The Big 12 Conference had three teams play on the first day of the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament on Friday, with the league going 3-0 for the day.
Saturday’s Second-Round Results
No. 3 Texas Tech 77, No. 11 Drake 64
No. 6 BYU 91, No. 3 Wisconsin 89
No. 1 Houston 81, No. 8 Gonzaga 76
Sunday’s Second-Round Games
No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 1 Duke, 1:40 p.m. CT, CBS
No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, 6:45 p.m. CT, truTV
No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 5 Oregon, 8:40 p.m. CT, TBS
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
CRYER GOES OFF
LJ Cryer’s long experience in college basketball came in handy for the Houston Cougars.
Here’s a guy that has played for five years and has a national championship ring. He scored 30 points and while he made six 3-pointers, none of his points were bigger than the two free throws he hit in the final minute.
How confident were the Cougars in Cryer, who had to make both to push Houston’s lead back to three points with 14 seconds left? The Cougars didn’t have a single rebounder on the line. That’s confidence, and Cryer oozes it.
Houston snapped Gonzaga’s streak of nine straight Sweet 16s. Houston extended its streak to six Sweet 16s. It wasn’t easy. Houston was in control and then it hit a scoring drought in the final minutes. Gonzaga went to a 1-3-1 zone and, at times, the Cougars appeared absolutely befuddled by it. There was one possession where Houston did such a horrible job breaking it one would have thought it was October practice tape.
But the goal is to survive, and the Cougars did. They survived Graham Ike’s 27 points. They survived Ryan Nembhard’s double-double. They survive the Bulldogs’ 50/45/100 shooting night. Yes, Gonzaga shot THAT well.
But, if we’re handing out awards, Cryer gets the prize. Big-time players come up big in the biggest moments.
RAIDERS TOPPIN IT OFF
On Thursday night the Texas Tech Red Raiders caught a lot of grief for shooting a school-record number of 3-pointers in their win over UNC-Wilmington. On Saturday they made every basketball expert happy by playing through their forward, JT Toppin.
But the reality is, just like Thursday, the Red Raiders were taking what was given to them.
The Seahawks did everything possible to make Toppin’s life difficult, including double-teaming him just about every time had the ball. Toppin, smartly, tossed the ball to his outside shooters and they cashed in. Kerwin Walton had a career game. Did Texas Tech shoot too many 3-pointers? Probably. But, again, you take what the defense gives you.
What surprised me the most was that Drake didn’t really double-team Toppin. Because of that, Texas Tech could establish him early. He had room to operate, both running the floor and working down low. When he has the ball one-on-one, he’s so hard to stop. He finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
As exciting as that was, Darrion Williams’ game might have been the bigger development. That ankle injury slowed him down in the first round. Not on Saturday. He finished with 28 points and ran the floor with far less tentativeness than he showed against UNCW. Elijah Hawkins even threw in 16 points for good measure.
Oh, and Tech ONLY attempted 14 3-pointers but made two. But that’s irrelevant here. Overall, Tech played better on Saturday than Thursday, and with Arkansas coming up that upward momentum is all that matters.
Now, we wait to see if guard Chance McMillian can play on Thursday. The Red Raiders have bought him five more days to get right.
Oh, and it’s milestone time.
COUGARS TALE
I thought this would be an offensive game, and I was right. I thought this would be a close game, and I was right. I thought BYU would win, and I was right.
But man, it was a compelling finish. As well as I thought BYU played defensively, John Tonje became the first player in this NCAA Tournament to score 30 or more points in a game. He finished with 37 points, and down the stretch, he was the Badgers’ offense.
On the final possession of the game, Wisconsin had a chance to tie the contest. Naturally, the Badgers put the ball in his hands. Surprisingly, BYU just allowed it. Everyone in the building knew that he wasn’t giving the ball up. The Cougars’ Mawot Mag defended him.
Mag defended him well, stayed with him through the drive and when he went up Mag, smartly, stayed on the floor, contested and made sure he didn’t contact Tonje’s arm. Frankly, it was great defense. Tonje tried to sell it — as any great scorer should — but there was nothing there to sell.
The Cougars’ defense was stifling at times on Saturday. I saw great rotation and pressure that pushed Wisconsin’s offense further out past the 3-pont line. This is the part of their game that has come on the past six weeks.
Richie Saunders, naturally, had an impressive game, scoring 25 points. But Egor Demin is really showing something here of late. He had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Unlike Texas Tech and Houston, this was a big night for BYU. The Cougars will play in their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2011.
And the Big 12 has three teams in the Sweet 16.
PRONUNCIATIONS BY KELVIN
So, I HAVE been pronouncing Gonzaga right all these years. So excited about that.
BAKER’S SO FLAGRANT
OK, so let’s talk about Dawson Baker’s flagrant two in the BYU game really quick.
This was not a flagrant two. This was basketball. In high school I was the guy that had to set that double team. I got hit … there … more than a few times. Never did I think there was intent.
Baker was trying to split a double team. Max Klesmit wasn’t in his space. It was just what happened. That’s a play on. I empathize, but as I noted, I’ve been there.
What’s awful about this rule is that the referees had no choice but to call it a flagrant two because they considered it “non-incidental” contact. This wasn’t a choice between a play on, flagrant one or a flagrant two, in the case of the JT Toppin play from the Texas Tech-Houston game in Houston. There was no middle ground — either nothing or flagrant two. That’s the way the rule is written.
That’s why the rule needs to be re-written this offseason. That was not intentional. If it must be flagrant, then allow the officials to call it a flagrant one.
Believe me — we KNOW when it’s a flagrant two.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
