Following an eight-day hiatus, the TCU Horned Frogs resumed play against the better-than-advertised Incarnate Word Cardinals. Despite entering the game with a .500 record, the Cardinals had dropped several close contests, including a 69–61 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers. Incarnate Word quickly lived up to its scrappy billing against TCU, trading blows with the Frogs before Davio Bailey began to take over.
Bailey drilled his first three-pointer to put the Cardinals up 6–4 just under the 17-minute mark.
Following two Esteban Mann layups, Bailey connected on two more triples to give Incarnate Word a 16–8 lead. A Jordan Pyke slam, a Bailey free throw, and another three-pointer ultimately gave the Cardinals a 14-point advantage—its largest of the game—with nine and a half minutes remaining.
Down 14, the Horned Frogs finally began to chip away at the deficit, scoring the next five points. However, Bailey and Incarnate Word didn’t slow down, as the Cardinals maintained a sizable lead for the remainder of the first half. Bailey, Mann, and Pyke kept Incarnate Word in front, while four different Frogs scored to keep the deficit within 10. The Cardinals ultimately took a 37–31 advantage into halftime behind 16 points from Bailey.
The second half opened with a barrage of scoring from both teams, as each squad eclipsed 10 points in the first four minutes of action. Bailey continued pouring in points, drilling three more triples during that span. Nonetheless, the Frogs kept chipping away, outmuscling the Cardinals on the interior. David Punch began to take over as the final frame wound down, eventually tying the game with under nine minutes remaining on a push shot.
Incarnate Word quickly regained the lead before another Punch bucket tied it once again. Both squads continued to trade baskets over the next few minutes. Staying true to the theme of the game, Bailey knocked down another three-pointer to tie the score at 65 with 1:11 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Jamie Dixon called Brock Harding’s number. Although the play didn’t go according to plan, Harding followed his own miss to give the Frogs a two-point lead with 38 seconds left.
Upon getting the ball back, the Cardinals turned it over, airmailing a pass out of bounds. Incarnate Word then sent Harding to the free-throw line, where he drained both freebies to seal TCU’s 69–65 victory and give the Frogs their seventh win of the season.
After a porous shooting outing against North Texas, TCU once again struggled from beyond the arc, as the Frogs shot just 18.8 percent from long range. Overall, however, TCU shot 47.1 percent from the floor. The Horned Frogs did plenty of damage from the free-throw line, converting 18 of 25 attempts from the charity stripe.
Punch led the way, notching his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 big man also added five blocks. Alongside Punch, Brock Harding and Liutauras Lelevicius also reached double figures, scoring 13 points apiece.
Bailey led all scorers with 32 points, sinking nine three-pointers. Overall, the Cardinals shot 43.9 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. Bailey accounted for all but one of Incarnate Word’s made three-pointers.
Next up, TCU hosts the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in Fort Worth on Thursday, December 18, at 7:00 p.m. CT.
