By Jackson Posey | Sports Editor
Baylor’s hapless start to Big 12 play continued Saturday, as rival TCU escaped a late comeback bid to win 97-90 and improve to 3-0 at Foster Pavilion. The loss drops the Bears to 1-6 in conference for the first time since 2014.
The Horned Frogs (13-7, 3-4 Big 12) were without leading scorer David Punch, who was out with an illness, but it wasn’t enough to matter. The Bears (11-8, 1-6 Big 12) recorded season-highs in turnovers (18) and fouls (28) in their third consecutive loss.
Freshman wing Tounde Yessoufou, who scored 21 points before fouling out, said the team is mentally on the same page “for the first time in a long time.”
“We’ve been losing too much. None of us really like it,” Yessoufou said. “Winning is an amazing feeling. I don’t believe none of us really enjoy these type of feelings, and we want to get that taste out of our mouth. So I feel like that really [brings] us together.”
Yessoufou added that he’s “super excited for what’s coming. I know Coach has some plans for us, but I believe more in my teammates than anything, and I know together we’re going to do some amazing things.”
The Bears dealt with multiple availability issues during the game. Isaac Williams IV, Tounde Yessoufou and Michael Rataj fouled out, while Dan Skillings Jr. flirted with the same before leaving the game with dizziness. Senior Caden Powell appeared to foul out with 15 seconds remaining before the call was re-assessed to another player. Obi Agbim missed part of the second half with what appeared to be a cramp. Freshman center James Nnaji suited up but did not play.
“The cramping part is something that we gotta figure out,” head coach Scott Drew said. “We have tough guys. They’ve been available for most of the year. This hadn’t been an issue, but today it was.”
Drew said he wasn’t sure whether Skillings was “getting sick or just didn’t eat properly.” He said Nnaji’s absence was part of a broader process of getting the center back into game shape.
“James, since he’s been here, he’s not been right, meaning he’s still in recovery mode and trying to put multiple days together,” Drew said. “He’s trying.”
By the end, only four of the Bears’ rotation players were left to play out the stretch. Two members of the bench, Will Kuykendall and Drew Perry, were in for the game’s final possessions.
Yessoufou played physical basketball early. He secured an offensive rebound, went down hard on the putback attempt and sunk both free throws. It seemed to energize him. He turned a steal into a one-man fastbreak on the other end, secured a defensive rebound and held his own in the post against TCU’s Xavier Edmonds (6-foot-8, 245 pounds).
“We just want it bad,” said Yessoufou, who put up 21 points and eight rebounds. “We wanted it bad for our home. Obviously we are at home, so we wanted it bad for the fans, ourselves.”
Baylor’s offense looked more fluid than it has in weeks. A perimeter symphony of ball movement set up Agbim for an open catch-and-shoot opportunity. The team’s highest-volume 3-point shooter drained it, extending the lead to 14-9 and triggering a TCU timeout.
Agbim did it again the next time down the floor, burying a second triple to continue an early scoring spree. He and Williams combined to shoot 4-for-5 from deep in the opening 11 minutes.
“If I’m open, make the shot. It’s that simple,” said Williams, who has improved his 3-point percentage to 54.5% from 21.9% last season. “It’s basketball, and I work on it, so I trust it.”
Drew lamented earlier this week about the Bears’ inability to draw double teams. As the shots stopped falling, the issue reared its head again. Baylor made one field goal in the four minutes following Agbim’s three, while TCU rattled off a 12-3 run to take their first lead since the two-minute mark.
With the score knotted at 26-all, Agbim and Williams were functionally the Bears’ only offense. The guard duo was 7-for-9 from the field (5-for-6 from three) while the rest of the team shot 1-for-8 from the field (0-for-5 from three).
A late run by redshirt sophomore Cameron Carr (20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) sent the Bears into the break tied at 38. It marked the second time in seven conference games Baylor has not trailed at halftime.
The Bears built a meager lead in the early second half, but a flagrant foul call shot their momentum. Yessoufou initiated contact on an offensive jump shot inside the 17-minute mark and was immediately pulled out of the game.
The Horned Frogs got two free throws and possession; they hit both, then knocked down a three, turning the five-star freshman’s foul into a five-point swing. The run eventually reached 15-2, millstoning Baylor down 57-49.
Yessoufou picked up a fourth foul with eight minutes to play, but by that point, the game was getting out of hand. TCU built a 17-point lead. Then, Baylor mounted a comeback.
The Bears went on an 18-8 run to cut the lead to 83-76. Hope, once lost, reinvigorated the crowd.
Kuykendall subbed in after Yessoufou fouled out and drained a 3-pointer — his first shot attempt of 2026 — to cut the lead to six. Agbim forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass, giving the Bears another possession.
Carr had carried the Bears for much of crunch time. He drove to the block and dished to Powell, past two defenders, for an easy flush: 94-90. The game was within reach.
It was too little, too late. TCU shot 35-for-43 from the charity stripe on the night, and converted enough down the stretch to hold the game out of reach. Carr’s full-court heave bounced harmlessly to the ground as the Horned Frogs secured a 97-90 victory.
Baylor will return to the court Wednesday in search of its second win of 2026. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Cincinnati (10-9, 2-4 Big 12) on FS1.
