Baylor will exit DFW with an 18-point victory over TCU in hand

FORT WORTH — No. 2 Baylor men’s basketball (11-0, 4-0) took to the road and knocked off TCU (9-4, 2-3) in Fort Worth for the first time since 2017, winning 67-49. 

Well, I was hesitant to put Baylor men’s basketball in the first line rather than just writing, “No. 12 Jared Butler took to the road to knock off TCU.” It was a Naismith Award-winning performance for Butler today who finished with 28 points on 11-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds and four assists. 

On a day where the Bears didn’t quite play to their potential, every ounce of Butler’s skill was needed on the road. It took a strong second half, but the Bears finished with a win thanks to a 36-16 points in the paint advantage, 22 turnovers forced and a handful of monumental dunks. 

On a scale of one to good basketball, the first half was a zero — and notice that zero wasn’t even listed on the scale. Baylor shot just 1-10 from deep and found themselves outrebounded 21-12 at the break. Moreover, the Bears bench — which outscores opposing benches 39-18 — trailed 6-4. 

If it was not for the All-American Butler, Baylor would have been 5-18 with 15 points as a team. With Butler’s 12 points on 6-9 shooting, though, the Bears stayed afloat. With the Green and Gold leading 27-25 and setting up for the last shot of the half, TCU stole the ball and hit a 60-footer to end a seven minute field goal drought and make it 28-27 Frogs after 20 minutes. 

The second half was an absolute nightmare for TCU. Baylor’s offense found a spark and doubled their first half scoring output with seven minutes left in the game. Thanks to Butler putting up another 16 and a few big dunks, the Bears jumped ahead by double digits quickly and didn’t look back, finishing with the 67-49 win thanks to a 40-21 second half advantage. 

There was plenty to knit pick from this game and obviously Baylor must play better against the other big dogs of the conference, but my takeaway from this game isn’t remotely related to that.

My takeaway is Baylor pride as the Bears finally won in Fort Worth and the loudest the Fort Worth crowd became was when a resounding ‘B-U’ chant broke out inside of two minutes left in the game. It’s a damn good day to be wearing green and gold, isn’t it?