TCU men’s basketball will look to get its revenge Saturday night when they host the No. 19 Baylor Bears at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
After being trampled by the Baylor in Waco by a score 82-54 on Jan. 13, the Horned Frogs will have the chance to avoid suffering a season sweep at the hands of the Bears, while simultaneously seeking their first win against a ranked opponent this season.
A win over Baylor would provide some desperately needed confidence for the Frogs, who have not had much to cheer about of late. With an 11-17 overall record, the Frogs are riding a four game losing streak, part of a dismal 2-11 stretch that has sent them to the cellar of Big 12 standings (10th place, 2-13).
History has not been kind to TCU when it comes to facing Baylor on the hardwood. The Frogs have never defeated the Bears since entering the Big 12 in the 2012-2013 season. The Frogs’ last victory over the Bears was 14 years ago in 2002, when the team prevailed by a score of 72-64.
As has been the case so many times this year against ranked opponents, the Frogs will need to bring all the fight they have in them to succeed in knocking off their arch-rivals Saturday night.
The Frogs will need to rely on the strong shooting abilities of sophomore Chauncey Collins. Collins recorded a career high of 29 points in Tuesday’s loss against Texas Tech. Collins leads the team this season with an average of 11.7 points per game and a total of 315 on the year.
Sophomore Malique Trent will also need to be on point for the contest against Baylor. Trent is not far behind Collins, averaging a team second best 11.3 points per game with season total of 283 points.
Trent will also need to continue the strong defensive effort that he has shown throughout this season. Trent has recorded 3 or more steals in eight games this season, and ranks third among all Big 12 players in steals and 51st among all active NCAA players.
In regards to limiting Baylor’s scoring efforts, the Frogs will need to keep their eyes on several players. The key will be containing senior forwards Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers. The two lead the Bears in points per game, averaging 15 and 12 points per game respectively.
Prince is the team’s season points leader having recorded 421 thus far. Gathers leads the Bears in rebounds with 256 rebounds on the season, 98 more than Prince’s second best of 158.
The contest will be the last home-game of the season for the Frogs before Spring Break, as they will conclude the regular season against Oklahoma next Saturday in Fort Worth. The Big 12 championship tournament will take place the following week in Kansas City, Missouri.
