By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Nine years ago, former Baylor forward Taurean Prince taught the nation how to rebound the ball.
“You go up and grab the ball off the rim when it comes off,” Prince said in a postgame press conference. “Then you grab it with two hands and you come down with it, and that’s considered a rebound.”
Baylor (14-8, 6-5) struggled to heed Prince’s words in the first half Tuesday night against No. 13 Texas Tech (18-4, 9-2), trailing 10-1 on the offensive glass and taking a double-digit deficit into halftime for the second consecutive game. This time, there would be no historic comeback, as the Bears lost 73-59 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
Like much of Baylor’s season, Tuesday’s game was marred by injuries. Langston Love remained sidelined as he recovers from a lower-body injury, though he participated in pregame warmups. VJ Edgecombe also sat out after injuring his ankle Saturday against Kansas. He tapped out for Jeremy Roach, who returned after missing four straight games in concussion protocol. In his first action since Jan. 19, Roach shot 3-for-11 in 38 minutes.
Texas Tech’s leading rebounder, JT Toppin, continued racking up numbers from the dunker’s spot after being the subject of a controversial early ejection against then-No. 6 Houston on Saturday. Toppin recorded eight points and five rebounds in the first nine minutes before leaving the game with an ankle injury. He later returned in a limited capacity.
Without Edgecombe, fellow freshman Robert O. Wright III took the lead. The sparkplug guard scored 10 of the team’s 24 first-half points while his fellow Bears shot 6-of-21 (28.6%) from the field. He struggled in the second half, shooting 1-for-6 as Baylor made less than a third of its field goal attempts.
Baylor lost the first half 34-24, the third straight game it’s headed to the break with a deficit of at least eight points. The Red Raiders dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Bears 10-1 on the offensive end. Additionally, Baylor shot just two free throws.
With 11 minutes to play, Norchad Omier banked in a leaping hook shot to end a six-minute Baylor cold streak in which the Bears went 0-for-8 from the field, buoyed only by seven made free throws. The shot cut the lead to 45-42.
Texas Tech’s 3-point shooters continued to roll, led by Chance McMillian, who answered with three straight 3-pointers, punctuated by a Stephen Curry-esque no-look shot from NBA range. The Red Raiders only shot 10 free throws, but more than made up for the lack of charity-stripe volume with an overwhelming 11-for-29 mark (37.9%) from beyond the arc. Baylor shot 5-for-18 (27.8%).
It took just 90 seconds for Texas Tech to go on an 8-0 run, setting Baylor back 12 points with under 10 minutes to play. It was a lead the Red Raiders would never relinquish — Roach’s 3-pointer at 4:26 cut it to seven, but it also marked Baylor’s last field goal of the night. The final scoreboard flashed Texas Tech 73, Baylor 59.
The Bears will have the rest of the week to rest up before returning to Foster Pavilion at 1 p.m. Saturday against UCF (13-8, 4-6).
