TCU (14-5, 3-3 Big 12) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Jamie Dixon (TCU, 1987) Roster | Stats | Game Notes	TCU (14-5, 3-3 Big 12) vs. 15/14 BAYLOR (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) Jan. 27, 2024 • 3:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Sean Farnham (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: John Morris (PBP), David Kaye (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 199 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	15/14 BAYLOR BEARS (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
With a midweek bye, the 15^th-ranked Baylor Bears have had to sit with last Saturday's gut-wrenching, buzzer-beating 75-73 loss on the road to the Texas Longhorns for seven days and haven't won a game in two weeks.
 
"We're all competitors, so you want to get back out there," said sophomore guard Langston Love, who's averaging 11.6 points per game off the bench. "My dad always used to say, 'You're only as good as your last game.' We lost our last game, and that's all we've been thinking about this week. We're just happy to get back out there and have a chance to get a victory."
 
The Bears (14-4, 3-2), who lost back-to-back road games by a total of six points, will try to get back on the winning track when they host TCU (14-5, 3-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion.
 
"It's been a very long week," said VCU transfer Jayden Nunn (9.8 ppg). "We've been excited to get back in a groove with things and just get back to the next game, just try to move forward and get this (win), for sure."
 
While the players have obviously been itching to get back on the floor and play another game, Baylor coach Scott Drew said the week "has really been a blessing."
 
"You're in such a rut, per se, where it's prep, prep, play, evaluate, prep, play," he said. "And you never really get a chance to work on your own team. After playing a couple Big 12 games, now being able to assess areas that we can get better at, being able to spend a couple of days just on us and not prepping for a team, hopefully, will be beneficial."
 
After struggling offensively in a 68-64 overtime loss at Kansas State on Jan. 16, the Bears found their shooting touch against the Longhorns, shooting 50% from 3-point range (11-of-22) and 16-of-20 from the free throw line. But they went over nine minutes without a field goal before Jalen Bridges hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left.
 
"We shot free throws well, we shot the ball a lot better," Drew said. "But our defense wasn't as good as it was against K-State. You have to be good on both ends if you ever want to have a chance to get separation. . . . Down the stretch, there were a couple that we could have gotten better shots, but our shot selection was a lot better as a whole from K-State to Texas. Really, we missed some shots that you can't miss."
 
In a week like this, "you're going to work on fundamentals every day," Drew said, but there were a couple specific areas that were addressed where Baylor needs to be more consistent.
 
"Our rim protection on defense, our transition defense," Drew said. "And then, if we can get a little more consistency on the glass. We've been one of the best rebounding teams in the country. And that's got to be there every night.'
 
TCU snapped a two-game losing streak of its own by overcoming a 17-point first-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State, 74-69, Tuesday night in Stillwater. The Horned Frogs recorded top-10 wins over Oklahoma and Houston and took then-No. 2 Kansas down to the wire in an 83-81 loss in Lawrence.
 
One of 11 transfers on the roster, 6-7 fifth-year senior Emanuel Miller (Texas A&M) leads the Frogs with 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Micah Peavy (10.9 ppg) and Jameer Nelson Jr. (10.4 ppg) are also experienced players averaging double-digit points.
 
"Coach (Jamie) Dixon has done a great job bringing in experienced players," Drew said. "Third-most experienced team out of 363 (NCAA Division I teams). They have a couple guys that were there when the school was founded, and they've got every degree now. But that experience, it brings maturity and toughness."
 
Baylor leads the all-time series, 106-86, but holds a slight 6-5 edge since 2018. Last year, they split the two games, with TCU knocking off the Bears in Waco, 88-87, and Baylor returning the favor with a 72-68 road win in Fort Worth.
 
As part of the American Cancer Society's "Coaches vs. Cancer," Baylor is hosting 13-year-old cancer survivor PJ Trojanowski and her family at Saturday's game and also had them come to Friday afternoon's practice at Foster Pavilion.
 
"Coach Drew gave her his sneakers," said Melanie Trojanowski, PJ's mom, "so she's got some big plans for decorating them to the game tomorrow. We're excited for that."
 
Drew said PJ "did a great job dropping dimes (assists)," throwing an alley-oop pass to senior forward Caleb Lohner for a slam dunk.
 
"PJ being here, you see toughness, you see grit, determination," Drew said, "but you're also blessed because you see that she's been able to fight her way back through cancer and she's cancer-free."
 
The Bears will also honor the "Immortal Ten," wearing jerseys with the names of the 10 players who died in a train/bus accident in Round Rock on Jan. 22, 1927.
 
Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN2, with Rich Hollenberg and Sean Farnham calling the action.



Storylines

• No. 15/14 Baylor hosts TCU for the 193rd time on ESPN2, in a series that dates back to 1908. 

• Saturday The Bears will honor the "Immortal 10", ten Baylor players who lost their lives in a bus accident in Georgetown, Texas on Jan. 22, 1927.

• Instead of their own names on the back of their jerseys, current BU players will wear jersey's with the names of the 10 players lost on that January day. 

• BU will also welcome 13-year old cancer survivor PJ Trojanowski and her family in support of American Cancer Society's 'Coaches vs. Cancer'.

• The Bears are third in the nation in 3-point FG% (40.9), rank fifth in nation in offensive efficiency (122.4) and second in the Big 12 in points per game (84.1).

• Baylor enters this match-up with a 17-5 record against TCU under Scott Drew.

• BU has won six of the last eight meetings between the two teams, including 8 of the last 10 meetings in Waco.

• In the last meeting, Adam Flagler scored 16-straight second-half points to lift BU to a 72-68 win at No. 17 TCU.

• BU trailed by 10 with 8:44 to play, overcoming a 10-point deficit 2nd-half deficit on the road for the first time in over three years (1/18/20, at OSU). 

• Baylor is 81-23 against in-state opponents since the start of the 2011-12 season, and the Bears have advanced deeper into postseason play than any of Texas' 23 Division I teams in five of the last ten seasons.

• Baylor's 309-121 record since 2011-12 trails only Kansas (349-89) among Big 12 teams.

• The Bears have now been ranked in the top-10 for a fifth-straight year, one of just four programs (Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas) to accomplish that feat.

• Ranked in the AP Top-25 for 21-straight weeks, BU is riding the nation's eighth-longest active streak and the third-longest in the Big 12 (Houston 76, Kansas 55).

• Last time out, Texas' Tyrese Hunter hit a shot at the buzzer to beat the Bears 75-73, handing BU consecutive losses in Austin for the first time since 2014 and 15.

• Ja'Kobe Walter had game highs in points (22) and rebounds (7), while recording his sixth 20-point game of the season.

• After Texas started the game 9-for-11 from three in the first half, Baylor held Texas to 0-for-8 from deep in the second half.

• Langston Love scored in double figures for the fifth-straight time, after leading the Bears in scoring in each of the previous two contests.

• Love is averaging 14.2 points per game in Big 12 play, most in the league among players who do not start.

• BU has had six players win Big 12 Sixth-Man of the Year, no other conference school has more than two.

• RayJ Dennis ranks second in the Big 12  in assists per game (6.4), with the Bears getting 15.2 points per game from Walter to lead the offense, the most among Big 12 Conference Freshmen.

• Four different players have led the Bears in scoring in five Big 12 games. (Dennis, Walter, Love and Bridges).