No. 21 Baylor slides past TCU 66-59

Baylor guard Lester Medford (11) looks on as forward Rico Gathers, bottom right, battles TCU forward Brandon Parrish, top left, and guard Trey Zeigler, bottom left, for the ball during the first half of a men's basketball game, Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Baylor guard Lester Medford (11) looks on as forward Rico Gathers, bottom right, battles TCU forward Brandon Parrish, top left, and guard Trey Zeigler, bottom left, for the ball during the first half of a men's basketball game, Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Baylor guard Lester Medford (11) looks on as forward Rico Gathers, bottom right, battles TCU forward Brandon Parrish, top left, and guard Trey Zeigler, bottom left, for the ball during the first half of a men’s basketball game, Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

By Shehan Jeyarajah
Sports Editor

Junior forward Rico Gathers notched 17 points and 18 rebounds as No. 21 Baylor (12-3, 1-2 Big 12) escaped Fort Worth with a 66-59 overtime win over TCU (13-3, 0-3).

The Bears shot only 29.8 percent from the floor in the game, but grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and shot 46 free throws to stay ahead down the stretch. Junior forward Taurean Prince added 17 points and 10 rebounds of his own to pace the Bears, but shot only 1-for-6 from three.

Senior guard Kenny Chery played one of the toughest games of his career, finishing with 13 points, but shooting 3-for-13 from the field and only adding one assist. Freshman forward Johnathan Motley also shot only 2-for-10 from the field as part of a 17-for-57 team effort.

The game went into overtime tied 53-53, but the Bears held TCU to only 1-of-6 shooting in the period, and hit enough free throws down the stretch to ice the game. Prince and Chery combined for nine of Baylor’s 13 points in overtime.

Kyan Anderson was the only TCU player in double-figures with 16 points and three assists on 6-for-15 shooting. Trey Zeigler added nine points and four assists, including a monstrous jam over Prince to give the Horned Frogs a four-point lead down the stretch. TCU is now in the midst of a 22-game Big 12 losing streak, and have only won two conference games since joining the Big 12.

Baylor will continue Big 12 play at 8 p.m. on Wednesday against Iowa State in Waco.