The Big 12 men’s basketball teams continued the 13th round of league action on Tuesday, with five games played across the country.
Tuesday’s game results included:
No. 10 Iowa State 77, UCF 65
BYU 73, West Virginia 69
Cincinnati 85, Utah 75
Kansas State 73, No. 13 Arizona 70
No. 17 Kansas 71, Colorado 59
The Big 12’s 13th round of league action concludes on Wednesday with Oklahoma State at TCU and Arizona State at Texas Tech.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
There were a couple of good candidates, but it was the Arizona-Kansas State game. Even after several replay delays in the second half, some of which took baskets away from K-State, it overcame Arizona to claim its fourth win over a Top 25 team in the last six games.
After starting Big 12 action 1-6, Kansas State has won six games in a row and is now the hottest team in the conference. Why? Because Arizona saw its six-game winning streak snapped.
It wasn’t over until the end, as Arizona had a chance to reprise its buzzer-beater to force overtime against Iowa State. But, this time, Caleb Love’s halfcourt shot sailed over the backboard.
K-State’s Dug McDaniel is on a heater. He had 24 points, dished out three assists and had five steals. David N’Guessan had 16 points and seven rebounds.
This was not the time for Arizona guard Caleb Love to have a bad night. He had just six points, though he also had six rebounds and three assists. The bench play from forwards Henri Veesaar (12 points, seven rebounds, three steals) and KJ Lewis (15 points, eight rebounds) was terrific. But it wasn’t quite enough.
Kansas State prevailed in a night of Wildcat-on-Wildcat crime. Next up? The NCAA Tournament bubble. Yep, try keeping the Wildcats off the bubble on Friday when ESPN updates its bracket.
By the way, has Mobi stopped running yet?
Best Performances
Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert led the Cyclones with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win over UCF. It’s worth pointing out that Knights guard Keshawn Hall scored 22 points.
Cincinnati guard Jizzle James dropped 25 points and six assists on Utah as the Bearcats kept up their winning streak. Utah’s Gabe Madsen had a huge game for the Utes with 28 points.
BYU’s Egor Demin had a solid game for the Cougars, registering 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal as BYU stole one in Morgantown.
Kansas State’s C.J. Jones had a critical 10 points off the bench for the Wildcats.
Hunter Dickinson had 19 points and nine rebounds for Kansas in its win over Colorado. Now, the Jayhawks need him to produce like that in a road game.
Most-Needed Win
Kansas State obviously needed that win. But BYU needed that win over West Virginia, too.
Going into the game, just two rankings separated WVU (No. 39) from BYU (No. 41) in NCAA NET. Plus, the Mountaineers were solidly in the NCAA Tournament field, per ESPN, while BYU was the last team in. Why?
WVU had a 5-6 record against Quad 1 teams and BYU had a 2-5 record in the same quadrant. That’s why this game was so important for the Cougars. Because BYU was on the road, this was a Quad 1 opportunity. On the road, a home team that is ranked in the Top 75 is a Quad 1 opportunity.
So, BYU walked away with a boost in its tournament credentials. The Cougars won’t move up much in NET. But when ESPN releases its new bracket on Friday, BYU should still be inside the field.
So, yes, huge win for BYU. Absolutely needed it.
Worst Loss
UCF took a hit. Now, winning in Ames was going to be tough to begin with. But the Knights’ NCAA Tournament hopes took yet another hit. They’ve now lost five straight and seven of their last eight after a strong start to Big 12 action.
The Knights also have nine league losses. Keep this in mind. I’ve been tracking the Big 12 since the 2016-17 season. During the 18-game, non-COVID seasons, seven wins is the fewest league wins in which a team still made the NCAA Tournament. UCF would need to win just three more games to get there.
But it’s a 20-game season. I figure the Knights will need at least one more. Can UCF win four of its final seven? It’s a tall order.
Bracketology
ESPN updated its Bracketology on Tuesday, leading up to the evening’s games. 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: West Virginia
No. 9: Baylor
No. 11: BYU (last team in)
There were no Big 12 teams among the First Four Out or the Second Four out. But — in this order — Kansas State, Cincinnati, UCF and Arizona State were considered for the bubble.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
