It’s night two of men’s and women’s Big 12 basketball action and it was an abbreviated schedule.
West Virginia’s head coach made his debut and the Cincinnati women’s basketball team played one of the most compelling games of the night without one of its most impressive young players.
Here is what we learned about Big 12 basketball on Nov. 4.
ROSS HODGE DEBUTS FOR WVU
The West Virginia Mountaineers picked a plucky opponent to start the Ross Hodge era — the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers. Yep, The Mountaineers. Not at all confusing.
WVU won, 70-54, but not before Mount St. Mary’s threw a solid scare in West Virginia in the first half. WVU led, 35-29, at the break. As one might expect from a team with nearly all-new players and a new coach, figuring out roles was a work in progress.
The scoring was concentrated among three players. It probably doesn’t surprise many that all three played for Hodge at North Texas last season — Jasper Floyd with 25 points, Honor Huff with 16 points and Brenen Lorient with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The former Mean Green trio combined for 52 of WVU’s 70 points, shot a combined 17-for-34 from the floor and 14-for-18 from the free-throw line.
It’s an interesting trend line if for no other reason than it reinforces what happens when quality players follow their coaches from mid-majors to high-majors — they tend to get an early boost. From knowing the system. Hodge said at Big 12 media days that he intended to lean into that and it’s logical. It gives that trio to fuel the team while the rest of the players catch up.
One notable number — 20. That’s the number of turnovers WVU forced. That’s a number that will play in Big 12 action.
IT GETS WORSE FOR TCU
Losing to New Orleans, 78-74, on Monday night was bad for the TCU Horned Frogs. This might be worse.
Diallo was a player the Horned Frogs were counting on for depth in the frontcourt. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10 minutes a season ago. He even grabbed 10 rebounds in a game last season. He only played six minutes on Monday night.
The Horned Frogs were the only Big 12 men’s team to lose on Monday. Back in 2022, the Horned Frogs lost at home in the first week of the season against another Southland Conference school, Northwestern State. That 2022-23 season ended with TCU finishing 22-13, 9-9 in the Big 12, with an NCAA Tournament victory.
On that team? Current Kansas State star P.J. Haggerty, who was a freshman. Small world.
CINCINNATI’S BAD NIGHT
At Big 12 media days, Cincinnati women’s coach sang the praises of guard Dee Alexander, the local star who stayed home and was one of the top players ever recruited by the Bearcats.
“I just learned they call her ‘The Bruiser’ because she is tough,” Merriweather said. “She’s aggressive. She’s going to rebound, drive it, take charges, dive on the floor. Everything about her just screams, ‘I’ll do anything I can for us to win.’ And that to me is what makes her special.”
For now, ‘The Bruiser’ is out. She suffered an ankle injury just before the start of the season and she’s unlikely to return until January. Without her, the Bearcats suffered a season-opening 88-85 loss to Lehigh at home.
Cincinnati could have used her. Given how evenly the game was played, it’s not hard to see that Alexander’s presence might have led to a win. Instead, Mya Perry had a huge game — 31 points that included six 3-pointers. Reagan Jackson dropped in four 3-pointers and had 21 points. Caliyah DeVillasee added 14 points. They combined for 66 points.
The shooting percentages were high, but the balance wasn’t great. If there’s an upside when Alexander returns, it’s that she joins a solid trio of scorers that could potentially help the Bearcats vie for an NCAA Tournament berth. But not without Alexander.
