Shorthanded No. 7 Baylor men's basketball handles TCU 72-62

WACO, Texas – No. 7 Baylor men’s basketball (22-5, 10-4), despite lacking two starting guards, cranked TCU (16-8, 5-7) at the Ferrell Center 72-62.

Missing an All-Big 12 caliber guard is, on a scale of one to ideal, less than ideal. Missing two of them would be detrimental for most teams. Baylor is not most teams. 

With the lack of Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer – with Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua also sidelined, of course – Baylor used a rotation that included just six regularly seen players. And all six of those players were on a mission, simply outhustling TCU. 

Honing in on the first half, the Bears didn’t make a single shot from outside and trailed the second chance points category 9-2. But that was a nonissue. Thanks to forcing 10 turnovers, notching 22 points in the paint and shooting 9-11 from the line, Baylor was rolling. 

Jeremy Sochan notched 11 points, Flo Thamba had five boards and Dale Bonner had a ridiculous four steals to lead the Bears to a 33-23 halftime lead. The defense was unreal. 

The second half was right on par. Having six typical rotation players available tested Baylor’s stamina, but the team didn’t lose a beat.  

In a game the Bears played with effectvely six players, Scott Drew’s squad forced XX turnovers and led the points off turnovers battle 20-8. The team also went to the line 29 times and shot a beautiful 47% overall. That’s a great recipe to win any game. 

And that’s how the 72-62 final came about. Baylor just dominated a tournament team without three massive contributors. It’s a quick turnaround as the team takes Stillwater on Monday night.