The Big 12 men’s basketball teams continued the 19th round of league action on Tuesday, with eight teams in action.
Tuesday’s game results included:
Baylor 61, TCU 58
No. 23 BYU 88, No. 10 Iowa State 85
West Virginia 71, Utah 69
No. 24 Arizona 113, Arizona State 100
The Big 12’s 19th round of league action concludes on Wednesday with the following games:
Oklahoma State at UCF, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Kansas State at Cincinnati, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Colorado at No. 9 Texas Tech, 7 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Take your pick. The Baylor-TCU game came down to the wire and had seeding ramifications in the Big 12 Tournament. The Utah-West Virginia game was a study in desperation, with the Mountaineers stealing one on the back of Javon Small.
But, the BYU-Iowa State game was a mood, as the kids like to say. BYU couldn’t score for more than six minutes to start the game. Then the Cougars went off and built a 21-point lead.
But this is Hilton Coliseum. This is Hilton Magic. This wouldn’t stand.
The Cyclones came back. They came ALL the way back. Iowa State tied the game and almost got the lead, had Joshua Jefferson’s layup in the final 10 seconds fallen after he was fouled. Instead, he made both free throws, tied the game and the Cyclones prevented BYU’s Richie Saunders from playing the hero again.
Overtime. Both the Cougars and the Cyclones took it to another level. Everyone was exhausted but the lead kept changing hands. Iowa State had a chance to win and, oh man, an execution error by Jefferson, who took his eye off a post entry pass for a split second, led to a second overtime.
A couple of ISU mistakes early allowed BYU to control the second overtime a bit. That is, until Richie Saunders missed a drive, Keba Keita missed a put-back and the Cyclones had a chance to tie or win.
Iowa State had another execution problem. I couldn’t tell if the Cyclones wanted a drive or a 3-pointer, and they ended up with an off-balance 3-pointer from Milan Momcilovic that was an air ball. That was essentially the game.
It was BYU’s first win in Ames, Iowa. It was Iowa State’s second loss at home in two seasons What an incredible game.
BYU’s Richie Saunders had 23 points and six rebounds, including a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line. Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson had 19 points.
Best Performances
Norchad Omier scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as he helped Baylor slip past TCU.
Did anyone over a Javon Small game? The West Virginia guard had 18 points and seven assists as the Mountaineers spoiled Utah’s senior night.
Arizona’s Henri Veesaar had a huge game for the Wildcats off the bench, as he scored a career-high 22 points in the win over Arizona State.
Alston Mason scored 33 points for Arizona State. Tremendous game for a short-handed ASU team.
Most-Needed Win
West Virginia, without question. Going into this week I felt the Mountaineers had to beat Utah, which was a Quad 1 opportunity, to have a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament. ESPN had WVU solidly in the field, but I wasn’t quite sold. I think that win did it for them. I think they’re in now.
Honorable mentions to Baylor, which was on the Last Four Byes list in Bracketology and came away with a needed win over TCU.
Worst Loss
Losing at home hurts, especially if you’re Iowa State. The loss to BYU was the Cyclones’ second home loss in the last two years. The other loss was to Kansas State earlier this season.
But, in the contest of next week in Kansas City, the Cyclones lost their hold on a double bye. Worse, there is no path to get it back. Even if BYU loses to Utah and Iowa State beats Kansas State, the Cougars have the tiebreaker.
Updated Big 12 Tournament Seeding
Here is how the Big 12 Tournament would be seeded if it started after Tuesday’s games (I think):
Seeds Nos. 1-4: Double Byes
No. 1 Houston (18-1)
No. 2 Arizona (14-5)
No. 3 Texas Tech (13-5)
No. 4 BYU (13-6)
If Tech wins on Wednesday, the double byes are set — and Arizona and Texas Tech flip back.
Seeds Nos. 5-8: Single Byes
No. 5 Iowa State (12-7)
No. 6 Baylor (10-9)
No. 7 Kansas (10-9)
No. 8 TCU (9-10)
TCU stays at No. 8 for now. TCU and WVU split. TCU gets the No. 8 based on its win over Texas Tech.
First Round (Seeds 9-16)
No. 9 West Virginia (9-10)
No. 10 Kansas State (8-10)
No. 11 Utah (8-11)
No. 12 Cincinnati (7-11)
No. 13 Oklahoma State (6-12)
No. 14 UCF (6-12)
No. 15 Arizona State (4-15)
No. 16 Colorado (2-16)
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
