The Big 12 men’s basketball teams concluded the ninth round of league action on Wednesday, with three games played across the country.
Wednesday’s game results included:
No. 6 Houston 63, West Virginia 49
No. 22 Texas Tech 71, TCU 57
Kansas State 85, Oklahoma State 57
The Big 12’s 10th round of league action begins on Sunday with most of the league in action.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Eh, well, it wasn’t like Tuesday night when every game came down to the wire. Texas Tech and TCU looked like it was heading toward a great finish, with Texas Tech up by three points at the break. But, the Red Raiders overtook the Horned Frogs, outscoring them 39-28 in the second half.
Texas Tech missed Darrion Williams, who was out with an injury and wearing a walking boot. Forward JT Toppin, along with guards Elijah Hawkins and Chance McMillan, combined for 47 points. With that trio, the Red Raiders were able to claim the victory a couple of days after moving into the AP Top 25.
Best Performances
Toppin had a double-double for Tech, as he finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. He’s had two double-doubles in his last five games.
Houston guard L.J. Cryer scored 17 points, including making two 3-pointers, in a game the Cougars won going away.
Coleman Hawkins led Kansas State with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Wildcats blasted Oklahoma State.
Most-Needed Win
Kansas State is trying to dig out of a massive hole. At this point, getting back to .500 would probably get the Wildcats into the NIT. So K-State really could not afford to lose to the Cowboys. For the first time in conference play, they looked connected in terms of how they played.
The Wildcats have won two straight games and head to Iowa State on Saturday. I’m interested to see how that game goes. I’m not expecting a win, but there are 50/50 games for the Wildcats after that. If Kansas State plays it close, that may bode well for the rest of the season.
Worst Loss
TCU let Texas Tech slip away in the second half. Without Frankie Collins, who suffered an injury against Vanderbilt in December and is out for the season, the Horned Frogs really have little margin for error. That caught up to them in Lubbock on Wednesday.
Watch Sunday’s game against winless Colorado. It’s at home and the Horned Frogs are 2-2 there in Big 12 action. TCU really can’t afford to lose that game.
Saturday’s Showdown
We have two potentially great games on the ledger on Saturday — Kansas at Baylor and Texas Tech at Houston. But all four of those schools are going to make the NCAA Tournament.
The most important game might be in Orlando, where UCF will host BYU. Both the Knights and Cougars are bubble teams. Neither bubble will burst, but the winner gets a boost if their at-large tournament hopes are influenced by the result of this particular game.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
