Top-ranked Baylor gets hot from 3-point land to shut down TCU basketball’s upset bid
Mike Miles wasn’t going to blame a wrist injury he sustained early in the second half. Nor was he going to cite an 18-day COVID pause that the entire TCU basketball team was coming off going into its matchup against No. 1 Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
Neither of those issues helped TCU’s upset bid, though. Instead, Baylor (15-0, 3-0) eventually overcame a six-point halftime deficit and showed why the defending NCAA champion is still the top-ranked team in the country with a 76-64 victory at Schollmaier Arena.
“First half, we played good. We didn’t have that many turnovers and they didn’t make that many 3s,” Miles said. “But second half? I don’t think we had the same intensity and they pulled away. But we definitely thought we could have won.”
TCU (10-2, 0-1) found itself in the driver’s seat going into the second half. The Frogs closed the first half on a 14-2 run, and took a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
They carried that momentum into the second half. Miles converted a four-point play, knocking down a 3-pointer while being fouled by Baylor’s Matthew Mayer, to give TCU a 44-36 lead with 18:30 left.
At that point, Miles had 22 points and appeared on his way to a career day. But less than a minute later, Miles injured his wrist while being fouled by Mayer. Miles’ two free-throw attempts fell well short. He got his wrist taped shortly afterward but scored only four more points.
“It hurt. It was tough,” Miles said of the injury. “I couldn’t really flick it on my shot. That’s why my two free throws were short. It hurt, so I’ve got to get an X-ray. But hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Miles’ injury marked the start of what became a 17-0 run by Baylor over the next four minutes as it took a 53-44 lead by the 14-minute mark. Bears guard Adam Flagler made two of his six second-half 3-pointers during that stretch.
Baylor guard LJ Cryer also had one of his four 3-pointers on the day during that game-changing stretch.
“I started to find a little bit of a rhythm,” Flagler said. “Once I got going, we’ve got a great, selfless team, and they’re going to keep looking for whoever’s hot.”
TCU didn’t go down without a fight, pulling to within one possession a couple times after that. But the Frogs never regained the lead and eventually ran out of gas.
The Frogs made just three shots from the field in the final eight minutes.
“Their guards simply wore us down,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Simply put, that’s where we got beat.”
Dixon rattled off the stat line of each — Flagler finished with 22 points; James Akinjo had 20 points; Cryer had 15 points.
Baylor made eight 3-pointers in the second half, finishing the game 13 of 27 from deep. The Bears went from nine turnovers in the first half to only three in the second half.
“I thought we really executed well in the second half,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “It starts with James and Adam. They did a great job taking care of the ball and getting high-percentage shots, and defensively did a good job communicating and making things tougher.”
TCU, meanwhile, made just 7 of 20 3-pointers and turned it over 18 times, including 11 in the second half.
“The two things that stand out are really the turnovers, especially in the second half. And then we just lost our pace offensively,” Dixon said. “We lost our pace. I don’t know why. There are no excuses. You’ve got to find a way. Give them credit. They’re good. They’re ranked where they are because they’ve been in this before. They’re old. They find ways. … They responded and we didn’t.”
On the positive side, TCU proved that it can play with the best team in the country — at least for a half.
As Dixon put it, the Frogs are capable of leading the top-ranked team in the country by six points after a half and also capable of being outscored by 18 points by the top-ranked team after a half.
TCU dropped to 1-9 all-time when facing the No. 1 team in the country but this year’s team believes the first half is more indicative of what it is than the second half.
“We knew from Day 1 that we could play with anybody in the country,” said senior forward Chuck O’Bannon Jr., who finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
“We’re taking this as just a loss because that’s all it is. We know that we’re fully capable of beating them. We’re more than excited to go back to Waco next month.”
TCU travels to Kansas State (8-6, 0-3) for its next game on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Manhattan.
Women fall at Iowa State
The TCU women’s team opened Big 12 play with a 78-47 loss at No. 12 Iowa State on Saturday afternoon.
Frogs junior guard Tavy Diggs led the team with 17 points. TCU (4-6, 0-1) struggled from deep, going 5 of 27 from 3-point range, and made just 2 of 9 free throw attempts. The Cyclones improved to 14-1, 3-0.
The women are scheduled to play their conference home opener against Kansas (9-2, 0-1) on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published January 8, 2022 at 6:01 PM.
