JaKobe Coles scored 17 points and Damion Baugh racked up 16 points and 10 assists as No. 15 TCU defeated West Virginia 76-72 on Tuesday in a Big 12 Conference dustup in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (17-5, 6-3 Big 12) were playing without guard Mike Miles Jr., who suffered a hyperextended right knee in Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State. Miles does not yet have a timetable for return.
TCU never missed a beat, taking charge midway through the first half on the way to a four-point lead at the break. The Horned Frogs turned it on in the second half, pushing their lead to double digits over the first five-plus minutes after intermission. West Virginia cut its deficit to four points on a Joe Toussaint layup with 25 seconds to play but would get no closer.
Baugh’s double-double was the second of his career. TCU also got 16 points from Shahada Wells, and Xavier Cork had 14 as the Horned Frogs won for the third time in their past four games and avenged a loss to West Virginia on Jan. 18 in Morgantown, W.Va.
Erik Stevenson led West Virginia with 17 points while Tre Mitchell hit for 15 and Toussaint had 12. The Mountaineers (13-9, 2-7) had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Horned Frogs led for the majority of the first half but never by more than nine points, which was attained when Baugh converted a layup that made it 26-17 at the 5:18 mark. West Virginia then ripped off a 10-3 run keyed by six points by Seth Wilson to cut its deficit to 29-27 with 2:01 to play in the half.
The teams traded baskets over the half’s final two minutes before a buzzer-beating layup by Coles granted TCU a 36-32 advantage at the break.
Wells, who moved into the starting lineup in Miller’s absence, had eight points before halftime to lead the Horned Frogs. Mitchell led all scorers with nine points at the half.
The Horned Frogs took charge early in the second half and pushed their lead to 49-38 after a layup by Wells with 14:48 to play. West Virginia fought back to within six points on three occasions, the latest after Toussaint’s layup with 6:37 remaining.
–Field Level Media
