore guard Davion Mitchell that made it a 62-52 game with 2:52 left coming out of the last media timeout. TCU didn’t score in the final 3:42.
Along with Teague’s 19 points, Baylor senior forward Freddie Gillespie had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore guard Jared Butler finished with 10 points.
Bane was the only player to reach double figures for TCU.
“We’re just not playing good enough to beat the No. 1 team in the country at their place,” Dixon said. “We’re good enough to be within six. We’re just not playing good enough. I believe we can, but we’ve got to do something about it.
“We’re going to move on from this game rather quickly.”
TCU returns to action at Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Stillwater.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 5:10 PM.
