Top Three Takeaways From Monday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
Here are three thoughts on the Big 12 Conference men’s and women’s basketball games on Monday, as there were just two games around the conference.
So what happened? Kansas has found a new 3-point threat while the Kansas State women got a huge game from an unexpected source.
Here are three thoughts on the night.
The Rise of Furphy
Kansas fans have watched Johnny Furphy put up solid performances in his last two games on the road — 15 points at Oklahoma State and 13 points at West Virginia.
He and the Jayhawks returned home trying to uphold Kansas’ record after a loss — 117-18.
Kansas did, and Furphy had a coming out part of sorts at Allen Fieldhouse as Kansas won, 74-69.
He recently displaced Elmarko Jackson from the starting lineup and on Monday he exploded for the Jayhawks, scoring a career-high 23 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead all scorers. His wide-open 3-pointer with two minutes left felt like a dagger. It wasn’t quite that, but it certainly solidified the Kansas lead. He also had 11 rebounds to give him his first career double-double.
It’s crazy to think that Furphy is a year ahead of schedule. He wasn’t going to play college basketball this year but coach Bill Self if you want to come to Kansas, you’d better come now.
He did and Self has to be happy about it. In some ways, Furphy gives the Jayhawks what Gradey Dick gave them last year — tall athleticism on the wing with a great shooting touch. He just wasn’t as highly regarded as Dick coming into school.
Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 20 points, K.J. Adams scored 11 and Dickinson scored 10 for Kansas. Eight of the Jayhawks’ next 12 games will be against ranked teams. That’s how rough the Big 12 is these days.
The Bearcats were in this game. They outrebounded Kansas by a significant margin despite the presence of Dickinson inside.
But two things got Cincinnati. First, the turnovers — 16 in all. The second was the shooting in the second half. The Bearcats finished at 33.3 percent, but that was only because the Bearcats made 7-of-8 from the floor down the stretch. For the first 15 minutes of the second half what kept Cincinnati in the game was its free-throw shooting, which was 14-of-16 in the second half.
Dan Skillings Jr. had 16 points, John Newman III had 11 points and Jizzle James added 10 points. Aziz Bandaogo added 11 rebounds.
Cincinnati is going to break through at some point, and I mean really break through. And the Bearcats could do it before C.J. Frederick returns from his injury.
Wildcats Get It Done
Road games are tough in the Big 12. They’re even tougher when you don’t have your top player.
Kansas State knew going in it would be without center Ayoka Lee. The Wildcats also knew they would take Baylor’s best shot, as the Bears were trying to close the gap in the Big 12 race.
So what happened on Monday in Waco? Kansas State fell behind by 13 points, fought back and eventually beat Baylor, 58-55.
Serena Sundell had 16 points and a key steal in the final minute. Gabby Gregory had 16 points and put in a gritty basket late in the game.
But Eliza Maupin was the difference. She scored 4.1 points per game in her freshman season. She’s averaging less this season with Lee back.
But with Lee out, Maupin came off the bench and dropped 16 points with a perfect 6-for-6 night from the field, along with 3-for-4 at the free-throw line. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Coach Jeff Mittie went with Gisela Sanchez in the starting lineup, but Maupin’s play quickly displaced her, along with Sanchez’s foul trouble.
Maupin got an opportunity and made the most of it.
Late in the game, the Bears just didn’t get it done. They missed their last seven shots, turned the ball over three times in the final 4:34 and the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to end the game.
Sundell’s key steal came under the basket with the Wildcats up 3 as Darianna Littlepage-Buggs was trying to dish it to Dre’una Edwards on the baseline.
The Wildcats started fouling Baylor with 10 second left and up three points because they had fouls to give. On Baylor’s second entry pass, Jada Walker threw up a logo 3-pointer, clearly worried she would get fouled before she could get a shot up.
Baylor got one more shot as Edwards took an entry pass from under the basket and dribbled it out of the arc for a game-tying 3-poiner. But Jaelyn Glenn blocked it and Edwards’ desperation 3-pointer hit the backboard.
Bella Fontleroy had 12 points, Edwards had 11 points and Aijha Blackwell had 11 points and 10 rebounds. But Baylor only scored 16 points in the second half. And, with the loss, Baylor is three games back of the Wildcats.
Kansas State just showed the rest of this conference it can get it done without Lee against a Top 25 team. It’s possibly the Wildcats’ biggest win of the season, with the exception of the road win at Iowa.
Tuesday Night Has Everything
You want a Top 25 men’s matchup? Watch BYU host Houston in Provo at 8 p.m. central.
Want a rivalry? Oklahoma hosts Texas at 6 p.m. central.
Want a game both teams REALLY need to win? West Virginia is at UCF at 6 p.m. central.
Want two teams that need to snap a losing streak? Then it’s TCU at Oklahoma State at 8 p.m central.
Wanna count roster spots? The TCU women are back and host UCF at 6:30 p.m. central.
I’m most intrigued by the BYU-Houston game. Houston needs to show it can win on the road in this conference and BYU has proved to have a building with lot of fan energy.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
