This week in the conference featured big time matchups with top 5’s going at it, two out of conference rivals and an unexpected Loss for a team that I didn’t expect it from.
Baylor: Previously, Ole Miss (70-78 L). George Mason (72-61 W).
Tristan Clark had a career day against the Rebels with 27 points on 11-13 shooting from the field. Makai Mason came alive in this game as well with 18 points on 6-14 shooting from the field, but unfortunately, 1-5 from 3 point range. None of the other starters would score a point in this game. Poor shooting would be the trend throughout the game as the Bears shot a poor 2-18 from 3 as this game was an ugly game from both parts. Ole Miss shot just 39% from the field but outrebounded the Bears and forced 18 turnovers as Ole Miss took the first round of the Emerald Coast Classic. The shooting in Game 2 wasn’t much better, but the Bears were able to pull out a couple more 3’s and had dominant defense against the patriots as Baylor took Game 2. King McClure was leading the way this time around with 27 points and 14 rebounds as well as 18 more from Makai Mason. Baylor was able to get some help from other players like Devante Bandoo and Tristan Clark.
Upcoming Slate: Tuesday vs. South Dakota. Saturday at. Wichita State.
South Dakota is an important game as Forward Mario Kegler returns from his suspension and gives Baylor more depth down low. Kegler was the projected starting 4 until Coach Drew gave him a 6 game suspension due to violating team rules. Wichita State is a big game for the Bears as they have to go on the road and avenge themselves after dropping a game a year ago to the Shockers. After a back and forth affair, Baylor drops the Wichita State game, but handles South Dakota.
Iowa State: vs. Arizona (66-71 L). Illinois (84-68 W). San Diego State (87-57 W).
Iowa State was busy this week and ended on a positive note. Iowa State showed consistent scoring from the starters as 64 of the team’s 66 points came from the starting 5. Which can be good, but also very alarming. Marial Shayok led the way with 19 points on 8-19 shooting, but 1-5 from 3. Talen Horton-Tucker had 16 points as well as Michael Jacobson with 7 rebounds. Iowa State shot much better from the field and Talen Horton-Tucker is starting to show he is emerging into a star while Lindell Wigginton is still on the sideline. Horton-Tucker had 26 points and 14 rebounds on 8-14 shooting. Michael Jacobson shot an astounding 7-8 from the field and 8-10 from the charity stripe. A continued trend however is the lack of scoring and really a presence from the bench. However, the Cyclones had another single digit scoring output from the bench. In the final game, Iowa State was firing on all cylinders with excellent defense and raining 3’s from all around. Iowa State made 14 3 pointers as 4 of those came from Shayok, who led the way for the Cyclones with 21 points. The bench got a spark from Sophomore G Terrence Lewis. Lewis provided 16 points on 5-7 shooting and 4-4 from the line.
Upcoming Slate: Monday vs. Omaha
After a busy week last week, Iowa State comes back home and has a matchup with Omaha on Monday. This is their only matchup this week, giving them a much needed break. Omaha played Colorado close, but Iowa State is much better than Colorado, the cyclones shoot 35%+ from 3 and get a 20 point win.
Kansas: Previously, Marquette (77-68 W). #5 Tennessee (87-81 W).
Kansas defeated Marquette in the first round matchup with 26 points and 12 rebounds from Dedric Lawson. Legerald continued his hot shooting from a week ago with 16 points on 6-12 from the field as Kansas as a whole shot really well from the field. Kansas defense was stout in the 2nd half as Marquette was able to shoot lights out in the first half, putting up 47 points on the Jayhawks. KU flipped the tables and gave up just 21 points in the final 20 minutes. Lawson is looking more and more like what opponents were so nervous about facing. He put up 24 more points on 9-16 shooting as well as 13 rebounds as he posts back to back double-double’s. Kansas didn’t shot near as well from 3 with just 29%. But Tennessee didn’t shoot much better with just 25%. Kansas was once able to get to the free throw line at will with 34 free throw attempts. This back and forth affair went to OT, where Devon Dotson and Lawson scored most of the points for the Jayhawks in their win of the NIT Preseason Tip-Off.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday, vs. Stanford.
Stanford has lost too all 3 of the teams that are better than them so far on their schedule. With blowout losses to all 3. All of the teams they lost to are worse than Kansas. KU at home throttles Stanford unless the Jayhawks come out really sluggish. Even if that’s the case, Kansas still wins by 15+.
Kansas State: Previously, Missouri (82-67 W). Lehigh (77-58 W).
In the final round of the Paradise Jam, Dean Wade showed why he’s Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year with 21 points on 8-10 shooting. Barry Brown Jr. also showed his versatility on the floor with 19-6-6 and over 50% shooting. Although Missouri shot relatively well and enough to win, Kansas State just shot better and was able to convert from the free throw line better than Missouri did. Neither team shot terribly well as Kansas State shot 41% and Lehigh was 39%. Kansas State dominated the glass 41-33 and only fouled 14 times throughout the game. Dean Wade and Barry Brown once again led the way for the Wildcats with 18 points and 16 points respectively. K-State only turned the ball over 11 times and was smart with the ball when they had it with 19 assists on 27 made shots.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday at. Marquette.
Kansas just got done getting taken to the wire with Marquette with a really bad defensive first half. Marquette has proven they can score as well as Kansas State. I actually have Marquette pulling out the win in an upset at home for the Golden Eagles. Markus Howard pulls a near double-double and the Hauser brothers are able to get hot from 3 as Marquette will win.
Oklahoma: Previously, vs. Florida (65-60 W). #25 Wisconsin. (58-78 L). Dayton (65-54 W).
Christian James didn’t have his best game, but still finished with 18 points as Oklahoma was able to take out Florida in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. If you want a more in-depth analysis, check out an earlier post made on the website. As well as the Wisconsin game right here. In the 3rd place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, against Dayton, OU was able to hold Dayton to 54 points and 31% shooting from the field. Christian James was 8-15 from the field and 21 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Miles Reynolds was very busy from the charity stripe as had was 13-14 from the free throw lines as that was most of his points for the game.
Upcoming Slate: Tuesday vs. North Texas.
North Texas has quietly looked really good this year. But the best team they’ve played so far is Hawaii, so this will be a test for the Mean Green. I expect Oklahoma to win this game, but it’ll be closer than the experts project.
Oklahoma State: Previously, Memphis (84-64 W). Villanova (58-77 L). #19 LSU (90-77 W).
Oklahoma State was able to spread the ball around with 6 players in double figures as OSU rode behind 57% shooting from the field and 20 free throws as they blew by Memphis. The Tigers were led by Freshman Tyler Harris, who finished with 14 points. Villanova has been struggling out of the gates with losses to Michigan and Furman. But Nova was able to handle the Cowboys and give them their 2nd loss of the year. The Cowboys had Mike Cunningham pick up 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the field (all of that from beyond the arc). Phil Booth and Eric Paschall led Nova with 20 points and 22 points on 11-21 shooting from 3. In a surprising result, Oklahoma State handled LSU in the 3rd place game behind 28 points from Cameron McGriff with 10-15 shooting as well as Lonnie Waters III with 16 points on 5-7 shooting. Oklahoma State once again, shot extremely well with 58-50-80. While LSU had 41-33-60. Okie State was only up 5 at the break. But was able to break away in the 2nd half.
Upcoming Slate: Friday vs, Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN).
Oklahoma State is basically playing a road game against Minnesota. A team just coming off a Vancouver Showcase title, beating Washington. Oklahoma State showed they can shoot. If they play as well as they did against LSU, they should win this game. If it’s more like a Charlotte, it could be ugly. Oklahoma State survives and wins by 4 against The Golden Gophers.
TCU: Previously, Lipscomb (64-73 L).
Lipscomb had beaten one team from the D-FW area and on Tuesday, they took out another one. Senior Garrison Mathews led the way with 23 points on 7-14 shooting. Junior Kenny Cooper also played really well with 17-4-4. In Jaylen Fisher’s return to the court, he played just 7 minutes and took one shot. Alex Robinson led the way for the Horned Frogs with 17 points and 10 rebounds with 6 assists. Lipscomb only turned the ball over 10 times and TCU shot poorly from the free throw line with just 56%.
Upcoming Slate: Monday vs. Eastern Michigan. Friday vs. Central Michigan.
Eastern Michigan lost by 37 to Rutgers. TCU should roll in that contest. Central Michigan is off to a solid start, but untested yet as TCU should take them game as well. With a little bit of trouble, but Alex Robinson does enough offensively to get them 2-0 during the week
Texas: Previously, #7 North Carolina (92-89 W). #11 Michigan State (68-78 L).
Outside of Kansas, Texas had the most impressive win defeating Nassir Little-led North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational. Nassir Little made a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left to go to put UT up 2. UNC would foul Jase Febres, who made 1 of 2 free throws. UNC couldn’t get a shot off and UT would pull off the upset. Kerwin Roach once again balled out as he is emerging into a first team All American and a star with 32 points and 7 assists on 12-15 shooting and a perfect 3-3 from 3. Dylan Osetkowski also played well with 14 points and 5 rebounds as well as Matt Coleman with 16 points. The combo of Joshua Langford and Cassius Winston went for 49 points on 55% shooting between the 2. Texas shot poor from the field and Michigan State ended with 51%. Kerwin Roach once again led all scores and Osetkowski had 13 as well as Coleman. Even with forcing 24 turnovers and only coughing it up 10, Texas’s shooting woes was just too much in the end.
Upcoming Slate: Friday vs. Radford.
Watch out for Radford. They upset Notre Dame on the road earlier last week and has played overall solid defense. Texas is much better than Notre Dame, so UT shouldn’t be terribly worried, but another Michigan State shooting game could get things uncomfortable. They win the game though.
Texas Tech: Previously, USC (78-63 W). Nebraska (70-52 W). Northern Colorado (93-62 W).
Texas Tech has been one of the most impressive teams in the conference so far and proved it with a 15 point win to start off the Hall of Fame classic over USC. 4 Red Raiders were in double figures with Jarrett Culver and Tariq Owens leading the way with 18 a piece. One player that has stepped up this season with the starting position is Guard David Moretti who had 17 points. If he can continues to play this well throughout the season, it provides another 3 point threat and could compete with any team in the conference. Tech was able to get to the line and forced 17 turnovers. Culver continued his hot streak with 9-18 shooting and 26 points. Nebraska was limited with 35-21-61 on the game as Tech slammed the door with any chance of a win for the Cornhuskers with a 38-26 advantage in the 2nd half. Nebraska is not near the top of the Big 10, but on basically a road game, you have to be impressed with what they did. Culver played great once again against Northern Colorado with 20 points on 7-10 shooting, but he got a lot of help from the Bench in this game. 51 Bench points in this contest is the most impressive of any team so far this year including 19 points from Freshman Kyler Edwards on perfect shooting (7-7 from the field and 4-4 from 3). Tech is very deep at the guard position and is very dangerous to any team anywhere (unless maybe Allen Fieldhouse).
Upcoming Slate: Saturday vs. Memphis.
Oklahoma State has faced the Tigers and the Tigers look like their missing the presence and scoring ability of Dedric Lawson. If you’re a Tech fan, keep on the lookout for Senior Forward Kyvon Davenport (14.5 PPG and 7.3 RPG). Tech should win and comfortably win this game when all is said and done.
West Virginia: Previously, Valparaiso. (88-76 W).
The most underwhelming team in the Big 12 so far this year, struggled at times against Valpo, but pulled it out in the end with amazing forward play. Ahmad and Konate combined for 56 points on 21-30 shooting including 5 three’s from Konate. Valpo was able to shoot and played really well throughout and considering WVU’s press, they kept the ball somewhat well. West Virginia kept the ball and outrebounded Valpo as they took advantage of the lack of height down low. Outside of a 7-1 Derrik Smits, they have no one else above 6-7.
Upcoming Slate: Wednesday vs. Rider. Saturday vs. Youngstown State.
Rider has a really weird schedule as they had a near two week break between game 1 and 2, so they’ve only played 3 games. They lost that first game against UCF, but blew out Coppin State and Wagner. West Virginia should handle Rider as they have some holes down low with height worse than Valpo. Youngstown State is hit or miss on offense, but likes to spread the ball around as they have 5 players averaging 9 more on the season. They’ve put up more than 90 4 times, but also put up 53 and 61 to Pitt and Fordham. They rank near the top 50 in scoring, but 320th in scoring defense. West Virginia should get near 90 in a high scoring affair and the Eers’ win easily.
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