The Big 12 men’s basketball teams concluded the 13th round of league action on Wednesday, with two games played in the state of Texas.
Wednesday’s game results included:
No. 12 Texas Tech 111, Arizona State 106 (2 OT)
The Big 12’s 14th round of league action begins on Saturday with all 16 teams in action.
Here are three takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Drama in Funkytown
Man, if you didn’t watch TCU-Oklahoma State you missed a great ending.
Oklahoma State was behind from the beginning of the game, but the Cowboys fought their way back into the game and took the lead with just a couple of seconds on the clock. With that, TCU had to execute a play with shades of the 1993 Duke-Kentucky Elite Eight game.
And, darn it if it didn’t work.
That was Vasean Allette catching the tipped pass, turning around and draining the 3-pointer as time expired. OSU did get less than half a second to attempt the same thing after a review for time, but TCU tipped the ball away.
The Cowboys played a great, gutty game and you can really start to see the identity of this team form under first-year coach Steve Lutz. Guard Bryce Thompson had 17 points and he’s having his best offensive season during his time at OSU.
Allette had 16 points to lead the Horned Frogs. I wonder where TCU might be if guard Frankie Collins hadn’t gotten hurt in December. Hovering right around .500 in league play now, I have to believe that Collins would have meant a couple of more wins for the Horned Frogs.
What would that mean in terms of the NCAA Tournament? It might make TCU a bubble team. Short of a hot streak, we’ll likely never know.
Double Overtime Drama in Lubbock
I mean, honestly, the Arizona State-Texas Tech game is a sportswriter’s dream and nightmare to cover. Why?
It’s a dream because it was such an incredible game. It’s a nightmare because, honestly, where do you start?
Texas Tech scored the most points it every scored in a Big 12 game and the Red Raiders needed every bit of it. Forward JT Toppin was incredible. He scored 41 points with 15 rebounds, two blocks and three steals. He led six — SIX — Red Raiders in double figures.
Arizona State was short-handed again, but the Sun Devils played such a gritty game. The Sun Devils shot better overall than the Red Raiders, limited turnovers and had 11 steals. But ASU was outrebounded by nine and that might have been the difference.
The Sun Devils had five players in double figures, led by BJ Freeman with 21 points.
Here’s nearly five minutes of highlights. That really doesn’t do the game justice. It might have been the game of the year.
In the end, Arizona State fell just short again. The Sun Devils might be the most competitive 3-10 Big 12 team we’ve ever seen.
Hey, ESPN — Were You Watching?
Guess who was on the ESPN campus up in Bristol, Conn., on Wednesday? Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and his team. The Worldwide Leader rolled out the red carpet, or at least the Big 12 flag.
While Yormark was in Bristol, the two men’s Big 12 games were on CBS Sports Network as part of the 26-game sub-license agreed to this season. What did CBS get?
A game that was practically a buzzer-beater in Fort Worth. After that, fans were treated to a truly insane game in Lubbock as Arizona State pushed Texas Tech to the absolute limit before falling in double overtime.
That’s the product ESPN gave up. It could have showcased those games on a non-ESPN+ channel. Instead, we got a Big 12 doubleheader on CBSSN with solid announcing, great production values and two announcers at the Tech-ASU game that were genuinely into the game.
Yormark likely brought up what happened on Monday when ESPN moved the Baylor-Houston game to ESPNU to accommodate an NBA game. He’s likely filed that away for future reference, too.
Say, in 2030 when the new TV deal comes up. I’m not saying the Big 12 will leave ESPN. But Yomark should treats these little slights, whether real or perceived, like this:
“… and I took that personally.”
Big 12 basketball fans sure take it personally.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
