WACO, Texas — The Baylor Men’s Basketball (11-8, 1-6 Big 12) fell short in their furious comeback attempt on Saturday evening, falling to the visiting TCU Horned Frogs (13-7, 3-4 Big 12) by a score of 97-90.

The Bears trailed by 17 points with just under five minutes to play before getting as close as 94-90 with 14 seconds to play. A story similar to the Bears’ 69-63 loss in Fort Worth earlier this year.

Scott Drew’s Bears are now tied for the worst start to conference play for Baylor since the 2013-14 edition of the team, which also went 1-6 to start the Big 12 schedule. That team finished 9-9 in conference and reached the Big 12 Tournament final.

Tounde Yessoufou had an efficient night, scoring 21 for the Bears as well as grabbing eight rebounds. 

Guard Isaac Williams was the co-leading scorer for Baylor, also registering 21 points. Williams was one point shy of his season-high, which he set against Arlington Baptist.

For the Frogs, guard Jayden Pierre led the way with 25 points while forward Xavier Edmonds followed closely with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

“We’re really excited about how we did what we did, except for the rebounding,” said TCU head coach Jamie Dixon after the game, “They killed us on the glass. They were the more physical team. They pushed us all over the place. But offensively, we were good. We didn’t settle for threes early in the first half, and then we just kept attacking.”

The Bears gathered 37 total rebounds to the Frogs’ 24, but there was no big advantage gained. Baylor only outscored TCU 12-8 on second chance points, plus the Bears turned the ball over 18 times to the Frogs’ 11. 

Cameron Carr also hit the 20-point mark for the Bears with an all-around effort of 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. 

Obi Agbim scored 15 and was hot early for the home team, but he struggled with what appeared to be cramps during the second half and missed time during the second half because of it.

The options were getting thin for Scott Drew as center James Nnaji did not play, and Agbim was not the only player to get banged up during the physical contest.

“I think the cramping part is something that we got to figure out. Eating hydration,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew after the game, “I know Dan got dizzy. I don’t know if he’s getting sick or just didn’t eat properly, but the best abilities, availability, we all know that. We all preach that we have tough guys. They’ve been available for most of the year. This hadn’t been an issue, but today it was. James, since he’s been here, he’s not been right. Meaning, like he’s still in recovery mode and  trying to put multiple days together, and he’s trying.”

With the 1-6 start to Big 12 play and many of the losses against top competition being blowouts, the pressure and noise could easily get to players, but at least Yessoufou has stayed mentally strong, offering his point of view on his team after the game.

“This is the first time in a long time we all kind of like have the same mindset, in a way, where we all want to fight… I feel like we just headed in the right direction … Honestly, I’m super excited about what’s coming … I believe more in my teammate than anything, and I know together, we’re going to do some amazing things. And I know a lot of people have been doubting us, but you know, we’re going to make this statement clear. We just waiting for our right time, right moment, like everybody says, but God got us for sure.”

If these Bears want to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large though, they have to start picking up wins this week. That starts with a road swing to Cincinnati and West Virginia on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively.

Bears at Bearcats is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and will be broadcast on FS1.