Big 12 Basketball Recap (February 16-22)

The Big 12 race is heating up and this time, KU’s rivals didn’t do anything to help the Jayhawks edge closer to number eleven. The game recaps are in chronological order and don’t include games that involved Kansas.

Baylor 54, Texas Tech 49

Baylor came out flat and still beat Texas Tech pretty easily.  Taurean Prince was the catalyst for the Bears as he dropped 18 of his 22 points in the first half to give the Bears a (probably undeserved) lead.  On a night when Rico Gathers was held to two points and when Kenny Chery was just one of nine from the field, Baylor will probably feel like they got a win they didn't deserve, but in the Big 12, you take what you can get. 

Oklahoma 71, Texas 69

Texas held the lead for most of the game, but in true 2015 Texas-style, that lead evaporated and died.  This quote from Texas coach Rick Barnes pretty much sums everything up, "Offensively, you still have to make plays. We had some looks at it, and that's part of it. Overall, there were some good things. I just know that we've got a chance to be a really good team, but we still have to get everybody playing to the ability that we know they can."

TCU 69, Kansas State 55

TCU went on a 19-0 run to end the first half and that pretty much sealed the deal….and the season for K-State. It’s quickly approaching that time in his tenure when Bruce Weber alienates the majority of his fan base with subpar play. He can’t seem to get Marcus Foster to buy in and after the game he was quoted as saying, “I just want guys that care. That is all I want, guys that care and want to play for K-State and want to play to win and will play hard.” Troubling times for the EMAW crowd.

Iowa State 70, Oklahoma State 65

Can’t Oklahoma State do anything right? First, they beat Kansas with a nice second half and since then, they can’t seem to get out of their own way with last week’s loss to TCU, and now an inexplicable (not really) loss to Iowa State. Iowa State’s Jameel McCay scored 17 points (on two of six shooting from the field and 13 of 14 shooting from the charity stripe) and grabbed 14 rebounds. He had nine offensive rebounds in this one, the highest total from a Cyclone since 2004. Jeff Newberry had a chance to tie in in the waning seconds but his three rimmed out and Iowa State made a few free throws to ice the game away.

Oklahoma 79, Texas Tech 75

It took overtime for Oklahoma to defeat Texas Tech, but in the end, Lon Kruger’s squad got it done and stayed in contention for a conference title. Frank Booker came off the bench for OU and scored 17 points on four of eight shooting from beyond the arc. On a day when Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler contributed very little, Oklahoma’s bench finally stepped up and came through.

Baylor 69, Kansas State 42

Kansas State has clearly given up, saving all their energy for their Super Bowl Monday night.

West Virginia 73, Oklahoma State 63

I don’t understand West Virginia and I don’t understand Oklahoma State, so any result in this one wouldn’t have come as a shock. Juwan Staten, West Virginia’s best player, scored 22 as did LeBryan Forte, OSU’s best “player”.

Iowa State 85, Texas 77

Texas stinks. Why does a team with Cameron Ridley and Myles Turner continue to chuck up three pointers at a ridiculous rate? It’s pretty amazing that Texas hoisted three more three-point bombs than the Cyclones considering that they only shoot 34% from downtown. And they didn’t just do it once they were losing and trying to come back. They did it and it contributed to the reasons why they were losing. For the record, they made nine in 24 attempts (37%) while Iowa State shot 11 of 21 for 57%. Texas should make a run at Scott Drew to become the next coach of the Longhorns. It’s a massive upgrade.

Win of the Week: TCU over K-State

I’m giving TCU the win of the week simply because the win over KSU gave TCU their first ever winning streak in Big 12 conference play. Trent Johnson has his team playing pretty well, and the future looks pretty good down in Fort Worth.

Team of the Week: Iowa State

The Cyclones beat Oklahoma State and Texas. That’s a pretty good week in the Big XII no matter how you slice it.

Player of the Week: Jameel McKay, Iowa State

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg swapped Bryce Dejean-Jones for Jameel McCay in the starting lineup recently and the 6’9” junior rom Milwaukee hasn’t disappointed. Midweek against Oklahoma State, he scored 17 points and grabbed 14 boards. Against Texas, he only scored three, but his snatched nine rebounds. Not a bad week: 10 PPG, 11.5 RPG.

WTF of the Week: Texas

Well done on the combined 17 of 47 (36%) from three in your two losses. Nice strategy.

Updated Big XII Standings:

Kansas, 11-3, 22-5

Iowa State, 10-4, 20-6

Oklahoma, 10-5, 19-8

West Virginia, 9-5, 21-6

Baylor, 8-6, 20-7

Oklahoma State, 7-8, 17-10

Texas, 6-8, 17-10

K-State, 6-9, 13-15

TCU, 3-11, 16-11

Texas Tech, 2-13, 12-16

Upcoming Big XII Schedule:

Monday, February 23

Kansas at Kansas State

Tuesday, February 24

Texas at West Virginia

Wednesday, February 25

Texas Tech at TCU

Baylor at Iowa State

Saturday, February 28

TCU at Oklahoma

Iowa State at Kansas State

Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

West Virginia at Baylor

Texas at Kansas