The Big 12 men’s basketball teams moved into the third round of league action on Tuesday, with five games across the country. Two more are coming up on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s game results included:
No. 3 Iowa State 82, Utah 59
Arizona 75, No. 21 West Virginia 56
Texas Tech 72, BYU 67
Baylor 68, Cincinnati 48
Oklahoma State 79, Kansas State 66
The Big 12’s fourth round of league action begins on Saturday with seven games on tap.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
It took all night to get a close game but BYU and Texas Tech was entertaining all the way to the finish. Texas Tech was trying to string together a second straight win on the road, while BYU was looking for some redemption after getting drubbed by Houston on Saturday.
The Cougars looked much better than they did a few days ago, but they were unable to claim the win, thanks in part to Red Raiders guard Elijah Hawkins. He had a huge game, including a career-high six 3-pointers, as he finished with 22 points.
Darrion Williams also had a great stretch in the final seven minutes, which helped him finish with 18 points. His and-1 layup inside the two-minute mark pretty much iced the game.
Egor Demin played better for BYU, as he finished with 12 points. But, he didn’t make his only 3-pointer until the final seconds. But it was encouraging. Fousseyni Traore led with 14 points. Keba Keita had 10 rebounds.
If you’re looking for a difference it was the 3-point shooting. Texas Tech had 10 3-pointers to BYU’s five. In a relatively even game, that was the key.
Best Performances
Baylor’s Norchad Omier has been a double-double machine (18 points, 10 rebounds). Arizona’s KJ Lewis dropped 21 points on the Mountaineers off the bench. Iowa State’s Curtis Jones had 23 points and six assists off the bench while Tamin Lipsey had 20 points and made 11 free throws.
The game of the night was from Oklahoma State’s Abou Ousmane, who had 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting with a perfect 4-for-4 night at the free-throw line. OSU coach Steve Lutz absolutely wants more of that.
Most-Needed Win
Oklahoma State claimed a 13-point victory over the Wildcats to win their first Big 12 game under Lutz. In the context of trying to get to any sort of postseason action, the Cowboys needed a victory.
What was interesting was just how well the Cowboys controlled the Wildcats. OSU had a 19-point lead at halftime and the game was never in doubt after that. And this was a game in which K-State shot 51%. But the Wildcats also had 19 turnovers, and the Cowboys made nine 3-pointers.
It doesn’t matter how many great games K-State wing David N’Guessan has. If the Wildcats are going to turn the ball over 19 times they’re not going to win.
Worst Loss
Yeah, we have a Cincinnati problem now. The Bearcats have not only lost their first three Big 12 games but a 20-point loss to Baylor on the road is not a good portent for a program that some of us believe can be competitive with the Baylors of the Big 12.
The Bearcats shot poorly (34.7%) and allowed Baylor to shoot 50%. Again, guard Simas Lukosius was held in check with five points. Forward Dillon Mitchell didn’t score. Jizzle James was held to five points.
With Kansas coming up this weekend, it feels like Cincinnati is coming to an inflection point in the season.
Bracketology Update
Before the games started on Tuesday, I checked out ESPN’s Bracketology. They’re moving to twice-a-week updates starting this week and Tuesday was their most recent update. The Big 12 had eight seeds:
Iowa State: No. 1
Kansas: No. 3
Houston: No. 4
West Virginia: No. 6
Baylor: No. 7
Cincinnati: No. 10
Texas Tech: No. 11 (First Four)
Arizona: No. 11 (First Four)
Arizona is a newcomer to Bracketology after a 2-0 week, but the fact that the Wildcats are a First Four team reminds them there is work to be done. WVU moved up two spots from Saturday. BYU fell out of the field and is one of the next four out. Arizona State is one of the first four out. So, right now, the Big 12 has four bubble teams, as both Texas Tech and Arizona were two of the last four in.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
