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 there were nearly a full slate of games around the conference.
So what happened? The West Virginia men and women did something incredible, we have a pair of Big 12 men’s co-leaders and without Ayoka Lee the Kansas State women marched on.
Here are five thoughts on the night.
Morgantown Magic
My mind hasn’t changed about West Virginia coach Josh Eilert and his job prospects at WVU. I don’t think he’ll get the full-time job.
But he and his Mountaineers are certainly maintaining the homecourt advantage at WVU Coliseum.
One week after beating Texas at home, the Mountaineers pulled off an even more improbable win, beating Kansas, 91-85.
What really stuck out was the rebounding. West Virginia did not have Jesse Edwards, their injured forward. Kansas had their 7-foot-2 center, Hunter Dickinson. Yet, WVU outrebounded Kansas, 31-22. When you consider that both teams shot better than 50 percent, that rebounding disparity was key.
Plus the fact that WVU’s RaeQuan Battle was the Mountaineers’ leading rebounder tells you just poorly Kansas was blocking out on the perimeter.
I’m left wondering how Kansas State got out of Morgantown with a 14-point win? The road will be tough for the Mountaineers, but they’re 2-1 at home in Big 12 play and that’s something its remaining six home opponents need to take seriously.
As for Kansas, the Jayhawks are 1-2 on the road. Worse yet, it’s to a new Big 12 team (UCF) and a team that has been near the bottom of the Big 12 standings most of the season (West Virginia). Kansas is a better road team than this. Usually.
But the Jayhawks cannot allow guards to outrebound them. Never. A player like an Edwards or UCF’s Ibrahima Diallo? OK. They should challenge you. But Battle? No sir. That stands out like a sore thumb.
The thought coming into Big 12 play was that Kansas, as always, was the class of the conference. It may still end up that way. After all, Kansas struggled early last season, too.
But the teams they’re struggling with? That should be concerning.
Hunter May Be Texas’ Key
After the debacle against UCF (and not just because the Longhorns lost), Texas sorely needed a win against Baylor on Saturday.
Texas got it on a last-second buzzer-beating layup from Tyrese Hunter. Fran Fraschilla posted a brilliant breakdown of why the play worked, even though he was in Lubbock working the Texas Tech game.
Texas won, 75-73, in large part because of Hunter, who led Texas with 21 points. When Texas lost to UCF on Wednesday, I wrote that Texas can’t just be Max Abmas and Dylan Disu. The Longhorns need a consistent third option. That doesn’t mean it has to be the same player every night. But, it would be nice to have a third player to count on.
Hunter had seven points against UCF, by the way.
Hunter becoming that consistent third make a lot of sense for Texas. The Longhorns need a release valve for the pressure that Abmas gets every night. A consistent Hunter means teams have to account for him and must sacrifice some coverage of Abmas on the perimeter. For that matter, it means they can’t drop help for Disu either.
Both Abmas (15 points) and Disu (19 points) had great games, too. That’s what Texas needs from all three players the rest of the way — consistent, double-digit performances. And when Hunter doesn’t hit double figures for Texas in Big 12 play, the Longhorns are 0-2.
Without all three, the Longhorns will have issues. That should be abundantly clear in contrast with their losses to West Virginia and UCF, where Hunter scored a combined 11 points.
By the way, if you’re looking for Horns Down content, check our site and my Postscripts column on Sunday. There will be plenty of it there.
Life Without Lee
The Kansas State Wildcats played their first game without center Ayoka Lee on Saturday and beat Kansas, 69-58. Lee is out for four weeks after surgery to repair an ankle injury. By the way, she suffered that injury more than a week ago and won National Player of the Week honors playing on it as Kansas State beat Texas.
Kansas State maintained its lead in the Big 12 because of the work it did last season playing without Lee. She missed all of last season with knee surgery and by season’s end the Wildcats had figured it out. It’s much easier to shift that gear back when you’re done it before.
Transfer Zyanna Walker and veteran point guard Serena Sundell led the way with 15 points each for K-State.
It was not your usual Sunflower Showdown. Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson, who should have given the Wildcats fits, only played six minutes after she broke several teeth colliding with another player.
Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said afterward that “A young person’s long-term health is much more important than basketball.”
I feel like some people need to hear that after this week.
Forward Gabby Gregory also got banged up in this game but returned for the Wildcats.
If you’re Kansas State you’ll take that win, especially as the Wildcats head to Baylor on Monday. If K-State is going to hang onto this Big 12 lead, the Wildcats have to find ways to win these kinds of games.
Your Big 12 Co-Leaders
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Kansas State Wildcats share the lead after five games of Big 12 men’s basketball. Both are 4-1 and both brought the drama on Saturday.
Texas Tech won, 85-78, over BYU. Pop Isaacs had an incredible 32 points and the Red Raiders needed all of it. At one point Texas Tech was down by 17 points.
Kansas State beat Oklahoma State, 70-66. Arthur Kaluma dropped in 23 for the Wildcats. At one point they were down 10 points.
This is the Big 12. No lead is safe and holding serve at home is of upmost importance. The home team won five games on Saturday. Oklahoma (at Cincinnati) and Iowa State (at TCU) were the exceptions.
By the way, don’t get in a close game with K-State and coach Jerome Tang. The Wildcats are 6-1 in games determined by five points or less this season. Oh, and if you take the Wildcats to overtime? Good luck. They’re 10-0 in less than two seasons under Tang.
They Did It Again
Earlier in the week, West Virginia shut out Houston in the first quarter of their game in Morgantown. It’s a basketball rarity. Shutting out a team for 10 minutes to start a game is really not supposed to happen.
Well, guess what? WVU did it again on Saturday at Cincinnati, just a few days after beating Houston.
The Texas Tech Lady Raiders did this in non-conference earlier this season. But back-to-back in conference action? That’s impressive.
These Mountaineers are on their way to the NCAA Tournament, in my opinion. They’re 16-2 and we’re barely a third into the Big 12 season. First-year coach Mark Kellogg has not only maintained what the Mountaineers did last season under Dawn Plitzuweit, but he appears to be elevating the program.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
