Pair of Big 12 Upsets Surprises CBB World In Hectic Saturday

This Saturday in action is one to remember and had some kind of craziness for every Power 5 conference. In the ACC, 2 Top 5 Powerhouses collided in a back and forth affair that had the almighty Blue Devils running away with it in the end. In the SEC, it was a barnburner between 2 high octane offenses that went all the way down to the wire. In the end, Big Blue nation came out on top with a missed 3 pointer to cap things off. A crazy finish had Wisconsin completing the upset against previously perfect and #2 Michigan at home.

But the Big 12 didn’t let down this Saturday as chaos was all over the conference. All 5 home teams won their games (showing how difficult it really is to win a road game in the conference) , 3 Top 25 upsets, and 2 Top 10 teams falling to unlikely opponents.

West Virginia 65, #7 Kansas 64

In what will end up being the most surprising upset of the year, West Virginia held on to a 1 point upset over #7 Kansas. Coming into this game, West Virginia was 8-9 on the year and winless in conference play. Bench scoring was big for West Virginia as they outscored KU’s bench, 28-2 and shot slightly more efficient from the field.

It was Freshman F Derrick Culver coming off the bench that was the big difference maker in the contest. With his 27 minutes, he produced 11 points 7 rebounds, and 3 assists off of his 4-10 from the field and 3-5 from the charity stripe. West Virginia was down by as much as 6 points with less than 3 minutes left to go, but WV crawled back.

Wesley Harris drilled a 3 pointer, then back to back layups by Derek Culver and Jermaine Haley gave WV the lead late. Lagerald Vick heaved up a 3 that would air ball. Dedric Lawson would rebound and in excellent position to win the game, but the game winning attempt fell just short. West Virginia picked up their conference win and left the door open for Texas Tech to take a hold of the conference. Kansas dropped a rare back to back games as they are reeling.

Baylor 73, #8 Texas Tech 62

This wasn’t nearly as surprising of a result as Baylor had won 2 of their last 3 coming in, including a win over the team that just beat Texas Tech in Iowa State. This game was all about scoring runs as Texas Tech jumped out to as big of a lead as 13 in the first half.

But 3 point shooting behind G Makai Mason and G Jared Butler kept the Bears in it. In flipping the tables, Baylor caught fire from beyond the arc and pulled ahead to 13 at one point. Tech would crawl back and cut the lead to just 2. Freshman Jared Butler would take over as he would drain a 3 pointer and then proceed to drive make the layup and the free throw to go along with it to put Baylor up 8.

The Bears would go 11-11 from the line down the stretch and fended off the last ditch effort from Texas Tech. Jared Butler was the player of the game and certainly didn’t play like a Freshman as he finished with 19 Points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and just 1 turnover. Baylor lost their most efficient player in Sophomore F Tristan Clark prior to the Kansas game. Baylor has been forced to shoot more 3’s and it has been effective in that the Bears have won 3 of those last 4 games.

These type of games show the unpredictability that is the Big 12 and what makes it so deep. In that, the best team in the conference could lose to the worst team and this isn’t the first time for that to happen. West Virginia has been a shell of it’s self this season, but a big time upset could build some momentum. Both teams have momentum heading into their next games and ironically, Baylor plays West Virginia on Tuesday in Morgantown.

Tonight’s action will be one to be remembered whether it be big, primetime matchups in some conferences, but for the Big 12, it shows that anything can happen to any team anywhere.

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