FORT WORTH, Texas — Desmond Bane scored 23 points, including eight straight in TCU’s tiebreaking run as the Horned Frogs upended No. 2 Baylor 75-72 on Saturday.
Bane made a long tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:42 left that put the Horned Frogs (16-13, 7-9 Big 12) ahead to stay. After blocking a shot by Jared Butler, Bane then made a turnaround jumper before adding another 3 to make it 63-55 with just over three minutes left. That was part of a bigger 18-1 spurt that Bane had started with another 3-pointer.
Baylor (25-3, 14-2) lost for the second time in three games since winning a Big 12-record 23 games in a row. The Bears were the nation’s No. 1 team when they lost a week ago to now-No.1 Kansas (26-3, 15-1), which is a game ahead of them in the league standings after beating Kansas State on Saturday.
This was only the third Big 12 game this season where Baylor, which is still in contention for its first Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, trailed in the second half.
PJ Fuller added 21 points for the Horned Frogs, while Jaire Grayer had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Butler and Freddie Gillespie both had 18 points while MaCio Teague had 13 for Baylor, the highest-ranked team to visit TCU since then-No. 1 Kansas in December 2003 — before the Frogs were in the Big 12. Gillespie also had 17 rebounds.
TCU was up 68-55 after Fuller made two free throws with 1:19 left, although Gillespie’s layup with nine seconds left cut the margin to three in the final 10 seconds before Diante Smith made two clinching free throws for the Frogs.
The Frogs were down by as many as 12 points in the second half, but shot 76.2% (16 of 21) from the field while scoring 54 points over the final 20 minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Baylor: It was the first Big 12 road loss this season for the Bears, who were allowing only 58.7 points a game. They were looking for their sixth series sweep this season, having started February with a 16-point home win over TCU. Baylor was coming off 19-point home win over Kansas State.
TCU: The Horned Frogs were playing without second-leading scorer RJ Nembhard and guard Francisco Farabello. This was their third win this season over a Top 25 team. They have beaten a higher-ranked team in coach Jamie Dixon’s four seasons, with their win over then No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament three years ago.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Bears will certainly fall out of the top two spots for the first time in eight weeks. They are still a top-five team.
UP NEXT
TCU now plays the only team ranked higher than Baylor. The Horned Frogs are at No. 1 Kansas on Wednesday night.
Baylor plays its home finale Monday night against No. 22 Texas Tech.
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