TCU Basketball at #1 Baylor: Preview

Losing to Texas was a bad look for a TCU Basketball team trying desperately to stay on the bubble as the calendar turns to February.

Beating the #1 team in the country, at their house, could help people forget, though.

The Bears have a 17 game winning streak and have dispatched all comers in Big 12 play, including an impressive win over Kansas at Phog Allen. Today’s matchup will be a tough one to say the least, and nothing that happened Wednesday night in Fort Worth gives fans much hope that the Horned Frogs can pull off the biggest upset of the college basketball season to date.

GAME INFORMATION:

FEB. 1 | FERRELL CENTER (10,284) | WACO, TEXAS | 3 PM

Broadcast: ESPN2

Play-By-Play: Chuckie Kempf

Analyst: Chris Spatola

Online: WatchESPN.com // ESPN App

Radio: KLIF 570 AM XM 381 - (971 online)

Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge

Analyst: Colin Boddicker

Online: HFTV // TuneIn

Series: Baylor leads 101-84

In Fort Worth: TCU leads 42-41

In Waco: Baylor leads 55-39

Neutral: Baylor leads 5-3

First Meeting: Baylor won 37-6 (1908-09) in Waco

Last Meeting: Baylor won 90-64 (2/2/19) in Waco

Winning Streak: BU, W1

Dixon vs. BU: 3-3

NOTES

• TCU will play at No. 1 Baylor Saturday on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Both coaching staffs will wear a blue puzzle piece pin on their suit for Coaches Powering Forward, which raises awareness about autism.
• TCU’s 4-3 Big 12 record is its best ever through seven games. It’s the best since TCU started 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference in 2012.It’s the eighth time in program history that TCU will face the nation’s No. 1 team. The last time came on March 9, 2017, an 85-82 win over No. 1 Kansas at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
• TCU leads the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (9.1) and 3-point field goal percentage (9.1) and ranks second in blocks per game (4.7) and assists (15.8).
• TCU ranks in the top 40 nationally in assists (28th, 15.8), scoring defense (38th, 63.1) and 3-point field goals made (39th, 9.1).
• TCU has two returning starters from last season, senior Desmond Bane and sophomore Kevin Samuel. Bane, who earned multiple preseason honors, including All-Big 12, ranks high in the conference in several categories including second in scoring average at 16.7 points per game. He’s eighth in assists (3.5) and 10th in rebounds (6.4), the only player in the Big 12 who ranks in the top 10 in those three categories.
• Bane leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage (44.1) and 3-point field goals made (2.8).
• Samuel is shooting 67.1 percent from the field, which ranks second in the Big 12 and seventh in the NCAA. His 8.8 rebounds per game ranks fifth in the Big 12. Samuel’s 10 double-doubles leads the Big 12 and ranks 19th nationally. He’s averaging 17.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in the last three games.
• At 1,582 career points, Bane is seventh on TCU’s all-time scoring list. Next on the list is Kyan Anderson at 1,624 points.
• At 130 career blocked shots, Samuel is sixth on TCU’s all-time list. Reggie Smith is next on the chart with 133.

LAST TIME OUT

Battling down to the last possession, TCU’s comeback effort fell short, falling to Texas, 62-61, Wednesday night in Schollmaier Arena. TCU trailed by eight with just over four minutes to play. After tying the game, the Frogs trailed by one with 1:17 to play and again with six seconds remaining, but were unable to take the lead. RJ Nembhard and Kevin Samuel led the Frogs with 17 points each.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Baylor is 18-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big 12. The No. 1 ranked Bears have won 17-straight games. Their last win came on Wednesday, 76-63 at Iowa State. The Bears are led by sophomore guard Jared Butler, who ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring at 15.4 points per game. As a team, Baylor ranks fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 58.3 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY

It is the 186th meeting between TCU and Baylor, the Frogs’ second-most played series behind SMU (193). TCU has won three of the last four meetings with Baylor and swept the season series in 2018.

UP NEXT

TCU will play its fifth road game in seven games when it plays at Oklahoma State (10-10, 0-7) Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Big 12 Now/ESPN+.