No. 14 Baylor men's basketball, known for its 3-point shooting, faced Cincinnati, a strong rebounding team, in the Foster Pavilion. The game was closely contested, with both teams showing physicality and strong defense. Cincinnati led 27-26 at halftime. In the second half, Baylor switched to a zone defense, leading to an 11-0 run and a 62-59 victory. Ja'Kobe Walter scored 14 in the second half, and Baylor's defense was pivotal. The game ended with Baylor tied with Texas Tech for the Big 12 lead.
#Bearcats lead 77-75 with 59.8 to go. TCU ball with 11 on the shot clock.
Baylor hasn't scored in nearly four minutes of the second half, still leads 31-28. Bears are 1 of 15 on 3s, and are not shooting good shots. Forcing, rushing.
Tennyson hits his 5th triple to answer. TCU up 67-65 with 18.4 to go. #Bearcats ball.
Day Day Thomas corner 3 puts the #Bearcats up 65-64 with 40.5 to go. TCU ball.
Halftime: Baylor 31, K-State 26. The find-a-way Bears weathered a sluggish start pretty well. Jalen Bridges leads Baylor with nine points and Yves Missi has seven. Bears made their final three shots of the half.
64-60 TCU with 4:25 remaining. Thomas 14, Newman 13 and Skillings 11 for the #Bearcats
TCU up 60-53 at the under 8 stop. #Bearcats have got to execute in the half court down the stretch. Has been a struggle all night.
TCU leads 50-43 at the under 12 stop. #Bearcats had cut it to 2 but TCU quickly responds after a Dixon TO.
TCU leads 39-38 at the first media stop of the half. Newman with 11 and Thomas 10 for the #Bearcats
TCU 33 Cincinnati 32 Half #Bearcats
TCU lead down to 5 at 31-26. #Bearcats gave up 26 points in the first two segments and 5 in the next two. Important 3:38 to close out the half incoming.
TCU leads 26-18 at the under 8 stop. Things slowed down a little with a 2-0 #Bearcats segment there.
TCU leads 26-16 at the under 12. John Newman with 7 and Day Day Thomas with 4. #Bearcats
With 14:34 still to go in that half TCU is 9-10 from the floor and 4-5 from three. Wes Miller calls his 2nd timeout trailing 23-13. Hard to start 6-7 from the floor and tail by 10 #Bearcats
TCU opens 4-5 from the floor to lead 11-6. Wes Miller wants to address his defense. 17:14 remaining. #Bearcats
No. 14 Baylor survives visit from Cincinnati https://t.co/tKo0J4M274 https://t.co/EWW3kjk935
No. 14 #Baylor men’s basketball is no stranger to hard-fought, close contests. In the first conference matchup against Cincinnati, it was just that. Check out my three takeaways from the Bears’ tight win on @BaylorBears247. https://t.co/xN8guSuG3V
FINAL: No. 14 Baylor 62, Cincinnati 59. Ja'Kobe Walter hits for 14 in the second half, Bears play some of their best defense of the season. At 3-0, Baylor is tied with Texas Tech for the Big 12 lead. Bears will face Kansas State in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Cincinnati ball trailing 60-59 with 15.1 to go. Shot clock off. Here we go. #Bearcats
Bearcats ball, trailing 60-59 with 15.1 to go.
Bears defense holds but can’t corral the rebound. Looked like it was off Baylor. 13-seconds to go. Bears need a stop to secure the victory.
Baylor still up 60-59. :20 remaining in the game. #Bearcats ball with :15 on the clock.
Baylor’s brief 9-point load is down to 1 with 63 seconds to go. Cincy ball and Bears need a stop.
Baylor up 60-59 with 1:03 remaining. #Bearcats ball with 14 on the clock when play resumes. Skillings with 24 and Thomas 15.
Baylor led by nine with 3:17 to go, but leads by just one with 1:03 left. It's 60-59. Bearcats call timeout.
55-50 Baylor with 3:44 to go and the ball. Big time finish coming to Foster tonight.
Baylor up 55-50 at the final media stop of the night. Skillings up to 17 to lead the #Bearcats
The smile on Scott Drew's face gets bigger and bigger each time the Bears get another defensive stop. Drew punched the air in excitement as his guys forced a jump ball and turnover. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 51 | Cincinnati 45 | H2 6:19
Baylor leading 51-45 at the under 8 stop. Bears ball on the possession arrow out of the break. #Bearcats
Baylor leads 51-45 with 6:19 to go. Bears' defense in the second half has been some of its best of the season.
Viktor Lakhin is heading to the bench for Cincinnati with four fouls as Yves Missi draws the contact. Baylor 47 | Cincinnati 43 | H2 8:03
Baylor goes on an 11-0 run since switching to zone defense to take a 42-38 lead over Cincinnati. The student section got free cupcakes and Scott Drew is at center court pumping up an already rocking Foster Pavilion.
GO WILD FOSTER PAVILION!!! Josh Ojianwuna soars for a monster alley-oop jam and the Bears are off to an 11-0 run over the past four minutes. In addition, Cincinnati has not scored in almost six minutes. An all-around stretch for Baylor. Baylor 42 | Cincinnati 38 | H2 10:46
11-0 run by Baylor and they now lead 42-38. Bears switch to zone has slowed the #Bearcats offense to a crawl. Have to stop the run quick here.
The term 'let them play' has not applied tonight. Most contact is creating a whistle, for better or worse. The better -- well cupcakes courtesy of Magnolia are on the way after Cincinnati misses a pair of free throws. 9-0 run for Baylor. Baylor 40 | Cincinnati 38 | H2 12:20
Ja'Kobe Walter's first field goal of the game is a smooooth reverse, tying the score at 38. Baylor has gone to a zone on defense, and that is giving Cincy some problems.
The Bears are trying out what looks like a 1-3-1 zone. Its working as Cincinnati has gone more than three minutes without a point. Baylor 36 | Cincinnati 38 | H2 13:55
The Bears switch to a zone look defensively out of the timeout and force a shot clock violation. Soon after Ja'Kobe Walter attacks the rim and burys a pair of free throws to get on the board. Baylor 33 | Cincinnati 38 | H2 15:02
Langston Love (11) and Josh Ojianwuna (5) have more points than the Bears' starting lineup. Cincinnati has made four of its last five shots, while Baylor is searching for a second-half scorer. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 31 | Cincinnati 38 | H2 15:53
Scott Drew and the Foster Pavilion are in agreement that the Bears deserve a few more whistles as they battle through contact. Baylor has three second-half fouls so far, leading to a 7-0 Bearcat run. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 29 | Cincinnati 36 | H2 17:13
Ja'Kobe Walter is without a bucket (0-4 FG, 0-2 3FG) as is Jalen Bridges (0-4 FG, 0-4 3FG). Baylor 29 | Cincinnati 34 | H2 17:48
Yves Missi picks up his third personal foul seconds into the second half. Something to watch down the stretch. Baylor 27 | Cincinnati 27 | H2 19:40
Biggest key so far? Holding Baylor to 6 FT attempts. They have lived at the line and don't miss. Keep that up in the 2nd half and they can win this game. #Bearcats
Low pace game with few possessions. 27-27 at half between Baylor and Cincy. Both teams shooting in the low 40s overall.
Cincinnati 27 Baylor 27 Half #Bearcats
Halftime: Baylor 27, Cincinnati 27.
Both teams started the game shooting over 60% after taking 10 shots. Now, Baylor is 8-20 (40%) and Cincinnati is 10-23 (43%) from the floor. Defense has been the story of the game thus far as each team is staying strong. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 21 | Cincinnati 22 | H1 3:43
Cincinnati up 22-21 at the final media stop of the half. Feels like the #Bearcats missed a chance to get some separation over the past 5 minutes. Baylor is going to hit some shots eventually.
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua has checked into the game for Baylor. Baylor 21 | Cincinnati 22 | H1 5:11
Baylor's on-ball defense has been much improved tonight as the team navigates hard screens and rim runners. On the other end, the Bears have gone more than two minutes without a field goal. Baylor 18 | Cincinnati 20 | H1 6:20
Cincinnati up 20-18 at the under 8. Baylor made their first 5 shots. Have made 2 of 11 since. #Bearcats
Cincinnati is a good rebounding team and Baylor has matched it. The Bears have eight boards, including three on the offensive glass, while the Bearcats have seven. Each team has also supplied five fouls as the contact level is high. Baylor 18 | Cincinnati 20 | H1 7:42
Yves Missi picked up his second foul trying to clean up a missed shot. As he heads to the bench the Bears get another defensive stop. Baylor 16 | Cincinnati 18 | H1 10:00
It's the first meeting between Baylor and Cincinnati as Big 12 schools but these teams have been playing for years based on the physicality each team has played with. The Bearcats have hit five of their last six shots. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 15 | Cincinnati 15 | H1 11:50
Cincinnati controls the tempo and races the ball up the court after defensive rebounds. The Bears, on the other hand, are being patient and trying to find the open man. Baylor 15 | Cincinnati 15 | H1 12:43
Noticing that the Bears are prepared to switch a lot on defense and doing a good job until the last second which has allowed a few open Cincinnati looks. Perimeter defense will be just as important for Baylor as the rebounding presence. Baylor 9 | Cincinnati 9 | H1 15:17
Cincinnati and Baylor tied at 9 at the first media stop of the night. Day Day Thomas has 4 on a pair of pull-up jumpers. #Bearcats
With a fast-paced start, the Bears have their shooting touch starting 4-7 from the floor. While Baylor is showing physicality, it must stay tough in the post. RayJ Dennis has five quick points. Timeout on the floor. Baylor 9 | Cincinnati 9 | H1 15:17
We're anthemed up at the Foster Pavilion, and a few minutes away from tipoff between No. 14 Baylor (13-2, 2-0) and visiting Cincinnati (12-3, 1-1).
No. 14 #Baylor men's basketball, the best 3-point shooting team in the nation, is gearing up to take on Cincinnati, the second-best rebounding team in the nation, in the Foster Pavilion. This will be the first of many Big 12 duels between the two and the second all-time meeting. https://t.co/5rVkxm4aGJ