The Big 12 men’s basketball teams began the 18th round of league action on Saturday, with 14 teams in action.
Saturday’s game results included:
No. 4 Houston 73, Cincinnati 64
No. 9 Iowa State 84, No. 22 Arizona 67
No. 10 Texas Tech 78, Kansas 73
TCU 89, UCF 79
Utah 99, Arizona State 73
Baylor 71, Oklahoma State 61
No. 25 BYU 77, West Virginia 56
Sunday features one game:
Colorado at Kansas State, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
It was not a particularly good slate of games, in terms of compelling finishes. The first game of the day — Texas Tech at Kansas — was the closest thing we got. Our Joe Tillery wrote about the game.
I watched it as well and I was blown away by the lack of execution by both teams in the final minute of a close game. Dajuan Harris Jr. of Kansas made an unfortunate pass to no one as the Jayhawks were trying to tie the game. The Red Raiders had trouble inbounding the ball a possession later and the second try ended up becoming a turnover when Tech’s Elijah Hawkins got too close to the baseline and then lost the ball.
That gave Kansas another chance to tie. That chance ended with an air ball 3-pointer by Zeke Mayo in which he didn’t get a good look. Plus, the play itself wasn’t particularly well-executed or schemed.
It just goes to show that sometimes two great teams playing a great game can become mistake-prone when it matters.
Oh, and the Red Raiders won for just the second time in 22 tries at Allen Fieldhouse.
Great Performances
First, a hat tip to Houston for clinching the Big 12 regular season title, the Cougars’ second in a row and their fourth straight conference title, dating back to the 2021-22 season when they were in the American Athletic Conference. The league made sure the hardware was in Houston once things went final at the Fertitta Center.
L.J. Cryer boosted the Cougars with 20 points in the victory.
Texas Tech’s JT Toppin dropped 21 points before he fouled out of a compelling game with Kansas in Lawrence. Kansas forward KJ Adams Jr. had 21 points and 13 rebounds.
TCU put together a balanced effort against UCF, with Vasean Allette leading the way with 17 points. Center Ernest Udeh Jr. had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Utah’s Ezra Ausar went off for the Utes, as he finished with 25 points. Arizona State’s Joson Sanon had 28 points in the loss.
It’s too late to unseat Iowa State’s Curtis Jones as Big 12 sixth man of the year, but Baylor’s Jeremy Roach had 21 points off the bench for the Bears.
Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey scored 15 points and dished out eight assists and the Cyclones brought it early and often against Arizona.
BYU’s Fousseyni Traore had a huge game off the bench for the Cougars, as he scored xx points and grabbed 10 rebounds as they blew out West Virginia.
Most-Needed Win
Baylor needed to stabilize a seeding slide, and I think it did on Saturday. Now, a win over Oklahoma State isn’t worth that much in NCAA Net. But a loss? Well, that would have hurt the Bears significantly.
Baylor’s brutal schedule is helping to keep them off the Last Four In at ESPN’s Bracketology. A win over TCU on Tuesday would ensure that the Bears have a .500 record in league action, even with a loss to Houston in the finale. That, plus a win in Kansas City, would probably be enough to ensure the Bears get in the Dance.
Oh, and yes, Oklahoma State lost on the court. But, off the court? Big win Saturday.
Worst Loss
Um, did Arizona not make the trip to Iowa State? I mean, I know it’s tough to play in Hilton Coliseum but what was that?
The Wildcats have lost four of their last six games. But, in those three losses — to Kansas State, Houston and BYU — the Wildcats lost by a combined eight points. So, no shame in that.
But, to go to Ames and basically be non-competitive for most of that game, well, that was really out of the blue for an Arizona team that has been tracking well since Big 12 play began.
Perhaps it was more about Iowa State, which was smarting from back-to-back losses and that OT loss in Tucson earlier this season. But this needs to be the bottom for Arizona going into a final week of the regular season in which the Wildcats will host Arizona State and then go to Lawrence to face Kansas in the finale.
Arizona wants momentum going into March Madness. Right now, that momentum appears to be slipping.
NCAA Bracketology
ESPN updated its Bracketology on Friday. Here are the eight Big 12 teams that were seeded:
No. 1: Houston
No. 2: Iowa State
No. 3: Texas Tech
No. 4: Arizona
No. 6: Kansas
No. 8: BYU
No. 10: Baylor
No. 10: West Virginia
Joe Lunardi dropped ISU to a No. 3 seed during Saturday’s action, though we’ll see what the win over Arizona does for the Cyclones. Baylor was among the Last Four Byes and the win over OSU may have helped stopped their seeding slide. Cincinnati was back on the bubble before the Houston loss. That may have kicked the Bearcats off.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
