TCU Basketball vs #2 Baylor: Preview and Gamethread

JAN. 9 | SCHOLLMAIER ARENA | FORT WORTH, TEXAS | 2 PM

TCU Horned Frogs (9-3, 2-2 Big 12) vs. #2 BAYLOR Bears (10-0, 3-0 Big 12)

Broadcast: ESPN

Play-By-Play: Dan Shulman

Analyst: Fran Fraschilla

Online: WatchESPN.com // ESPN App

Radio: AM 570 KLIF | XM/Online: 384/974

Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge

Analyst: Colin Boddicker

Online: HFTV // TuneIn

Series: BU leads 100-85

In Fort Worth: TCU leads 45-41

In Waco: BU lead 54-37

Neutral: BU leads 5-3

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

Last Meeting: TCU won 75-72 (2/29/20) in Fort Worth

Winning Streak: TCU, W1 Dixon vs. BU: 4-4

NOTES

- TCU (9-3, 2-2) will host No. 2 Baylor (10-0, 3-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN. It will be the first time in program history that TCU will host top 10 teams in consecutive games, having hosted No. 6 Kansas Tuesday.

- In his fifth season as TCU’s head coach, Jamie Dixon is seven wins away from 100. In his 18 years as head coach, Dixon has never had a losing season.

- Under Dixon, TCU is 31-45 in Big 12 play. Prior to Dixon, TCU was 8-64 in the Big 12 over four years.

- TCU is 2-0 on the road in conference play for the first time in 23 seasons.

- For the fifth-straight season, TCU has at least nine wins through its first 12 games.

- TCU features one of the top backcourts in the Big 12 with freshman Mike Miles and junior RJ Nembhard.

- Nembhard leads the Big 12 in scoring with 18.2 points per game and has scored in double figures in nine-straight games. Nembhard also ranks fifth in the Big 12 in shooting (48.9) and assists (4.6).

- Miles has three 20-point games this season and ranks 14th in the Big 12 in scoring (13.6). Among freshmen, his scoring average is second in the Big 12 and 11th nationally.

- Junior center Kevin Samuel is TCU’s career leader with 191 blocked shots. He leads the Big 12 and ranks 22nd nationally with 2.4 blocks per game. At Oklahoma State earlier this season, Samuel had seven blocks, the most by a TCU player in 20 seasons.

- Samuel ranks second in the Big 12 with 9.3 rebounds per game and 3.7 offensive rebounds per game. He has three double-doubles this season.

- TCU ranks third in the Big 12 in shooting (47.1), assists (15.4) and in 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.2).

- TCU’s 11 underclassmen is the fourth most in the country and ties with Kansas State for the most in the Big 12 Conference. Freshmen and sophomores are accounting for 54 percent of TCU’s points.

LAST TIME OUT

Chuck O’Bannon scored a career-high 18 points to lead TCU, but the Horned Frogs fell to No. 6 Kansas, 93-64, Tuesday in Fort Worth, snapping a five-game winning streak.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

The preseason favorite to win the Big 12 Conference, Baylor returned four starters from last season’s team which went 26-4 (15-3). The Bears rank top five nationally in offensive and defensive efficiency. Senior guard MaCio Teague ranks third in the Big 12 with 16.0 points per game. Baylor ranks first nationally in scoring margin (28.8), second in 3-point field goal percentage (43.6) and fourth in assists (20.0). The Bears are one of nine undefeated teams and defeated Oklahoma, 76-61, Wednesday at home.

SERIES HISTORY

Baylor leads the all-time series 100-85. TCU has won four of the last six games in the series and holds a 45-41 advantage in games played in Fort Worth and has won the last three. Last season, the Horned Frogs defeated the No. 2 ranked Bears, 75-72, the highest ranked team TCU has beat at home.

UP NEXT

TCU takes it 2-0 road record to Oklahoma for a 6:30 p.m. tip in Norman, Okla., Tuesday. The broadcast will be on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.