Top Three Takeaways From Wednesday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
Here are three takeaways from Big 12 Conference men’s basketball on Wednesday, with three games on the schedule, including the nation’s No. 1 team.
So what happened? Houston needed a comeback to win on the road, TCU dropped 91 on WVU but still needed it all to win, and Iowa State brought the magic.
Here are three thoughts on the day.
Hilton Magic is Undefeated (This Year)
Iowa State ended up completing its fifth undefeated season at home in program history with a 68-63 win over BYU. Of course, it wasn’t easy. This is the Big 12, after all.
The Cyclones needed a little Hilton Magic.
Iowa State needed 19 points from guard Tamin Lipsey after he struggled to start the game.
Iowa State needed a 7-0 run in the final 3:33 of the game to take the lead and ice the game.
Iowa State needed BYU — which led by 14 points in the second half and at times looked in complete control — to turn the ball over three straight possessions down the stretch.
So, yes, a little Hilton Magic was in order.
The truth is the Cyclones leaned on their defense, and it eventually wore the Cougars down. BYU had 17 turnovers and shot 28% from the 3-point line. The Cougars had the volume but not the percentage (8-of-29).
BYU did many of the things a team must do to beat Iowa State, specifically quality shooting and ball movement. But the Cougars shot less than 25% from the floor in the second half. That did them in. Richie Saunders led with 20 points, but he scored 15 of those points in the first half.
Once Lipsey warmed up, the Cyclones caught up. Curtis Jones had 18 points on senior night. Keshon Gilbert hit the free throws that iced the game as he finished with eight points on 1-of-9 shooting.
Iowa State kept hope alive for a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. But the Cyclones will need help to make that happen.
Cougars Get It Done
Houston inched closer to a solo Big 12 regular-season title with a 66-59 win over UCF on Wednesday night. This being a road game in the Big 12, it wasn’t easy.
In fact, Houston was down seven points against the Knights, who are trying to hang onto a record of .500 or better overall so they can draw interest from the NIT committee. Of course, with the new NIT rules—the top two Big 12 non-NCAA selections in NCAA NET are picked for the NIT—the Knights may already be in.
L.J. Cryer had the big game for the Cougars, scoring 25 points, including five 3-pointers. Guard Jamal Shead had 16 points and eight assists. With the win, the Cougars remained one game ahead of Iowa State in the Big 12 standings with one game left against Kansas on Saturday. Win that game at home, and the Cougars will be outright regular-season champs in their first season in the league.
But, with the win over UCF, the Cougars clinched no less than a share.
C.J. Walker led the Knights with 15 points. If the Big 12 Tournament started right now, the Knights would be playing in one of the first two games of the tournament on Tuesday. But there’s one game left and a chance to catch Kansas State, which is sitting one game ahead of both the Knights and Cincinnati.
TCU’s Big Win
TCU will finish with no worse than a .500 record in Big 12 action after its 91-81 win over West Virginia. The Horned Frogs also became the eighth Big 12 team to reach 20 wins overall this season. That’s usually a solid precursor to an NCAA Tournament bid.
Playing in Morgantown is tough. TCU had a 15-point lead at the half and nursed it the rest of the game. Emanuel Miller had a great game, scoring 21 points.
But WVU center Jesse Edwards went off. He scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was 15-of-19 from the floor. He could have had a bigger game. He was just 6-of-18 from the free-throw line.
But that wasn’t enough to score the upset. WVU is playing out the string and preparing to hire a new head coach as interim coach Josh Eilert’s future twists in the wind.
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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
