The Big 12 men’s basketball teams started the 16th round of league action on Saturday, with 12 teams in action.
Saturday’s game results included:
Cincinnati 75, TCU 63
No. 9 Texas Tech 73, West Virginia 51
No. 5 Houston 68, No. 8 Iowa State 59
No. 23 Kansas 96, Oklahoma State 64
Colorado 76, Baylor 74
BYU 96, No. 19 Arizona 95
The Big 12’s 16th round of league action concludes on Sunday with the following games:
Utah at UCF, 3 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Arizona State at Kansas State, 3 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Why does it always have to be the late game on Saturdays? Arizona and BYU played a beauty.
There were 20 lead changes and 11 ties in the game. Both teams shot better than 50% for the game. While Arizona had a big edge on the glass, BYU had a huge edge in points off turnovers. It was a typical Big 12 game played by two teams with a combined three seasons of Big 12 experience. You gotta love how the Wildcats and Cougars are fitting in.
Arizona’s Caleb Love was huge — 27 points and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line. Anthony Dell’Orso went off the second half for 11 points. Three other Wildcats were in double figures. Tobe Awaka had a double-double — 14 points and 10 rebounds.
BYU’s Richie Saunders had 23 points, including the game-winning free throws. Four other Cougars were in double figures. Egor Demin had 13 points and eight assists, along with six turnovers, which put him on the bench for a while.
If you didn’t stay up late to watch, you missed out. Go watch the replay. It will end up being one of the best Big 12 games of the season. Every bit of this game had drama. Even the handshake line.
It also had, sadly, a bad call at the end. Saunders was stuck on a drive under the basket with under five seconds and Arizona’s Trey Townsend was called for a foul. Townsend played great defense. The baseline official didn’t make the call, and he had the best view. It was the top side official that made the call, and he was obstructed. Townsend didn’t strike Saunders’ hand. If there was any contact, Saunders initiated trying to get a call and, well, he got it.
Sometimes, the official with the best view of the play needs to be allowed to make the call — or not make the call.
Otherwise, BYU won back-to-back games over ranked teams for the first time in 37 seasons and Arizona lost just its second game under coach Tommy Lloyd when it scores 90 or more points. That’s nearly four seasons’ worth of games. BYU’s NCAA Tournament credentials should no longer be questioned, and everyone should want a rematch in Kansas City.
Oh, and you know how we always praise Kansas coach Bill Self for his inbounds plays out of timeouts? Well, BYU’s Kevin Young must have the starter kit because every after-timeout inbounds play the Cougars ran worked like a charm.
Best Performances
First, give it up to the referees in the Iowa State-Houston game for wearing body cams. Honestly? I enjoyed the occasional floor angle of plays like the below.
CBS also did it with the Kansas-Oklahoma State game. Guess everyone got new toys?
Jizzle James had 18 points, four rebounds and four assists for Cincinnati in a victory over TCU that had many people asking, “Where has that team been all season?” Oh, and it could have been a true blackout game.
Texas Tech’s talented freshman, Christian Anderson, had five 3-pointers and 21 points as the Red Raiders blew out West Virginia.
Houston guard L.J. Cryer went off — 28 points, including five 3-pointers, and five rebounds in the win over the Cyclones.
Can Kansas guard David Coit do that every game? He made five 3-pointers and scored 15 points off the bench as the Jayhawks routed Oklahoma State.
Andrej Jakimovski led four Buffaloes in double figures with 17 points as Colorado upset Baylor. And dad was there.
And, yes, Iowa State took one on the chin against Houston. But Tamin Lipsey did this — and he has another year to add to this record.
Most-Needed Win
Texas Tech needed one to bounce-back from its loss to TCU. Colorado needed a win, and upsetting Baylor was a bonus. Kansas needed one for morale.
But the Cincinnati Bearcats probably needed that win over TCU the most. I don’t think Cincy has a shot at the tournament. Mathematically, it could still finish 10-10 in Big 12 action with a four-game winning streak, which would give the Bearcats 20 wins going into Kansas City.
A 20-win Big 12 team before getting to KC goes to the postseason nearly every time. The question then would be whether the Bearcats could get on a run or not?
But without that win on Saturday, forget it.
Worst Loss
C’mon, TCU. The Horned Frogs were being considered for the bubble after three straight wins, including a victory over No. 9 Texas Tech, and they go and lose to Cincinnati by 12 points.
TCU still has an outside chance because it remains .500 in league action. But a win over the Bearcats could have given them just a little more leeway.
Now? TCU basically must go into Morgantown and beat West Virginia next week.
WVU is an honorable mention here. Expect them to start falling out of Bracketology after going to Lubbock and losing to Tech by 22 points.
NCAA Bracketology
ESPN updated its Bracketology on Friday. Here are the eight Big 12 teams that were seeded:
No. 2: Houston
No. 2: Iowa State
No. 3: Arizona
No. 3: Texas Tech
No. 7: Kansas
No. 9: Baylor
No. 10: West Virginia
No. 11: BYU
West Virginia is the only Big 12 team on the bubble. Saturday’s loss did not help.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
