FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Damion Baugh scored a career-high 24 points, Emanuel Miller had 20 and No. 22 TCU held on to beat Texas 75-73 on Wednesday night, denying the ninth-ranked Longhorns a chance to play for a share of the Big 12 title in their upcoming regular-season finale.
Baugh scored on a breakaway layup off the opening tip and the Horned Frogs (20-10, 9-8 Big 12) never trailed. It was the second loss in a row and third in five games for the Longhorns (22-8, 11-6), who haven’t won a conference title since 2008.
Texas hosts third-ranked Kansas (25-5, 13-4) on Saturday. The Jayhawks had already clinched a share of their 21st Big 12 title with a home win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night, and now won’t have to share it.
Baugh made two free throws with 19.7 seconds left to make it 73-68. After Brock Cunningham made a layup for Texas, Miller’s breakaway two-handed slam sealed it for the Frogs.
Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 points for the Longhorns, and Tyrese Hunter had 15. Marcus Carr, their leading scorer at nearly 17 a game, had 10, but his 3-pointer off a TCU turnover with 1:02 left got them within 71-68.
TCU made nine consecutive shots over a span of nearly seven minutes in the first half and had its biggest lead at 42-28 with 2:45 left on Eddie Lampkin’s putback dunk of a miss by Miles that ended the shooting streak. Six different Frogs made shots during that stretch.
BIG PICTURE
Texas: The Longhorns are guaranteed a top-four finish in the Big 12 with interim coach Rodney Terry, who has a 15-7 record since taking over in mid-December after the suspension and eventual dismissal of second-year head coach Chris Beard. They have been in the top 10 in 15 consecutive polls, their longest stretch since their 2002-03 Final Four season.
TCU: The Frogs have won consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 21 and 24, blowout wins at Kansas and against Oklahoma. They were 2-5 in February, including their win at Texas Tech last Saturday. … With another win over the Sooners in their regular-season finale, the Frogs would finish over .500 in conference play since a 9-7 record in WAC games 22 years ago.
UP NEXT
The regular-season finales Saturday with Texas at home against Kansas, and TCU playing at Oklahoma.
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