Top Five Takeaways From Saturday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
Here are five thoughts on the Big 12 Conference men’s and women’s basketball games on Saturday, as every programs was in action around the country.
So what happened? We have four undefeated teams left — two men’s team and two women’s teams. We had a court-storming in Fort Worth, travel problems in Oklahoma and so much more.
Here are five thoughts on the night.
And Then There Were Two (Men’s Edition)
Did you have an undefeated Baylor after three games of Big 12 men’s play on your bingo card? You would have taken that action.
Did you have an undefeated Texas Tech after three games of Big 12 men’s play on your bingo card? Unless you were a Red Raiders alum you would have looked for someone to pawn that card off on.
Yet, here we are. After Saturday the Bears and the Red Raiders are the only two remaining undefeated teams in Big 12 play.
The Bears (14-2, 3-0) beat Cincinnati (12-4, 1-2), 62-59. With this being the Big 12, it came down to the wire. Baylor had no field goals for the final 3:22 while Cincinnati missed its last five field goal attempts.
But the important thing is the win. The Bears had four players in double figures, with Ja’Kobe Walter and Langston Love with 14 points each. Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings Jr. had 24 points.
By the way, everyone’s still on the camera angle, Baylor.
The Red Raiders (14-2, 3-0) defeated Kansas State (12-4, 2-1), 60-59. The Red Raiders got an and-one from Joe Toussaint with 30 seconds left to give the Red Raiders the lead and their fourth basket in their final five attempts of the game. Toussaint had 12 points, one of four Red Raiders in double figures.
K-State had a chance to win with 30 seconds left but the best shot it could get was a Tylor Perry fadeaway — and that was after a timeout to set up a play. Weirdly, the clock didn’t start and officials had to time it down from replay to end the game. Perry had 16. The Wildcats were also without Dai Dai Ames.
The Wildcats will lament those 18 turnovers. The Red Raiders have now won nine straight and haven’t lost since late November.
So, yeah, Baylor and Texas Tech — just the way we drew it up.
And Then There Were Two (Women’s Edition)
Did you have an undefeated Kansas State after five games of Big 12 women’s play on your bingo card? That would have been a solid draw.
Did you have an undefeated Iowa State after five games of Big 12 women’s play on your bingo card? If you did then you’re the one I wanna party with in Vegas.
No. 12 Kanas State (17-1, 5-0 in Big 12) beat No. 10 Texas (16-2, 3-2), 61-58, on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum, wrapping up a big week for the Wildcats, who beat both Oklahoma and Texas at home after feasting on the league’s newest members in their first three games.
Nothing says you’re the team to beat quite like beating last year’s Big 12 co-champions in back-to-back games. I wrote about K-State earlier this week and how this team is far more than just center Ayoka Lee. This is a complete team and it has an emerging player in potential Sixth Player of the Year winner Zyanna Walker.
As for Iowa State, the Cyclones need to be ranked next Monday (I’ll write more about that in Good, Bad and Ugly on Monday — that’s what we call a teaser in this business). By beating No. 4 Baylor (14-2, 3-2), 66-63, at home the Cyclones (12-4, 5-0) have now won 11 straight games after it looked like this might be a down year for them.
Iowa State is doing it with a youth movement that has quickly built chemistry and is giving teams fits. The Cyclones beat two ranked teams this week (they beat No. 24 WVU on Wednesday) and coach Bill Fennelly is pumped.
And he should be. Everyone in Ames should be.
Sadly, we won’t see Kansas State play Iowa State until Feb. 14. Yes, that’s right Valentine’s Day. What better gift to give to the one you love than a battle of … checks notes … 12-0 teams in league action? Well, long way to go. But if that’s how it goes down, well then the Big 12 race we probably expected is not the one we ended up with.
Storm the Court, Frogs
I was at the best game of the day, as TCU defeated No. 2 Houston, 68-67. Emanuel Miller lifted the Horned Frogs (13-3, 2-1) with a basket with less than seven seconds left. The Cougars (12-4, 1-2) were unable to get the ball into the hands of Jamal Shead in the final seconds and didn’t get the shot they wanted.
But, after the buzzer sounded, Horned Frogs fans got the court-storming they wanted.
As someone pointed out later, because TCU was able to get the scorer’s table roped off and keep Houston’s players from the crowd, a fine is unlikely. Conversely, it IS commissioner Brett Yormark’s job to generate revenue anyway possible.
Oklahoma State’s Weather Adventure
Everyone knows about the winter storm that swept across the country. No Big 12 team felt it more than Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys were supposed to be in Ames, Iowa, for a road game at Iowa State. They got there, but it was such an adventure that the game time, which was set for 5 p.m. local, changed a few times.
Let’s let Cowboys head coach Mike Boynton Jr. explain it.
So, to paraphrase — bad weather in Des Moines ended the Friday attempt. Grounded in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. Went to Norman. Couldn’t de-ice the plane. Back to OKC. Got a plane. Then a crew. Got to Des Moines around 3 p.m. Saturday local for a game that was pushed back to 7:15 p.m.
The travel issues likely didn’t help, but Iowa State (13-3, 2-1) won easily, 66-42. The Cowboys (8-8, 0-3) are slipping further and further out of the race.
West Virginia Gets The Win
The West Virginia Mountaineers don’t have Jesse Edwards back yet. And with Texas in Morgantown on Saturday, it looked like they might be hard-pressed to get the win.
But, the Mountaineers (6-10, 1-2) ended up with the victory, 76-73, over Texas (12-4, 1-2). Pat Suemnick led the way with 16 points, as he slid into the starting lineup while the Mountaineers forced Texas into 22 turnovers.
This was a big boost for the Mountaineers, who have been adrift without Edwards, even with the return of RaeQuan Battle. He had 14 points, as did Kerr Kriisa, who missed the first nine points of the game due to a suspension related to his time at Arizona.
What does a win like this mean for the Mountaineers (6-10, 1-2)? Well, there probably isn’t enough runway for a turnaround that puts them in the NCAA Tournament. But, if they’re able to get Edwards back soon, they could influence the conference race by upending teams like Texas.
As for Texas, that’s two league losses to unranked teams and now the Longhorns (12-4, 1-2) haven’t won in Morgantown since 2010. Max Abmas had an incredible game for Texas with 32 points. But losing Dylan Disu (18 points) to foul trouble definitely hurt.
The real question is who, outside of these two players is going to step up and help Texas get right?
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
