Big 12 Basketball Recap (January 12-18)

Well, things just got interesting pretty quickly at the top of the Big XII. Here’s a recap of all the non-KU action this week. These recaps are in chronological order.

West Virginia 86, Oklahoma 65

Whoa. West Virginia dominated Oklahoma and the story of the game was probably the fact that the WVU bench out scored the OU bench 55-8. Depth was always going to be a problem for the Sooners, but that is a mighty large margin. Juwan Staten only scored two points for the Mountaineers, but it didn't matter. When you force 22 turnovers (16 of those being steals), you're going to have a nice chance to win. West Virginia looks pretty good so far.

Kansas State 58, Texas Tech 51

I didn’t watch this game, but instead, I simply looked at the box score to create this summary, and I can conclude that I’m glad I didn’t watch it. Both teams shot under 39% for the game and under 33% from three. Only two players on each squad scored in double figures (Marcus Foster and Wesley Iwundu for KSU and Robert Turner and Devaungtah Williams for Tech), and there were 33 fouls committed. But, at the end of the day, K-State will take the win.

Baylor 74, Iowa State 73

Kenny Chery made the game-winning bucket with 4.7 seconds left as Baylor beat Iowa State in Waco. Man, this conference has had all sorts of drama and we’re only two weeks in. Baylor had a 12-point halftime lead, but the Cyclones never went away. The teams traded baskets at the end until Chery finished the scoring. Georges Niang had a chance to win in it for Iowa State as the buzzer sounded but his floater bounced off the rim.

Kansas State 63, Baylor 61

K-State is winning the games that it has to in order to stay alive for an NCAA tournament bid, and this could be the kind of game that the committee might look at if either team is on the bubble. K-State battled back from nine points down at the half and made enough free throws at the end to win. Kenny Chery had a chance to be the hero again (as he was in Baylor’s midweek win against Iowa State), but his runner bounced off the rim as the clock expired.

TCU 62, Texas Tech 42

Texas Tech is bad. That’s enough analysis of this game.

Texas 77, West Virginia 50

Texas bounced back in a big way Saturday night. The Longhorns outmuscled, out-"toughed", and out-rebounded the Mountaineers. Texas won the battle of the boards 44 to 32. To say that this was a must win for Texas was an understatement. This win sets up a monster game in Austin this coming Saturday as the Longhorns host KU.

Oklahoma 82, Oklahoma State 65

I’ve gotta say, this one shocked me. Not because I thought that the Cowboys were going to win, but because of the way they simply got run out of the gym. This was a 21-point game at the half. Buddy Hield scored a game-high 27 points on 10 of 10 shooting (more on him in a minute) and Ryan Spangler added a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.

Win of the Week: Iowa State over Kansas

This is the choice for win of the week simply based on the conference title implications that are now in play. With every team having at least one conference loss, the season is about to get interesting. If Kansas had won, they’d have a two game lead on everyone except K-State who has yet to play any of the conference big boys.

Team of the Week: K-State

This one goes to K-State by default, really. They were the only conference team to take care of business in both of their games this week and now sit alone (based on playing one more game than KU or ISU) in first place.

Player of the Week: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

He was perfect from the field (10 of 10, 4 of 4 from three) against OSU and finished with 27 points. In their mid-week loss to West Virginia, Hield was the lone bright spot for OU. He scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

WTF of the Week: Cliff Alexander’s Lack of Playing Time

At worst, Cliff looked to be a good offensive presence against Iowa State’s lack of size. Bill Self didn’t see it that way, citing lack of motor. Either way, it’s my opinion that Cliff Alexander playing with his motor on low to medium is still a far better choice than using Landen Lucas. Iowa State didn’t even have to guard Landen, and offensively, KU was essentially playing a man down. Not a good strategy when you can’t stop the opponent and are forced to try to outscore them.

Updated Big XII Standings:

K-State, 4-1, 11-7

Kansas, 3-1, 14-3

Iowa State, 3-1, 13-3

West Virginia, 3-2, 15-3

Oklahoma, 3-2, 12-5

Texas, 2-2, 13-4

Baylor, 2-3, 13-4

Oklahoma State, 2-3, 12-5

TCU, 1-3, 14-3

Texas Tech, 0-5, 10-8

Upcoming Big XII Schedule:

Monday, January 19

Texas at TCU

Oklahoma at Kansas

Tuesday, January 20

Kansas State at Iowa State

Wednesday, January 21

Texas Tech at Oklahoma State

Huston-Tillotson at Baylor

Saturday, January 24

Oklahoma State at Kansas State

TCU at West Virginia

Kansas at Texas

Iowa State at Texas Tech

Oklahoma at Baylor