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 nearly the entire conference was in action.
So what happened? Well, I was at the triple-overtime TCU-Baylor game, for starters. That should be enough. But Iowa State finished off a Kansas State-Kansas sweep, BYU got in on the ‘Horns Down’ action and two Big 12 teams finally got their first league win.
Here are five thoughts on the day.
Iowa State From Distance
Yes, Kansas lost to Iowa State on Saturday. But let’s talk about Iowa State.
Before the season began, I was asked by Condon and Miller on KXNO Radio in Des Moines where the Cyclones had to get better this season. I said it was clear. I expected elite defense and solid rebounding. What the Cyclones needed was better 3-point shooting.
Here’s the funny thing. When I said that I meant better overall team 3-point shooting. But when you compare last year’s team to this year’s team (going into the Kansas game) the Cyclones were only shooting a little more than one percent better (34.6%) than a season ago. That doesn’t seem like much.
As always, the devil is in the details.
I took a look at last year’s top four 3-point shooters. Those shooters topped out at 36.8% (Caleb Grill) and bottomed out at 32.5% (Aljaz Kunc).
Then I looked at the Cyclones’ Top 4 shooters so far this year. It topped out at Jackson Paveletzke (40.7%) and bottomed out at Curtis Jones (33.3%). In between is the intriguing part. It’s Milam Momcilovic (39.8%) and Tamin Lipsey (37.1%).
So, yes, the team percentages are similar. But the Cyclones have higher-end 3-point shooters this season. Lipsey has improved markedly from a season ago. Paveleztke — who hasn’t shot many 3’s but has too high a percentage to ignore — and Jones transferred in. Momcilovic is a freshman.
You saw the result on Saturday. Iowa State hit 14-3 pointers, seven more than Kansas, and shot 47% from distance. That helped them overcome Hunter Dickinson’s double-double and being outrebounded by eight by the Jayhawks.
Iowa State is still doing all the things you would associate with a T.J. Otzelberger-coached team. Now, the Cyclones have quality 3-point shooting.
Good luck. Oh, and Kansas’ 4-3 start after Saturday’s 79-75 loss is a Bill Self first in all the wrong ways.
Houston Holds Firm
The Houston Cougars have put their rough patch in Big 12 play in the rear-view.
First, it was the road win at BYU, which is quickly becoming one of the Big 12’s toughest environments.
Second, it was the Cougars’ 74-52 domination of Kansas State. It’s time for those who keep chirping about Houston’s lack of big opponents in non-conference (and its non-con wasn’t that bad, if we’re being honest) to knock it off.
Houston dismantled Kansas State and the Cougars did it with defense.
Don’t take my word for it. Here’s the Wichita Eagle’s Kellis Robinett providing a stat that proved prophetic by game’s end.
Here’s Kansas State coach Jerome Tang about what Houston did to them on Saturday.
For the record, Houston forced Kansas State into 18 turnovers and Houston scored 25 points off those mistakes. If you’re thinking about “the difference in the game,” that was it.
On one level, Houston doesn’t play defense much differently than any other Big 12 teams. It’s hard-core man-to-man. But Houston twists it with their overall speed and ability to double-team on the wings in the halfcourt whenever the Cougars decide they want to.
That ability to harness that quickness and produce double-team pressure in situations when ball-handlers are expecting a single defender creates havoc. Iowa State worked around it with quick ball movement, skip passes and dishing to the vacated offensive player. TCU used its high pace to keep Houston from setting it up.
It’s safe to say the Cougars have adjusted.
The Quiet Contender
You never quite know how a new coach and holdover talent are going to blend together. Take the West Virginia women.
At Big 12 media day in October, JJ Quinerly said that when new coach Mark Kellogg arrived from Stephen F. Austin, he said the one thing Quinerly wanted to hear — they were going to press.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” Quinerly said.
To be fair, if you coach at SFA, you press. That DNA goes all the way back to Hall-of-Famer Gary Blair more than 30 years ago. Kellogg believes in it and he was going to bring that with him. What he inherited at WVU was personnel that perfectly suited his style, most notably Quinerly, along with guards Jayla Hemingway and Kyah Watson. To augment it, one of Kellogg’s stars from SFA, Jordan Harrison, follow him via the transfer portal.
Pressing is how you can combat size. It’s also how you can dominate opponents less talented than you. It’s how WVU shut out both UCF and Houston in the first quarter of back-to-back games last week.
It’s how the Mountaineers got a little revenge on Iowa State, 84-78, on Saturday.
Audi Crooks dumped in 25 points and grabbed 16 boards for the Cyclones. But West Virginia goaded the Cyclones into 24 turnovers, which was more than enough to offset Crooks’ big afternoon.
There is nothing exotic about what WVU runs when it presses. It’s pretty standard stuff. But the Mountaineers’ overall team speed and execution is what sets it apart. It’s an equalizer.
But it also helps when Quinerly has a game like this, too.
The 31 points was a career high for Quinerly. And, as the back half of the Big 12 slate is set to begin, the Mountaineers are within striking distance of first place.
More Big 12 Men
You can click here for my piece on the TCU-Baylor game, a triple-overtime thriller that I attended down in Waco. The Horned Frogs won, 105-102.
Texas Tech eked out an 85-84 win over Oklahoma in Norman, with Chance McMillian coming off the bench to score 27 points for the Red Raiders. BYU defeated Texas, 84-72, with Fousseyni Traore putting up 16 points while BYU leadership told their fans to take off their ‘Horns Down’ gear.
Oklahoma State won its first Big 12 game, defeating West Virginia, 70-66, behind Javon Small’s 15 points and 12 rebounds. And, Cincinnati beat a short-handed UCF, 68-57, with Dan Skillings Jr. dropping in 21 points.
Tech held onto its lead in the Big 12, with Iowa State and Houston one loss behind the Red Raiders. Tech has already lost to one of its chasers, Houston, and won’t face the other until Feb. 17 in Ames. Who knows what will happen between now and then?
K-State Women Hold Steady
Kansas State had to gut it out, but the Wildcats beat BYU, 67-65. Gisela Sanchez continued the trend picking up the pivot for the injured Ayoka Lee. She scored 18 points, five days after Eliza Maupin scored 16 against Baylor. BYU’s Lauren Gustin had an insane game — 25 points and 21 rebounds. But it wasn’t enough.
Texas held talented freshman Madison Booker out of Saturday’s game. Here’s why, via the Austin American-Statesman‘s Danny Davis:
Texas beat Cincinnati, 67-50. Hopefully Booker gets well soon.
UCF claimed its first Big 12 win, beating Houston, 92-87, in overtime. The Knights’ Khayla Ngodu had 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Knights need more of that every game.
Texas Tech fell behind, 18-7, after the first quarter but came back to beat TCU, 71-65. Jasmine Shavers poured in 19 for the Lady Raiders. And, Oklahoma wrapped up the night with a 60-55 win over Kansas, with Skylar Vann scoring 21 points.
Going into Sunday’s Baylor-Oklahoma State game in Stillwater, Kansas State remains undefeated in league play, with Oklahoma one loss behind and West Virginia two losses behind. Guess who Kansas State plays on Wednesday? Oklahoma. After that? Texas. It doesn’t get any easier for K-State.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
