Edgecombe, Bears Outlast TCU in Fort Worth, Win 61-58

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Baylor Men’s Basketball team (18-12, 10-9 Big 12) outlasted the TCU Horned Frogs (16-14, 9-10 Big 12) in their gym on their Senior Night to avenge the Bears’ loss in Waco and remind Baylor fans of one of the best college football games of all time with a final score of 61-58.

VJ Edgecombe set the tone for the Green and Gold early with a nice three, some hustle plays and a lot of chirping on his way to an 18-point and seven-rebound standout performance. Norchad Omier one-upped Edgecombe by scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 boards.

For once the Bears jumped out to a fast start, making a 12-2 run to gain a 14-5 lead early in the first half. The Bears did well on the boards early despite losing Langston Love to an ankle injury five minutes into the game. Love would return for the second half, and head coach Scott Drew noted in his postgame press conference that it was not the previously troublesome ankle for Love.

TCU did make Baylor in a couple of ways in the first half, namely turnovers and fast break points. The Horned Frogs forced nine Baylor turnovers in the first twenty minutes which helped them get out in transition and score 14 points on the break. The Bears only scored two in transition during the first half. 

Those transition points for TCU contributed to a key 11-3 run for the Frogs to tie the game at 31-31. The teams remained level heading into halftime at 35-35.

The second half was very similar just with worse offensive execution by both teams. Baylor’s early run was a dominant 15-3 stretch that made the game look all but over before the final quarter of play. However, the Frogs slowly chipped away at that 56-45 lead making a 13-2 run over the last seven minutes. With 23 seconds left, the hosts tied things up at 58-58. This teed up Baylor’s Robert Wright to earn a foul on the Bears’ critical possession and cold-bloodedly knock down his pair of free throws with just two seconds left on the clock. 

Omier would add a final free throw to push the final to the famous score of 61-58.

Wright finished with 11 points, seven assists and just three turnovers. Meanwhile, the Bears shot 44% from the field and 30% from three, very much in line with the Bears’ shooting numbers over the previous five games.

The Bears' defense did step up to hold TCU to 35% shooting from the field and 29% from three, including 23% both overall and from deep in the second half. Clearly there is plenty of room for improvement with the Bears' two most recent wins coming with great effort against some of the lowest-rated offenses in the Big 12. That room still lies largely on the boards with Baylor getting killed for 20 offensive rebounds against TCU which were turned into 23 second-chance points.

In that department, the Bears will have their work cut out for them in their regular season finale on Saturday. Baylor welcomes Houston to town for a 9:00 p.m. tip-off, but that game is more an opportunity than a must-win at this point. The win over the Frogs likely locked Baylor into the NCAA Tournament, with the Bears firmly on the No. 10 seed line heading into the game against TCU.

Baylor is likely looking at a one-round bye as a No. 6, 7 or 8 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, but they could still fall as low as the No. 10 seed with a loss to Houston and many other results going the wrong way. Seeds Nos. 9-16 all play of day one of the Big 12 Tournament while seed Nos. 1-4 earn double-byes.