The Big 12 continued it’s unpredictability as well as other teams taking care of business as needed. The 10 seed pulled off the biggest upset in years and the #5 seed blew out their quarterfinals opponents.
Iowa State was able to shoot just 35% from 3 point range in their first 2 matchups against Baylor. Thursday was not the case as The Cyclones shot 52% from beyond the arc and were able to get around Baylor, 83-66. Freshman Talen Horton-Tucker led the way for the Cyclones with 21 Points on 8-15 shooting from the field and 5-9 from 3. Iowa State was able to control the turnover battle as they only coughed it up 8 times.
By far, the biggest upset of the Tournament was West Virginia pulling out the win over the regular season co-champions in Texas Tech. The red hot Red Raiders were just 33% from the field and gave up 28 points to a guy that coming into this game, was averaging just 3.9 on the season. Emmitt Matthews shot a extremely efficient 10-14 from the field and was the catalyst for the huge win for West Virginia.
This game was a back and forth affair throughout the first 30 minutes until the Wildcats would pull away and was able to keep the ball much better than TCU did (18-9). Both teams shot fairly the same, but that was the difference maker. Xavier Sneed was the leading scorer in the contest with 18 Points on 6-12 shooting from the field for the Wildcats.
In one of the more sloppier games of the day, Kansas was able to survive Texas and more than likely eliminate them for NCAA tournament contention. Kansas just shot 41% from the field and shot well below 33% from 3. David McCormick was by far, the most efficient player on the court with 13 points on 6-7 shooting and 9 rebounds. The Jayhawks only had 5 bench points and that came from Marcus Garrett.
#5 Iowa State vs. #1 Kansas State 7 PM EST. ESPN2.
For the most part in the TCU game, K-State went with a smaller lineup with Wade out and Cartier Diarra playing almost 30 minutes off of the bench in his first action in around a month. And it looked pretty good in the second half after a rather sluggish first half start.
Iowa State was able to dominate Baylor down the stretch from 3. But one thing that is known this year is that Iowa State lives and dies by the 3 and it has been apparent throughout the season. We’ll see how that plays against one of the best defenses in the country and the 2nd best in the entire conference (behind Texas Tech).
Even without Wade, Kansas State has the strategy and recipe to make a deep run and have a legitimate shot at winning the Big 12, especially if WV can continue their cinderella run that no one expected. Kansas State 73, Iowa State 67.
#3 Kansas vs. #10 West Virginia 9:30 EST. ESPN2.
West Virginia has been the talk of the conference and their biggest win on the season was a home game against the Jayhawks earlier in conference play. The problem is this game will be basically a road game for the Mountaineers. The Midwest teams of the Big 12 travel very well to the Big 12 Tournament and it should be a road environment.
Kansas has players that can put up points and was impressed with how they played against Texas. With Kerwin Roach II randomly returning to the rotation and news of Lagerald Vick being out for the tournament, they were able to persevere and beat a UT team that they lost to earlier in the season.
West Virginia’s run has been wildly entertaining and should give the program some good momentum heading into next season. Unfortunately, it won’t last past the Jayhawks and in a back and forth contest, Kansas just survives against West Virginia and will be set up with a Sunshine Showdown for a Big 12 Tournament Title on the line. Kansas 78, West Virginia 74.
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