Big 12 Season Continuing its Colossal Ascension With Midweek Matchups
By Kenneth Cross
Looking across the college basketball landscape and the most massive footprint in the game once again is in the Big 12 and close calls consistently happen where an underdog is hardly spelled in this conference.
The league’s standings are forever changing as Texas, Iowa State, and Kansas State are tied for first as each has absorbed two losses each while Kansas, TCU, and Baylor sit with three losses.
As six teams are within one game of first in the league, Oklahoma State and West Virginia have five and six ‘L’s,’ respectively, and either team could turn a three-game winning streak into a higher seeding in the league which could put them in the upper echelon.
Oklahoma and Texas Tech have won impressive games outside of the Big 12, but are ninth and tenth as Oklahoma is tied with WVU at 2-6 while Texas Tech is sitting at 0-8.
This week once again saw the standings reconfigure as most people think seven or maybe eight teams are headed to March Madness when we finish with the Big 12 Tournament.
Iowa State 80, Kansas State 76
Jaren Holmes led four Cyclones in double figures as Iowa State shot 57 percent from the field in evening up the battle for first place in the Big 12.
Gabe Kalscheur hit a three in a 9-0 Cyclones run that pushed them ahead, 19-14, with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Markquis Noweli gave K-State its last lead when he scored seven of nine points in giving the Wildcats a 40-37 lead with 17:09 remaining. From there the Cyclones used a decisive 15-2 run as Holmes powered them with 10 points in that stretch and gave Iowa State a 52-42 lead with 11:37 to play.
“Were setting early ball screens and keeping it on the move and trying to space him (Jaren Holmes) out,” said Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger. “Trying to play overtop the shooter and sometimes driving it. Felt like as much as any game this year even with the movement, it was our guys being so connected and creating space for each other.”
Nowell joined Holmes as the game’s high scorer with 23 points.
Baylor 75, Kansas 69
After the Bears fell behind Kansas, 46-45, on a Jalen Wilson layup with 15:24 to play, Baylor took the upper hand.
The Bears went on a 23-9 run over a 10-minute period as Langston Love scored 10 points in that run as he hit a three and a pair of jumpers to give Baylor a 68-55 lead with 4:37 remaining.
The Bears shot only 37 percent on the evening, but 30 of their 62 three-point attempts were from three and while they shot 30 percent from trifecta land, they made nine of those shots which played a huge roles in the difference of the game.
Cryer had 22 points and Adam Flagler posted 17 while Jayhawks’ forwards Gradey Dick and Wilson had 24 and 23 points each.
Kansas outscored Baylor, 28-18, in the paint as it turned into a battle of the Kansas inside game against Baylor’s guards.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew. “We shot 28 percent in the second half and still found a way to win. I’m really proud of how we competed on the glass and how we took care of the basketball.”
The Bears outrebounded Kansas, 35-33, and scored 16 points off of 17 offensive rebounds.
Drew also noted how the Jayhawks and Bears were the two winningest programs the last two years as of course, they hold the last two national championships.
West Virginia 76, Texas Tech 61
The Mountaineers picked up their second Big 12 win behind 22 points from Joe Toussaint, who made 12 of 13 free throws in the final 7:44 as the Mountaineers took an impressive road win at Texas Tech.
A big key was how West Virginia was able to dominate the Red Raiders on the boards as they out-rebounded TT, 44-27, while scoring 15 points off 19 boards.
TT forward Kevin Obanor scored six early points for Texas Tech as they took an 8-0 lead before Emmitt Matthews, Jr. made a layup to put he ‘Eers on the board.
Seth Wilson made a huge difference in the second half as he netted three triples in a four-and-a-half-minute span in the second half as West Virginia took a 49-44 advantage with 10:45 to go and never trailed again.
Wilson had five threes on the evening with 15 points while Erik Stevenson joined Toussaint at the line in making 9-of-11 foul shots with 16 points.
West Virginia outscored Texas Tech, 50-15, off the bench as Toussaint and Wilson combined for 37 of those 50.
Obanor led the Red Raiders with 20 points while Devon Harmon notched 14.
“I think it’s hard where you change from one school to the next and one philosophy to the next,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, on his guard Erik Stevenson, who finished with basketball 16 points and 10 rebounds. “He played for Frank (Martin) last year which is similar to other places.”
Stevenson played two years at Wichita State before Washington and South Carolina and now West Virginia is his fourth stop in his career, where he is currently the leading scorer at 13.1 ppg.
Texas 89, Oklahoma State 75
The running game of the Texas Longhorns was once again featured as Marcus Carr led the ‘Horns with 21 points while Timmy Allen netted 13 in the 89-75 victory over Oklahoma State.
Forward Dylan Disu was a key as he scored 12 points and had eight boards in 21 minutes while Brock Cunningham came in off the bench for a career high 15 points as he was 5-of-6 from the field.
As Texas had a 7-6 lead early, Christian Bishop had a pair of scores as Carr set the tone with a pair of three-pointers and Texas sprinted to a 10-0 run and took a 17-6 lead with 12:25 remaining in the first half.
The Longhorns shot 50.9 percent from the floor as they were also 20-of-27 at the free throw line.
Texas turned back Oklahoma State when it looked like the Cowboys were set on making a run and even getting the lead.
Bryce Thompson pulled Oklahoma State to within 33-30 with 4:33 left in the first half before Carr scored four points and Sir’Jabari Rice hit a three to give the Longhorns a 40-32 lead at halftime.
Kaleb Boone and John-Michael Wright had 18 points each to lead Oklahoma State, who never could threaten Texas in the second half.
“I thought every guy who came into the game tonight had a contribution to the game whether it be on defense, scoring the ball for us or rebounding,” said Longhorns boss Rodney Terry.
TCU 79, Oklahoma 52
Mike Miles scored 23 points while Damion Baugh and Micah Peavy had 13 each as TCU dominated Oklahoma, 79-52, in Ft. Worth.
The Horned Frogs took an 11-0 lead at the outset of the game and were never threatened as they made 46 percent of their field goals while scoring on five three-point field goals and going 13-of-13 at the line.
Miles and Baugh combined for eight points which duplicated the Frogs’ 11-0 effort to start the second half as Peavy slammed a dunk to give TCU a 55-27 lead with 13:29 to play.
Miles also scored 17 of those 23 points in the first half as it was his 22nd consecutive game where he has scored in double figures, dating back to last season.
CJ Noland was the only Sooner in double figures with 11 points as the TCU defense was at potentially it’s highest level of the season in holding Oklahoma to 31.3 percent.
Offensively, I thought we were really unselfish,” said TCU head coach Jamie Dixon. “Eight turnovers really stand out great to me. We didn’t finish great around the rim. I think that was offensively and I guess I am complaining about a big margin win.”