The Big 12 men’s basketball teams wrapped up the fifth round of league action on Wednesday, with eight teams in action across the country.
Wednesday’s game results included:
No. 2 Iowa State 74, No. 9 Kansas 57
No. 10 Houston 70, West Virginia 54
Cincinnati 68, Colorado 62
The Big 12’s sixth round of league action begins on Saturday.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Iowa State and Kansas obviously had all the buildup. But the Cincinnati-Colorado game was a study in desperation. Both teams hadn’t won a league game and absolutely needed one. It turned out to be the most competitive game of the night.
Cincinnati guard Simas Lukosius broke out of his slump and scored 16 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers down the stretch that put the Bearcats in control. His shot was in rhythm, and you could tell in the first half when he knocked down a 3-pointer. With shooters, it’s usually just a matter of time.
Colorado’s Bangot Dak had an insane performance. Can someone get on the All-Big 12 defensive team for one game? He had eight blocked shots, and that would have been impressive enough without the 19 points and the eight rebounds that went along with it. Coach Tad Boyle is going to want more of that.
It ended up being the best watch of the night, honestly.
Best Performances
Iowa State’s Curtis Jones scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half as he filled in for the injured Milan Momcilovic. Joshua Jefferson had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Houston forward J’Wan Roberts tore up WVU with 22 points inside. The guards still brought it, though. Emanuel Sharp and L.J. Cryer combined for eight 3-pointers.
Utah’s Keanu Dawes had a huge game off the bench — 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. You gotta love it when a player hits the “big five” on the stat sheet.
Most-Needed Win
Well, Cincinnati needed that one. The Bearcats were not only winless going into the game, but they had fallen out of Bracketology and onto the bubble. Now, beating Colorado — which remains winless in Big 12 play — isn’t going to help Cincinnati’s NET rating much. But the Bearcats didn’t hurt themselves. Sometimes that matters just as much.
Getting Lukosius on track could be huge for the rest of the season. This is still an NCAA Tournament team in my eyes and there is more than enough runway to make that happen. The Bearcats absolutely needed that win.
Worst Loss
Just a few days after TCU managed to outlast BYU at home, the Horned Frogs couldn’t do the same against the Utes. This was a 50-50 game for both teams, and it will make a difference if one of them is able to get on a run and build a resume for the NCAA Tournament. That’s getting harder and harder to see for these Horned Frogs. They really miss Frankie Collins, who is out for the season with an injury.
Injuries
At some point, injuries were going to have a significant impact on the contenders in the Big 12. For Iowa State, that caught up to them before the game when they revealed that forward Milan Momcilovic would miss several weeks with a hand injury.
He suffered the injury in practice and is out indefinitely. He was on the bench enjoying the Cyclones beating the Jayhawks.
He is one of their best 3-point shooters by percentage (44.8%) and he’s going to be missed. Curtis Jones moved into the starting lineup and Iowa State didn’t miss a beat — for now.
As for Kansas’ K.J. Adams, he suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury in the first half as he ran into an Iowa State player. He did return for part of the game but left later. Coach Bill Self said after the game that KU would be “very lucky” if Adams didn’t miss any time.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
