Baylor Crushes TCU 68-52

No. 1 Baylor (19-1, 8-0) blasted TCU (13-8, 4-4) 68-52. The Bears have now won 18 straight, which is the longest winning streak in program history. Baylor takes on Kansas State at 8:00 on Monday in Manhattan.

TCU made it a fight early, but the Bears pulled away in the middle of the first half. Behind a 14-0 run, the Bears were able to take a 35-24 lead into halftime. Baylor held TCU to just .69 points per possession in the half, which is well below what the nation’s worst offense averages.

MaCio Teague had a phenomenal day from three. He started 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and had 19 points. Matt Mayer hit a big three before intermission, and had a nice day.

The Horned Frogs made a run in the second half. Desmond Bane, TCU’s best player, had zero points in the first half. He started hitting shots in the second. With a 13-2 TCU run, Baylor’s lead fell to 51-45 late in the contest.

Scott Drew went to Fred Gillespie out of a timeout to stymie the run. Gillespie finished with 12 points and five blocks. Those five blocks are a career high.

Whenever TCU made a run, Baylor seemed to answer. Davion Mitchell stole the ball with about three minutes left to extend Baylor’s lead to 10. Jared Butler, who was scoreless in the first half, hit a big three and started making shots.

The Bears should still be content with this win. Tristan Clark had eight points and moved well. They finished 9-of-18 from three, a marked improvement from their 29% mark in Big 12 play.

Baylor didn’t have trouble when TCU got close. But the Bears had a lull in the second half that stopped them from blowing TCU out. That’s a small gripe, but for the best Baylor team in school history, any problem needs to be addressed. This team is a national title contender, and they’ll want to have everything right by March.