Top Five Takeaways From Wednesday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
Here are five thoughts on the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball games on Wednesday, as four men’s teams and all 14 women’s teams were in action.
So what happened? Well, Kansas won (but not the Kansas you’re thinking). Baylor lost (oddly enough to the Kansas you’re not thinking of). Iowa State worked that Hilton Magic again and TCU put the Kansas loss in its rear-view mirror.
Or, just, you know, another normal night in the Big 12.
Here are five thoughts on the night.
Palm Trees on the Court
At the end of UCF’s seismic 65-60 upset of No. 3 Kansas, there were palm trees on the court as thousands of Knights fans stormed the floor to celebrate. Some palm trees were inflatable. Some were not.
This is Big 12 basketball now. There are palm trees on the court.
UCF (10-4, 1-1) should not have won that game, if we’re being honest. The Knights were down 16 points late in the first half. But, by the end of the game, UCF won by five, had its first ranked win since 2020 and just the program’s second win over an AP Top 5 team in its history (first one was over UConn in 2011).
Plus, there was this. The Knights became the first of the four new Big 12 schools to beat a ranked team from the legacy Big 12. Who had that on their bingo card?
Kansas (13-2, 1-1) was on a glide path to the No. 1 ranking after both No. 2 Houston and No. 1 Purdue lost on Monday. All the No. 3 Jayhawks had to do was win twice this week.
How did UCF do this? Defense. I mean this IS the Big 12.
It doesn’t show up in Kansas’ shooting, as it shot 51.1 percent. But it was the 18 Kansas turnovers. It was the 18 UCF points off those turnovers. It was the late blocked shot by Ibrahim Diallo and the three steals each by Shemarri Allen and Darius Johnson.
It was also Johnson’s key free throws down the stretch. If you weren’t looking closely, you would have thought the Knights were just a normal Big 12 team playing clutch basketball and not a program playing its second Big 12 game ever.
Jaylin Sellers actually led UCF with 18 points, but Johnson had 17 and Diallo had 13.
The Knights frustrated Kansas center Hunter Dickinson and he finished with just 12 points. Kevin McCullar Jr. led with 16 points and KJ Adams Jr. added 10 points.
The funny thing is if you look strictly at the box score, Kansas led in most categories. Kansas lost because of UCF’s second-half defensive adjustments (a mix of zone and man-to-man) and because it shot just 31.8 percent in the second half. The Jayhawks did something they rarely do — they failed to protect a big lead.
UCF coach Johnny Dawkins wasn’t prepared to call it the biggest win in program history. But, as these four new Big 12 programs seek to prove themselves, wins like this are how they do it — and how they impress future recruits and transfers.
There also isn’t much time to celebrate.
UCF hosts BYU on Saturday.
Also, someone lost a shoe and it ended up at the ESPN broadcast table. If you’re in Orlando and you’re missing a shoe, check with ESPN. Repeat — if you’re missing a shoe, check with ESPN.
It’s Not All About (Ayoka) Lee
On Wednesday night Ayoka Lee scored three points by halftime of Kansas State’s game with Oklahoma.
That wasn’t a problem. No. 12 Kansas State (16-1, 4-0) led by 12 points as they beat the Sooners (9-6, 3-1), 74-57.
Lee ended up with 19 points but based on her history against OU — an average of 31 points and 14 rebounds in six career contests going into the game — this was pedestrian.
The Sooners doubled her and tripled her. And her teammates stepped up.
That’s not unusual for Kansas State this season, but it underscores the difference between this team and the Wildcats of 2021-22, which was Lee’s last campaign before missing all of last season after knee surgery.
Two years ago, Lee was an All-American surrounded by an extremely young team. Every team’s goal was to take Lee away and make the youngsters beat them. At times, those young players — including Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Jaelyn Glenn — were at a loss.
Not anymore. While the Sooners slowed Lee down, Sundell, Jaelyn Glenn and Gabby Gregory — who joined the Wildcats last season from Oklahoma — made the Sooners pay for paying Lee so much attention.
Sundell scored 16 points, Gregory 13 points and Glenn 11 points. But the Wildcats are deeper than that. Transfer Zyanna Walker had 13 points off the bench. Gisela Sanchez only scored two points but grabbed nine rebounds in relief of Lee. Taryn Sides, Kansas State’s talented freshman, gave K-State solid minutes off the bench.
The Sooners’ defense was only going to take them so far. They shot 27.1% from the floor in their first Big 12 loss. Skylar Vann scored 14 points. Neveah Tot added 13 points.
If you’ve watched Kansas State all season, you already knew the Wildcats were much more than Lee. Consider Wednesday’s performance a reminder.
Finally, Winners
Entering Wednesday’s games the four new Big 12 women’s teams had not won a league game. Well, that streak was going to end because they all faced each other.
Cincinnati (9-6, 1-3) beat UCF (9-5, 0-4), 64-63, in what ended up being the most dramatic women’s game of the night. Don’t believe me? Watch.
Meanwhile, Houston (10-5, 1-3) beat BYU (10-7, 0-4), 79-69.
Now, UCF and BYU will continue to look for their first Big 12 win. Both need one desperately.
Big 12 Women’s Chaos
Kansas State remained undefeated with its win. The other undefeated Big 12 team is … Iowa State.
How ISU did it was crazy. The Cyclones (11-4, 4-0) went on a 20-2 run to end the game and beat No. 24 West Virginia (13-2, 2-2), 74-64.
Yep, just 24 hours after the Iowa State men took down No. 2 Houston, the Cyclone women beat a ranked team. Audi Crooks led the Cyclones with 22 points and said it best after the game.
Guard Emily Ryan still isn’t starting, but she’s starting to look more like herself — 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and 5-for-5 at the free throw line. It’s OK that Ryan isn’t dishing it out like we’re used to. Freshman Addy Brown has her back. He had eight assists.
No. 4 Baylor (14-1, 3-1) lost its undefeated record in Big 12 play as it fell to Kansas (8-7, 1-3) on the road, 87-66.
Kansas was winless in Big 12 play entering the game and has not looked like I thought it should for weeks. The Jayhawks may have finally gotten right, with Taiyanna Jackson scoring 27 points and grabbing 19 rebounds to pass 1,000 points for her career. Freshman S’mya Nichols had 22 and Holly Kersgieter added 19 points.
Now, this is more like the Kansas team I was expecting this season.
Baylor shot 37% for the game and 25% from the 3-point line. The Bears don’t have a lot of height and it showed against Kansas, as they were outrebounded 48-31.
By the way, Baylor goes to Iowa State on Saturday.
Horned Frogs Get Their Ranked Win
It took a few extra days, but the TCU Horned Frogs got a win over a ranked Big 12 team by beating No. 9 Oklahoma, 80-71, to end Wednesday night’s action.
Turns out the Horned Frogs (12-3, 1-1) didn’t dwell on what could have been against Kansas last Saturday (can you imagine an 0-2 Kansas in Big 12 play? We were that close). The Horned Frogs just took it out on the Sooners (13-2, 1-1) as forward Emanuel Miller passed 1,000 career points at TCU.
Miller had a huge night with 27 points. Avery Anderson III — the former Oklahoma State star — had 15 points after scoring just two points in the first half. Most importantly, TCU forced 14 Oklahoma turnovers and turned those mistakes into 25 points. The Sooners had a hard time making that up, especially in the second half as TCU’s offense got going without the turnovers.
Javian McCollum led Oklahoma with 17 points while Milos Uzan scored 13 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. The missing piece on Wednesday was forward Otega Oweh, who was limited to just six points. In a game where OU won on the glass and in bench points, those turnovers — and TCU’s conversion of those turnovers — loomed large.
Finally, TCU coach Jamie Dixon has 20 wins over ranked teams while head coach at TCU. The program has 35 all-time. I mean, wow. What he’s done at that program is just incredible.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
