WACO, Texas (AP) — Jeremy Sochan matched his season high with 17 points as five players scored in double figures for seventh-ranked Baylor, which led throughout despite missing two hurting guards in a 72-62 victory over TCU on Saturday.
Baylor (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) played with only six players, except for a two-minute stretch by a seldom-used sophomore in the first half, while bouncing back from a 10-point loss at No. 11 Texas Tech three nights earlier.
Matthew Mayer added 16 points for the Bears, who led by as many as 21 points with five minutes left before a late spurt by TCU. Kendall Brown had 13 points and James Akinjo 11 for the Bears. Flo Thamba had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Emanuel Miller and Micah Peavy had 16 points for TCU (16-8, 5-7). Mike Miles added 13.
Sochan, who missed four games after turning his left ankle at TCU on Jan. 8, had an early assist with a bounce pass that Brown slammed home for an early 14-4 lead after initially bobbling the ball under the basket.
The next made basket for Baylor was a short jumper by Sochan, who did a spin move, stopped, spun again and then knocked down the shot. After the Frogs got within 18-16 on a fastbreak layup by Miles, they never got closer, with freshman Sochan following that with a dunk and a three-point play.
A week after 6-foot-8 post Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua tore multiple ligaments in his left knee, and four days after “Everyday Jon” had surgery, the reigning national champion Bears were also without guards Adam Flagler (knee discomfort) and LJ Cryer (foot discomfort). Cryer had played only one game since missing five in a row.
TCU big man Eddie Lampkin grabbed at his right knee while writhing in pain on the floor after coming down hard when going for an offensive rebound with about 30 seconds left in the first half.
The 6-foot-11 Lampkin wasn’t putting any weight on his knee when helped off the court, and going into the tunnel right past Tchmwa Tchatchou sitting near the Baylor bench. Lampkin had a brace on his right leg when taking part in warmups before the second half, and returned to the game with 13:09 left, but played for only about four minutes after the break.
BIG PICTURE
TCU: The Horned Frogs began a stretch of seven games in 14 days, the first of three in five days. Five of those games are against ranked teams, including back-to-back against sixth-ranked Kansas to open March.
Baylor: The Bears have 10 Big 12 wins for the seventh time over eight seasons. Before that, Baylor had 10 conference wins only eight times over 103 seasons. ... Cryer entered as the team's leading scorer at 13.5 points a game. Flagler, who had scored 60 points over the previous four games, was averaging 13.0 points overall before his second missed game.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Baylor will be ranked in its 53rd consecutive poll when the new Top 25 comes out Monday, and should extend its Top 10 streak to 45 polls in a row. Both streaks are already school records.
UP NEXT
TCU: Hosts West Virginia on Monday night in the makeup of a game postponed Jan. 3 because of COVID-19 issues in the TCU program.
Baylor: At Oklahoma State on Monday night. The Bears were still the nation’s No. 1 team when they lost at home to the Cowboys, 61-54, on Jan. 15.
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