Big 12 Conference Notebook
by Neal Heston
Northern Iowa well prepared for the storm
The situation for this past Wednesday’s Iowa State-Northern Iowa matchup in Cedar Falls, Iowa, was a lot different than the one two years ago. Former Northern Iowa head coach Greg McDermott went from defending a Mid-Major’s right to play schools such as Iowa State to being the head coach of a BCS conference school himself and not wanting to face a Mid-Major.
In McDermott’s defense, his reason for not wanting to play at Northern Iowa this past Wednesday was much more logical than the ranting of former ISU head coach Wayne Morgan gave in 2004. Morgan expressed his dislike because he felt (forced) intrastate rivalry games against teams such as UNI and Drake hurt strength of schedule. McDermott was not excited to take his team to Cedar Falls because of all the memories he had as a player and a coach while reviving a dead UNI program during the past five seasons.
“Do we still have to play that game?” was Mac’s half-jokingly response last March when asked about Iowa State’s November contest at Northern Iowa.
On Wednesday, McDermott suffered his first loss at the Cyclone helm and found out that the UNI team he left last March is still pretty good. He also now stands at 0-1 against his best friend and right-hand man the last several years: first-year UNI head coach Ben Jacobson. It is evident how close the two are with the smiles and gestures on Wednesday (Jacobson humorously consoling McDermott at halftime as McDermott voiced his opinion with a referee about what he thought was a UNI offensive foul). But when the ball was tipped, both flexed their arms and pulled plays out of the book.
Jacobson’s Panthers had the upper hand this time, as his team brought a lot more experience to this contest. Senior guard Brooks McKowen had the game of his UNI career with 27 points – a good sign for the Panthers who will need that leadership to succeed in a downright brutal Missouri Valley Conference. In addition, senior forward Grant Stout had his hands in the faces of ISU shooters all night, and junior center Eric Coleman also dominated the inside.
For the most part, Jacobson’s wealth of experienced players was McDermott’s handicap, as it will be for the remainder of this season. Little mistakes were made by ISU players, leaving them vulnerable and leaving UNI with easy opportunities. That was especially evident in the final minute-plus Wednesday with UNI leading 60-55. The Cyclones had rallied to place themselves within striking distance, but miscues let UNI finish the game on a 10-2 run. A team with more playing time under its belt typically would not have allowed that to happen.
McDermott and the Cyclones can take home the positive of playing toe-to-toe with an experienced and likely a postseason-bound UNI team on its home court. Aside from inexperience, his Iowa State squad has shown poise and maturity during its 6-1 start – typical qualities of McDermott-coached teams. And if we’ve learned anything else, it’s that McDermott has a tendency to right the ship quickly. With that in mind, he can look forward to regaining bragging rights in this “friendship series” next winter.
Other news and notes from the Big 12
Hoopville’s Big 12 Player of the Week: JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State
Whether it’s against a postseason-caliber team or not, 35 points in a game is impressive. Curry has averaged 19 PPG in OSU’s past three games.
The pressure is off
From a team such as Kansas, beating a No. 1 team shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but it was. The Jayhawks had not defeated a top-ranked team since 1994, but an 82-80 mild upset of No. 1 Florida updated that. Kansas has returned to the status we all expected since its surprising loss to Oral Roberts on Nov. 15. KU has since won five consecutive contests by an average margin of 26.4 points. The offense is rolling again with 81 points per contest and should extend Kansas’ winning streak this weekend against DePaul and USC.
Block-happy Bears
Mamadou Diene has quickly climbed up the block ladder this week during Baylor’s three blowout wins. The sophomore center swatted nine shots in BU’s 74-50 victory over Texas Southern, 90-59 win over Alcorn State and 95-59 blowout over Grambling. The 5-1 Bears face Texas State on Saturday.
Buffaloes hit rough times
With eight freshmen occupying the roster, Colorado will likely struggle some this winter – especially in a conference like the Big 12. It will take some getting used to though. CU is off to its worst start since 1988 after losing to Air Force, 84-46, and Wyoming, 76-73. The last time the Buffaloes experienced this type of start, a majority of the lineup was still learning to walk. Free throws are hurting this team, and that is an understatement. Colorado is 42-of-74 from the charity stripe during the past four contests – a mere 56.8 percent.
Donations accepted
Don’t send the Oklahoma Sooners to the line. OU has been one of the few Big 12 squads to show discipline at the charity stripe during the non-conference season, especially during the past three games. Oklahoma has connected on 44 of its last 50 free-throw attempts. Unfortunately, other departments are lacking just enough to pile up losses, including 77-65 and 74-71 setbacks against Memphis and Purdue, respectively. After defeating Chaminade last week, OU will look to continue its winning ways against TCU on Saturday.
Soaring Cowboys
Oklahoma State continues to climb closer to the top 25 after a successful 4-0 week. OSU survived two strong contestants in Auburn and Missouri State with 66-65 and 73-70 victories, respectively. On the blowout side, the Cowboys wrapped up 75-59 and 95-73 wins over Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Mario Boggan and JamesOn Curry have been the leaders thus far. Boggan has averaged 16.3 points the last three games, and Curry has tacked on another 19. That includes his 35-point performance against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Young guns carry Longhorns
Texas was carried to convincing victories against Nicholls State and Texas Southern this week thanks to the play from freshman Kevin Durant and sophomore A.J. Abrams. The two averaged 21.5 apiece in the two victories. Contributions from the triangle of other freshman (Justin Mason, Dexter Pittman and D.J. Augustin) can’t go ignored either. The play from all five will be important if the Longhorns are to upset No. 22 Gonzaga and climb back into the rankings.
