A lot of the Big 12 teams struggled this week as a team from the AAC was able to pick up 2 upset wins, including a humongous win over a Top 15 team in a game that went down to the very end.
Baylor: Previously, None.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday at. Arizona.
Outside of 2 Top 10 losses to Gonzaga and Auburn, Arizona has been dominant in every one of their games. Chase Jeter returns some experience in year 1 after Ayton and Brandon Randolph leads the team in scoring with 17.3 PPG. On the road in Tucson, Baylor doesn’t win this game and if they shoot like they did in the first half against Wichita State, it could get ugly real quick.
Iowa State: Previously, North Dakota (81-59 W). #18 Iowa (84-98 L). Southern (101-65 W).
4 players scored in double figures for the Cyclones in double figures as they shot 50% from the field and took down the 2-7 Bison. Iowa State has showed so far that without Lindell Wigginton, they can still put up a lot of points on you and are much deeper from a year ago. On Thursday, the Cyclones struggled from beyond the arc and could not stop Iowa F Tyler Cook as he put 26 points and led Iowa to the Cy-Hawk series win. Tailen Horton-Tucker finished up with 21 points on 9-19 shooting, but 0 for from 3 point range. Iowa State as a whole shot 26% from 3 and got into some pretty early foul trouble and that would evidently be their downfall to this game. They would bounce back offensively in a huge way as they shot one of the highest percentages from the field in over a decade as the Cyclones went 70% from the field and 48% from 3 as they put up 101 on 1-9 Southern. They steamrolled the SWAC team and maybe that’s a game that starts a new winning streak.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday vs. Drake.
Drake lost to Colorado by 29 points. The same Colorado team that lost to San Diego. Outside of that, Drake has won every game and has 2 players that score 15 PPG. Iowa State wins, but the 70th ranked scoring offense in the nation puts up some points on them.
Kansas: Previously, Wofford (72-47 W). New Mexico State (63-60 W).
4 minutes into the game, KU was already behind the 8-ball as First Team All-Big 12 C Udoka Azubuike left the game with an injury. Dedric Lawson led all scores with 20 points on 10-17 shooting and 8 rebounds. Even without a presence down low, Kansas still played excellent defense with Wofford shooting a horrific 26% from the field. In Kansas City, KU struggled against a very good Mid-Major in New Mexico State where the Cowboys shot a higher percentage than the Jayhawks (45 to 43). Although to outsiders, this might come as a huge surprise it was this close, but NMSU is the favorite to win their conference and Chris Jans has a ton of momentum for this team and for that program.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday vs. #21 Villanova
Villanova is starting to get back into a rhythm with wins over Oklahoma State and #14 Florida State. Senior Phil Booth seems to be replacing the role of AP Player of the Year, Jalen Brunson by leading the team in scoring as well as assists with 15.6 PPG and 3.1 APG. This is a game Kansas would lose on the road. But due to being in Allen Fieldhouse when the fans, teams, and refs are against you, Kansas will end up winning. 81-77 KU.
Kansas State: Previously, Tulsa. (46-47 W).
Kansas State was completely stonewalled offensively in a game where Xavier Sneed was the only one in double figures (13). K-State shot a season low 30% from the field and turned the ball over 16 times to a Tulsa team that is undefeated at home and is red hot after back to back home wins over Big 12 Schools. G Curran Scott led all scores for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has been really good this year and in a different environment, K-State crumbled. They get the week off to regroup before playing near Christmas.
Upcoming Slate: None.
After Tulsa, Kansas State gets the week off before coming back home to face Southern Miss
Oklahoma: Previously, Notre Dame (85-80 W). Wichita State (80-48 W).
The answer, Christian James shined on a huge stage against Notre Dame with a double-double (25 points and 10 rebounds) as OU red hot from behind the three point line (15-27). Oklahoma’s defense at times looked shaky and Notre Dame put up 80, but with Notre Dame shooting 41-28-79 Oklahoma will be able to stay in any game they play in this season. After playing it close through a half with Wichita State, the Sooners poured it on and showed zero mercy as they outscored the Shockers by 24 as they blew out Wichita State to keep them rolling. Christian James was once again the man with another double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds). Senior G Miles Reynolds matched James scoring total with 14 points of his own. The 18 turnovers is alarming, but once again that didn’t effect the outcome of the game whatsoever. Oklahoma is playing red hot right now and I expect the Sooners to start Big 12 play on fire.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday vs. USC
USC has played 2 Big 12 Teams and was steamrolled by both (TCU by 31 and Texas Tech by 17). Their best win was by 10 points against Cal State-Bakersfield. Senior F Bennie Boatright is the player to watch out for as he leads the team in scoring and brings the veteran presence as he was one of the players from USC’s tournament run a few years ago. Boatright will not be enough though as Oklahoma wins by 15+.
Oklahoma State: Previously, Tulsa (71-74 L). Houston (53-63 L).
It was another rough week for the Cowboys as they take 2 losses from the AAC. To be fair, Houston is undefeated and defeated Oregon. And Tulsa just came off a win over #12 Kansas State and is 7-0 at home. Daquan Jeffries led the way for the victorious Golden Hurricane as he was 8-9 from the FT line and finished with 20 points on 6-8 shooting. Sophomore F Jeriah Horne came off the bench as collected 16 points as well as 7 rebounds. Oklahoma State shoot themselves in the foot with the inability to make and get to the free thro line as well as turning it over 17 times. Matt Cunningham came off the bench and put up 14 points on some impressive shooting from the Senior out of Lanham, MD. In game 2, it was Oklahoma State shooting cold from the field and getting behind early in the game. Cameron McGriff struggled in this game with 4 points on just 2-10 shooting. Freshman Isaac Likekele led the way with 16 points on 6-9 shooting (the only player shooting over 50% for the game minimum: 5 attempts). Armoni Brooks finished with 23 points for the Cougars as they were able to outrebound the Cowboys 44-33 and stay undefeated on the season.
Upcoming Slate: None.
Oklahoma State gets the week off before hosting Central Arkansas on the 21st.
Texas: Previously, VCU (53-54 L). Purdue (72-68 W).
Kerwin Roach was not his normal self in this game with 10 points on 2-6 shooting. But Matt Coleman III picked up the load with 22 points on a very efficient 7-11, 3-5,5-6 from the field. Carsen Edwards went out of his mind for Purdue as he scored well over half of the teams points. Edwards had 40 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists on 15-26 shooting. Outside of Edwards, the rest of the team shot really poorly with only one other player shooting over 50%. Although the kept possession of the basketball really well with only 6 turnovers, Purdue got outrebounded and the streaky Longhorns come back after a tough loss to Radford and VCU.
Upcoming Slate: Saturday vs. Grand Canyon.
In Grand Canyon’s 3 losses so far, they have played fairly well against some decent competition. But GCU gets Top 10 ranked Nevada right before they play Texas. Texas picks up the win in this contest.
TCU: Previously, SMU (67-59 W). USC. (96-61 W).
Jaylen Fisher got his first start of the season and led all scores with 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the field. TCU got some help off the bench with Kouat Noi adding in 12 points and 6 rebounds in the contest. TCU was clicking on all cylinders on Saturday though, with 6 players scoring in double figures including all 5 starters as TCU blew the doors off of USC. Senior Bennie Boatright led the way for the Trojans with 14 points and 4 rebounds. TCU should continue to be near the top of the conference and are looking like it with more performances like this.
Upcoming Slate: None.
TCU gets the week off due to finals and will pick up play again against Charlotte on the 22nd.
Texas Tech: Previously, Arkansas Pine-Bluff (65-47 W).
One of the more sloppy offensive performances for the Red Raiders still ended in a 18 point win as they shot 20% from 3 and 50% from the free throw line. UAPB made 14 field goals in the game, 9 came from Martaveous McKnight as he finished with more than half of UPAB’s points with 27. No one else on the team had more than 4 points. Jarrett Culver and Matthew Mooney led the way for Tech with 13 and 11 points as well as Kyler Edwards getting 11 off the bench. Texas Tech can get away with shooting like this against a team like that, but in the Big 12, you won’t be winning many games with performances like that.
Upcoming Slate: Wednesday vs. Northwestern State. Saturday vs. Abilene Christian.
Northwester State is 2-7 and has one win over a Non-D1 school and the other is a OT win over Alabama A&M. Tech dominates. ACU is 9-1 and is in the top percentile in defense (24th in the nation). But once again, the competition has been rather lackluster. Their toughest game was a 15 point loss to Pepperdine. Texas Tech struggles for a bit, but then handles the Wildcats.
West Virginia: Previously, Florida (56-66 L). Pittsburgh (69-59 W).
West Virginia and Florida played a defensive slugfest, but in the end, it was the Gators that prevailed in New York City, NY. Sagaba Konate was 2-10 from the field and West Virginia was held to 30% from three. Konate came from off the bench against Pittsburg and put up 16 points, (including a monstrous dunk) and a ridiculous 7 blocks as he makes his case as the best rim protector in the league along with Azubuike.. This game was very sloppy as both teams combined for 50 turnovers and 49 fouls in this old school Big East rivalry. Junior G James Bolden led the way for WVU offensively with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Upcoming Slate: None.
Due to finals, West Virginia won’t play this upcoming week. They’ll be back in action on the 22nd against Jacksonville State.
Image Credit: http://www.oudaily.com/sports/oklahoma-basketball-trae-young-christian-james-lead-sooners-to-strong/article_512b06cc-e78f-11e7-803b-8bf4119bf161.html
