Makai Mason’s monster night fuels Bears to 90-64 win over TCU

Makai Mason had a historic night for the Baylor Bears in a runaway 90-64 victory over TCU in Waco on Saturday night.

Heading into the game, Makai Mason was averaging 15.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 35% from three in 17 games for the Bears since he transferred from Yale. After a shaky start to the season, Mason was finding a rhythm and settling in his role as the leader, spurring Baylor to victories in their last six contest.

From the get go, Mason and the Bears looked poised to get revenge from a loss to the Frogs earlier in the season. With 90 points, Baylor put up one of their best pound-for-pound performance of the season offensively the Bears posted, their second highest scoring total of the season behind 91 against Prairie View. 

To summarize, the Bears were shooting lights out from start to finish, shooting 56% from the field and drilling 15-of-28 three-point attempts. The sensational offensive numbers as a team, however, did not come without Makai Mason taking over the game with his shooting. 

In a Steph Curry-esque performance, Mason made ridiculous shot after ridiculous shot and there was nothing the TCU defense could do to stop it and leaving the crowd stunned.

Totaling 40 points and 4 assists while making 14 of his 20 shots and 9 of his 12 three-pointers, the senior did it in a variety of ways including off of screens, shooting off the catch, and pulling up off the dribble from incredible distances throughout the game. As Mason continued to make shots during his shooting barrage, the Baylor bench could barely believe their eyes. The Horned Frogs would see the ball go in and put their hands up hopelessly wondering what they were supposed to do to stop this freight train. 

After reaching the 35-point mark, Mason was matching TCU nearly blow for blow as the Horned Frogs had tossed in just 42 points as a team. Mason’s action was cut down around that time, but nonetheless, he went on to find his way to 40 pointsmark, the first time a Bear had scored 40 points or more since LaceDarius Dunn did it back in 2011. 

With yet another resume-building victory against a top-tier Big 12 team, Mason’s monster game just might have helped the Bears solidify their place in the top 25. They did not receive any votes in the AP Poll last week, but with great wins this week against Alabama, TCU, and Oklahoma, the votes should begin to flow.

This is only the fourth time the Bears have won five straight Big 12 games and the school record is six straight. The Bears will look to tie that record with a win in Austin against the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday.

Against TCU in Fort Worth in early January, the Bears battled back from a large deficit but ultimately lost a hard fought game 85-81. Tristan Clark and Makai Mason led the way with 18 and 15 points, respectively.