The Big 12 men’s basketball teams conducted the 14th round of league action on Saturday, with all 16 teams in action.
Saturday’s game results included:
No. 6 Houston 62, No. 13 Arizona 58
Baylor 74, West Virginia 71 (OT)
No. 12 Texas Tech 93, Oklahoma State 55
Colorado 76, UCF 63
No. 10 Iowa State 81, Cincinnati 70
TCU 74, Arizona State 70
BYU 80, Kansas State 65
Utah 74, No. 17 Kansas 67
The Big 12’s 15th round of league action begins on Monday as Kansas State travels to Utah and Arizona travels to Baylor.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Frankly, this was a great Saturday for games. Houston went to Arizona and won by four points in a game that went down to the wire. West Virginia and Baylor went to overtime before the Bears pulled out the win. TCU and Arizona State played a compelling game as the Horned Frogs escaped with a road win in Tempe.
Even the nightcap was something. Kansas went into Utah and, well, the Utes gave the Jayhawks all they could handle and then some. The Utes ended up with a big upset and beat a ranked team for the first time in more than a year.
What a great day filled with compelling basketball.
Best Performances
Houston guard Milos Uzan came through big-time against Arizona — 19 points and five assists.
Baylor’s Norchad Omier had a huge game — 17 points, 10 rebounds and four steals — in the win over West Virginia.
Can anyone stop JT Toppin right now? The Texas Tech forward had 32 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks against Oklahoma State.
Colorado’s Andrej Jakimovski drained a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 15 points as Colorado defeated UCF.
Iowa State’s Curtis Jones was his usual self coming off the bench — 22 points and six rebounds — as the Cyclones took care of Cincinnati.
Jace Posey came through in the clutch for TCU, as he had 20 points and six rebounds in the win over Arizona State.
BYU guard Richie Saunders recorded a double-double — 17 points and 14 rebounds — as the Cougars defeated Kansas State.
Utah’s Gabe Madsen broke the school’s career 3-point record and the shot to break that record was a dagger to Kansas at the Huntsman Center.
Most-Needed Win
Colorado needed that win as badly as any Big 12 team has needed a win this season. The Buffaloes are out of any postseason selection and hadn’t won a game Dec. 21 against Bellarmine.
The Buffaloes’ 76-63 win over UCF snapped a 13-game losing streak and ended nearly two months of frustration for Colorado when it came to Big 12 play.
It was the Buffaloes’ first Big 12 win since — gulp — March 5, 2011, when they beat Nebraska, 67-57, in Boulder. Colorado’s head coach then is the head coach now, Tad Boyle.
Wherever the season goes from here, the pressure is off Colorado when it comes staring at a winless season in conference action.
Honorable mention goes to BYU, which claimed a win that should keep them inside the NCAA Tournament bubble; and TCU, which is now .500 in league action with its win over Arizona State and, well, the Horned Frogs could try and make things interesting down the stretch.
Worst Loss
It’s a toss-up between Kansas State and West Virginia. The Mountaineers went to Baylor and that was a Quad 1 opportunity for them. But, WVU already has five Quad 1 wins this season. Failing to close the deal probably won’t ding its chances that much. But Tuesday’s Bracketology should be interesting.
But Kansas State had enormous momentum going into Provo to face BYU. The Wildcats had won six straight games and that helped them rack up four Quad 1 wins. In fact, they just climbed up on the tournament bubble. BYU was another Quad 1 chance and, with the Cougars on the bubble themselves, the game was critical to them too.
BYU played like it, winning by 15 points. Kansas State isn’t done yet. But, the Wildcats may only get one more Quad 1 chance left in the regular-season finale against Iowa State.
NCAA Seeds and Bracketology
The NCAA Tournament selection committee released its Top 16 seeds as of Saturday, the only glimpse we’ll get into the committee’s thought process until selection Sunday.
The Big 12 did well. It ended up with five teams among the Top 16 seeds — Houston (No. 2), Iowa State and Arizona (No. 3), along with Texas Tech and Kansas (No. 4). The SEC ended up with six Top 16 seeds. The top ends of both conferences look comparable.
ESPN updated its Bracketology on Friday. Here are the eight Big 12 teams that were seeded:
No. 2: Houston
No. 3 Iowa State
No. 3: Texas Tech
No. 3: Arizona
No. 4: Kansas
No. 9: Baylor
No. 10: West Virginia
No. 11: BYU (Last Four In)
WVU was among the last four byes, which means it’s time to start keeping an eye on the Mountaineers if they keep losing games.
BYU remains on the right side of the bubble. Kansas State is on the wrong side of the bubble — but at least they’re on it now.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
