Three Big 12 men’s basketball teams have moved on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, as Iowa State and Arizona joined Houston on Sunday.
The No. 2 seeded Iowa State Cyclones (29-7) beat the No. 7 seeded Kentucky Wildcats, 82-63, in a game that saw the Cyclones get dominant in the second half as they clinched a berth in the Sweet 16.
No. 1 Arizona seed Arizona (34-2) advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 78-66 win over No. 9 seeded Utah State. If you’ve been paying attention, you know a certain Big 12 may have interest in the Aggies’ head coach.
No. 4 seeded Kansas (24-11) saw its frenetic rally stolen by a last-second basket by No. 5 seeded St. John’s (30-6), 67-65, as the Johnnies went to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
No. 5 seed Texas Tech (23-11) fell hard to No. 4 seed Alabama (25-9), 90-65. It was Tech’s worst performance since forward JT Toppin saw his season end with an ACL tear.
Here are the takeaways from the day.
No Jefferson, No Problem
Iowa State had 48 hours to figure out how to beat Kentucky without forward Joshua Jefferson. The Cyclones probably needed less. And Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, who tangled with Iowa State at BYU in the Cougars’ first season in the Big 12, saw it coming.
The game was close at halftime. Iowa State led 31-30 after Tamin Lipsey drained a last-second shot. But the ISU defense won the day in the second half. Kentucky had 20 turnovers for the game, and each one was compounded by the Cyclones shooting well in the final 20 minutes. Iowa State outscored Kentucky, 51-33, in the second half. Milan Momcilvic drained six 3-pointers. Tamin Lipsey had 26 points, 10 assists and five steals.
Head coach T.J. Otzelberger demands his players hew to the team’s identity. That goes for the four-year kid from Ames, Lipsey, or the first-year transfers like Blake Buchanan. When a team knows who they are, they can overcome an injury like the one to Jefferson.
The Cyclones are heading to their third Sweet 16 in five years because they know who they are and they don’t stray from it, even when the world might say it needs to. Now, who knows if Jefferson returns next week. But, for now, the Cyclones are still dancing, and his health is the only question mark. Everything else is clicking.
The Big Mo
Take a look at the Arizona-Utah State box score and your eyes will naturally be drawn to Jaden Bradley, who scored 18 points for the Wildcats. You’ll certainly be impressed with the two freshmen, Brayden Burries with 16 points and Koa Peat with 14 points.
But don’t overlook Motiejus Krivas. He may be the biggest reason Arizona won on Sunday and he didn’t score his first field goal until well into the second half.
He did finish with 11 points. He made two field goals and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line. But on the glass, he imposed his will. He had 14 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive end and gave Arizona extra offensive chances. He also blocked three shots.
Arizona’s 7-foot-2 center is as mobile as you’re going to find with a player that size. He can run the floor and he’s willing to dive for loose balls. He grabbed a critical one in the final minutes that helped Arizona retain possession.
He’s a differentiator. Few teams have a center with his skill and size. That makes him a matchup issue if he stays out of foul trouble. The Aggies pushed Arizona until the final minutes and that’s how it’s going to be moving forward. Arizona needs a productive Krivas to win a national title.
So, now we see if Cincinnati really will nail down Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun, an Ohio native who is one of the best mid-major coaches in the country.
Kansas Climbs The Mountain and Then …
Kansas was done. Or at least it seemed that way. At one point St. John’s was up 14 points at one point and in complete control. And then the Jayhawks caught fire in the final 10 minutes. Kansas tied the game with 13 seconds left on two free throws. It was an incredible run.
Then, the final 13 seconds. Kansas had four fouls to give. Head coach Bill Self faced a decision. Play it out or shorten the game. He opted to shorten the game. He had his team foul four times in 10 seconds to get to six team fouls and leave the Red Storm just three seconds to try and score the game-winner.
I didn’t have a problem with the strategy. But I had a huge problem with the Jayhawk defense on the final play.
That was a great take by Dylan Darling. But Kansas lost the game in that moment because of an awful defensive breakdown. St. John’s put the ball in Darling’s hands and had everyone clear the paint. What Rick Pitino was likely hoping for was one help side defender and a jump shot by Darling. What he got was every Kansas defender clearing the paint and giving Darling as easy a lay-up as he’s had in his college career. It was a mystifying defensive breakdown that negated the strategy of the previous 10 seconds.
The season ended with Darryn Peterson, who had 21 points, standing at the 3-point line with his hands in the air befuddled by what just happened, even though he was at fault for part of it, just like every Kansas defender on the play.
It summed up this roller-coaster season for Kansas, one in which we never knew what we would get from the Jayhawks from game to game. It also marked Kansas’ fourth straight season with no Sweet 16 appearance since winning the NCAA championship. Questions will follow Self after this one — and not just because of the strategy.
The 50/50 Game
Texas Tech played eight games without JT Toppin. In the four wins, the Red Raiders shot better than 50%. In the four games they lost, they shot less than 50%. Tech shot 34% and lost to Alabama. But it’s more nuanced than that.
At one point in the game, Texas Tech had 18 field goals and Alabama had 18 3-point field goals. That’s incredible. It almost doesn’t happen at any point in a game, except perhaps early in the contest. But this was 30 minutes into a game that the Crimson Tide was in complete control of.
It felt like the Red Raiders ran out of gas. Losing Toppin was deflating, but the Red Raiders took energy from circling the wagons for a while. He was a first-team All-American for a reason and there was no replacing him. Tech is one huge unanswered question — how far could the Red Raiders have gone with him?
Toppin also looms large over the Red Raiders’ offseason. With an ACL, does he bother going through the NBA Draft process? Does he return and rehab? Does he transfer and rehab? Toppin’s decision will determine how head coach Grant McCasland builds his team for the 2026-27 season.
