The Big 12 men’s basketball teams moved into the fourth round of league action on Saturday, with seven games across the country. West Virginia will play at Colorado on Sunday.
Saturday’s game results included:
No. 3 Iowa State 85, Texas Tech 84 (OT)
No. 11 Kansas 54, Cincinnati 40
No. 12 Houston 87, Kansas State 57
Utah 83, Oklahoma State 62
TCU 71, BYU 67
Baylor 72, Arizona State 66 (OT)
Arizona 88, UCF 80
The Big 12’s fifth round of league action begins on Tuesday with four games on tap.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
I could have written this part early in the day, but I wanted to see if any game matched the energy of Iowa State and Texas Tech. TCU and BYU got in the neighborhood. Baylor and Arizona State were certainly compelling, thanks to overtime.
But the Cyclones and Red Raiders was a good old-fashioned Big 12 slugfest.
It’s why our Joe Tillery did the spotlight piece today on the game. There were nine lead changes, and the game was tied for more than five minutes. You almost forget that Iowa State had to claw back into that game. At one point, Iowa State was down double-digits. But, if you need a reminder, Texas Tech led for nearly 38 minutes and Iowa State led for just 1:39.
I’ve noted this before, but Iowa State’s offensive ability is what separates this team from coach T.J. Otzelberger’s first three teams. Imagine any of his first three teams winning a Big 12 game with 85 points. There were nights the Cyclones were so good defensively that the winner was the first one to 50 points.
The fewest points Iowa State has scored in a game this season is 74. The Cyclones beat Baylor by 19 points in that game. So the defense is still top shelf.
That’s why Iowa State is a national title contender. It’s also why the Cyclones can go into the frenzied environment of Lubbock and steal a game they probably should have lost.
As for Tech, the Red Raiders will be fine. Texas Tech may be the best 3-point shooting team in the conference, and that’s new for Texas Tech, too. The defense is still high level. Forward JT Toppin is a big differentiator for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech must keep him healthy. I could see Tech getting to the Sweet 16.
Best Performances
Iowa State’s Curtis Jones is basically the leader in the clubhouse for Big 12 sixth man of the year after dumping 26 points on Texas Tech. The Red Raiders’ JT Toppin continued to prove his importance with 18 points and nine rebounds. TTU guard Elijah Hawkins had 10 assists in 31 minutes. There were just too many good performances in this game.
Kansas forward Hunter Dickinson took care of business — 14 points and 12 rebounds. TCU’s Noah Reynolds outdueled BYU’s Richie Saunders. Reynolds has 21 points, three 3-pointers and three assists. Saunders had 26 points and five 3-pointers. But Reynolds wins because, well, TCU won.
The roster says Joseph Tugler but in Houston, they call him JoJo, and he racked up a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) as the Cougars cruised past Kansas State.
Utah’s Ezra Ausar had a great game, as he scored 21 points in the victory over the Cowboys.
Baylor was short-handed on Saturday night so forward Josh Ojianwuna picked a great time to have one of the best games of his career, as he scored 12 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Arizona State’s BJ Freeman answered with 22 points.
It was just another well-balanced night for Caleb Love. The Arizona guard had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Saturday’s Big 12 Women’s Basketball Games
Most-Needed Win
TCU really needed that victory over BYU. The Horned Frogs are nowhere near the NCAA Tournament bubble right now, and at 9-6 overall (2-2 in Big 12), they really need to start stringing wins together for a shot at March Madness.
This was a 50/50 game for TCU at home against an opponent with the same aspirations, to get back on the selection bubble. Home games are precious in this conference, and it was a game the Horned Frogs couldn’t afford to lose.
Worst Loss
Arizona State is going to kick itself if it doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament and Saturday’s game makes a difference in making it or not.
The Sun Devils were down 12 at halftime and put together a furious rally to force overtime. Candidly, the Sun Devils had the Bears on the ropes. Baylor was down two players and it was out of energy. Arizona State had all the momentum and could not capitalize.
To paraphrase a coach that once called the Phoenix area home, “They let them off the hook.”
That was a potential resume builder for the Sun Devils. Now it’s a missed opportunity.
Bracketology Update
Before the games started on Saturday, I checked out ESPN’s Bracketology. They’re doing twice-a-week updates sand Friday was their most recent update. The Big 12 had eight seeds:
Iowa State: No. 1
Kansas: No. 3
Houston: No. 4
West Virginia: No. 7 (dropped one seed line)
Baylor: No. 7
Cincinnati: No. 10
Texas Tech: No. 10 (First Four, moved up one seed line)
Arizona: No. 8 (moved up three seed lines).
Arizona is surging at the perfect time to get solidly in the field. That win over WVU earlier in the week clearly helped. Cincinnati and Texas Tech are now among the last four byes, while Arizona State is the second team left out of the field. That’s why the loss to Baylor hurts so much.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
