Top Five Takeaways From Saturday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
Here are five thoughts on Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball games on Dec. 16, a day in which most of the league was in action around the country.
Among the games? A doubleheader in Hosuton that featured Texas and Houston, a doubleheader in Fort Worth, Texas, that featured Texas Tech and TCU and a neutral site game that saw Top 25 stalwarts Baylor and Miami (FL) face each other in a women’s game in San Antonio.
Here are five thoughts on the day.
Saturday Was a Reset
The finality of the Ohio vs. NCAA case allowed all of the second-time transfers who hadn’t gotten their waiver to finally play on Saturday. That, combined with getting some players back from injuries, may have reset some parts of the Big 12 race.
West Virginia got three players back on Saturday. Guard RaeQuan Battle and forward Noah Farrakhan missed the first nine games due to their transfer waivers being denied. Guard Kerr Kriisa returned after a nine-game suspension due to infractions that occurred at Arizona.
The result? WVU lost to UMass, 87-79. Battle did not play due to an illness. But Kriisa scored 20 points in 36 minutes and Farrakhan scored 15 points in 18 minutes.
Another transfer waiver casualty, Cincinnati center Jamille Reynolds, returned as the Bearcats faced Dayton and lost, 82-68. Reynolds scored four points.
Texas got Dylan Disu back from injury as he played his first game since last March’s NCAA Tournament. Disu had 17 points, four rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes in the Longhorns’ 96-85 win over LSU.
Houston got two players back from injury — Joseph Tugler and J’Wan Roberts — when they faced Texas A&M. Roberts scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Tugler had four points and five rebounds. But the loss of Terrence Arceneaux might mean more playing time for Tugler this season.
The Contenders Get It Done (Mostly)
The four Big 12 team that most expect to contend for the regular-season crown faced four high-major opponents. How did it go?
No. 19 Texas blasted LSU, 96-85, in a game that wasn’t that close. No. 4 Houston outlasted Texas A&M, 70-66, after Wade Taylor IV blew up for 31 points, most of it in the second half, for the Aggies. But the Cougars made key shots late. No. 2 Kansas was down 13 at one point before beating Indiana, 75-71 in its first true road game of the season.
Three big wins for the Big 12.
So, about that fourth ranked Big 12 team against that high major team …
The Baylor Men Fall … Hard
I need someone to explain to me like I’m five years old what happened to Baylor in the first half against Michigan State.
At halftime Baylor was down, 45-17. That is not a typo. A Top 10 team was down 28 points to an unranked Michigan State team at halftime.
If there is any good news, it was more about Michigan State than Baylor. The Spartans shot 63 percent from the floor, 71 percent from the 3-point line and 100 percent from the free-throw line. I mean, not much you can do about that.
But Baylor’s shooting split was horrible — 32/20/20. Yes, 20 percent at the free throw line. Baylor gave up the ball 11 times and Michigan State turned them into 18 points. The game was tied for a grand total of 42 seconds.
It’s rare these days that a Baylor game is over at halftime. But this one was. The Bears fell hard and lost their first game of the season. Baylor rebounded to shoot 60 percent in the second half. But Michigan State shot 63 percent for the GAME in the 88-64 win.
Baylor is a much better team than that. I don’t think that’s foreshadowing. I think you flush it and move on because guess what? The Bears get Duke in NYC next week.
Solidifying the Men’s Bracket
Entering Saturday’s games, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi tweeted this out about his current NCAA Tournament seeding:
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) December 15, 2023
That’s five Big 12 teams among the top 16 seeds. Lunardi has nine Big 12 teams in the field. Of the ones that aren’t in, TCU is on the bubble. And, after the additions at West Virginia, I’m not going to count the Mountaineers out just yet.
This league is going to be so much fun.
Baylor Women Roll
The Baylor women upheld their end of the bargain in keeping the Bears and the Texas Longhorns on a collision course to a battle of undefeated teams on Dec. 30 after they beat Miami (FL), 75-57, in the Hall of Fame Series in San Antonio.
The No. 10 Bears notched another win over a ranked teams, as the Hurricanes were No. 24. It was Miami’s first loss of the season.
Baylor shared the ball. Sarah Andrews had 18 points, Jada Walker had 14 points, Bella Fonterloy had 13 points, Yaya Felder had 12 points and Dre’Una Edwards had 10 points.
Interestingly, Aijha Blackwell came off the bench in this game. Not sure why. Just curious.
Baylor has two games left, both in Florida — vs. Providence and vs. South Florida. The Bears could (probably should be) 11-0 when they go to Austin to face the Longhorns in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
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