No. 19 Baylor Basketball Falls to No. 17 TCU in Waco
No. 19 Baylor men's basketball (10-4, 0-2) lost to No. 17 TCU (13-1, 2-0) in the Bears' first home conference game of the season, as Horned Frog guard Mike Miles Jr (33 points) outdueled Keyonte George (27 points).
Both teams opened the game blazing hot from the field. It took over four minutes for a shot to clang off the rim; at that point, TCU led 11-9, and George's nine points (all on three-pointers) paced Baylor.
But like their cold-blooded, reptilian counterparts, the TCU Horned Frogs went cold. After starting the game on a tear, they scored just two points in the following 4 1/2 minutes, allowing Baylor to build up a small lead.
As the first half continued, that lead would only grow. TCU brought the score within four points twice, but a barrage of threes saw the Bears build a 17-point lead late in the half.
Much of that success can be attributed to Baylor's accuracy from deep. In the first half, the Bears made nine of 13 three-point attempts; TCU made just one of eight.
Occasionally, a high volume of missed three-pointers can lead to more offensive rebounds. But the Bears won the rebounding battle, 18-10.
The second half, though, was a completely different story. Through the first 11 minutes, Baylor hit just two field goals as TCU whittled their lead down to two.
At the heart of the issue was the Bears' lack of interior defense and defensive pace. TCU hit just four shots outside of the paint all game, including a significant number of fast-break points. (With 3:21 remaining, the Horned Frogs led that battle 23-0.)
With 4:23 to play, Damion Baugh slammed the ball home to give TCU its first lead since 14:26 in the first half. Baylor rallied back to take a four-point lead with 1:28 left in the game.
After trading scores, the Bears took possession with just over 40 seconds left in the game. They worked the clock down to 10 seconds, but Jalen Bridges missed a potential dagger three-pointer, which bounced out of bounds.
And with 3.4 seconds on the clock, Miles Jr hit Chuck O'Bannon Jr, who drilled a side-step jumper from the left corner to give the Horned Frogs the lead.
A football pass to Josh Ojianwuna allowed Baylor to start its final possession in enemy territory. A give-and-go to Keyonte George nearly gave the Bears the win, but Xavier Cork blocked the potential buzzer-beating layup, ending the game in dramatic fashion, 88-87.
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