If the first week or so of conference play is any indication, it looks like the Big 12 is going to be a lot of fun to watch this season. Tuesday night might have illustrated this as well as any thus far.
Just as many were warming up to Iowa State – a little late, mind you – after they convincingly beat Kansas on Saturday, the Cyclones went to Waco to take on Baylor. Baylor had a 38-30 halftime lead, then had to hold off the Cyclones late – and did, taking home a 73-70 win to even their Big 12 mark. While it’s easy to get on Iowa State, this game was on the road, and this is not the same Baylor team that lost to Texas Southern in their opener and later to Stephen F. Austin. Instead, it looks more like the team that won at Arizona (granted, right before the aforementioned loss to Stephen F. Austin) and over Oregon and battled TCU right down to the wire.
Texas made the road trip to Oklahoma State to take on a Cowboys team that had not yet won a Big 12 game. The Longhorns were fresh off a good win over West Virginia for a 2-0 start, and maybe feeling a little too good as Oklahoma State ran out to a 39-22 lead at the half. The Longhorns rallied, getting within three late, but their struggles from long range hurt once again (they were 2-22 on the night) and they couldn’t get one to tie it at the buzzer as they lost 61-58. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, was 8-19 from long range, led by Lindy Waters III hitting all five of his en route to a game-high 19 points.
Later, we had the game of the night in the conference, as Oklahoma traveled to Texas Tech in a matchup of two teams that appear to be among the prime contenders to knock off Kansas. The game featured two coaches who right now should be on many lists for national Coach of the Year. Let’s face it: no one expected much from Oklahoma with Trae Young off to the NBA after he had a lot to do with last season’s team being a pleasant surprise. And Texas Tech hasn’t had much in the way of sustained success on the hardwood and watched five of their top six scorers from last season move on, including one who unexpectedly left for the NBA early.
Oklahoma had the lead at the half 35-31, and for a while the Sooners did well to ward off the Red Raiders when they got close. Finally, a little over halfway through the second half, Texas Tech got the lead, and Jarrett Culver & Co. never gave it up in a 66-59 win over the Sooners. Culver finished the night with 23 points and 13 rebounds and looks like a better All-America candidate all the time. Texas Tech held Oklahoma to 32 percent shooting.
You pick anyone besides Kansas to win the Big 12 at your peril. The Jayhawks have started slowly and still won the conference during this amazing run of 14 straight regular season titles. While they may seem vulnerable now with Udoka Azubuike done for the season, this team has too much talent and depth to view as anything other than the favorites. They have to figure out how best to play without him, and they don’t appear to have done that yet, but you have to think they will. Besides them, there is a lot of even-ness in the conference, so we could see a lot of nights like Tuesday where one or two results may seem a bit surprising – and then they won’t seem very surprising after all.
Side Dishes
Don’t look now, but after some shaky times in non-conference, Villanova is 3-0 in Big East play after beating St. John’s 76-71 as Phil Booth (23 points, seven rebounds, four assists) repeated his line from last game.
NC State fans undoubtedly had some high hopes for Tuesday night’s visit from cross-town rival North Carolina with the way the Wolfpack has played of late. Luke Maye and the Tar Heels threw some cold water on that, though, as Maye’s double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds to go with five assists) along with that of Cameron Johnson (15 points, 11 rebounds) paced UNC in a 90-82 win where they out-rebounded NC State 51-33. Also in the ACC, Duke ran away from Wake Forest 87-65, blocking 13 shots in the process.
In Big Ten action, Michigan State took care of Purdue 77-59 in East Lansing, while Maryland went to Minnesota and took over in the second half to knock off Minnesota 82-67. The Terrapins outscored the Golden Gophers 48-27 after intermission.
SEC play saw Tennessee blow out Missouri 87-63 in Columbia, and otherwise home teams won. The biggest of the night was in another Columbia as South Carolina moved to 2-0 with an 87-82 overtime win over Mississippi State, ending the Bulldogs’ nine-game winning streak. Also, Kentucky took care of Texas A&M 85-74 and LSU held off Alabama 88-79 to win their opener.
The Missouri Valley might be right there with the Big 12 in terms of being fun to watch. Your surprise leader out of the gate is Valparaiso, who is 3-0 after a 61-50 win over Bradley. Four teams are right behind them at 2-1, with two of them having battled last night – Evansville beat Loyola-Chicago 67-48 to put both teams at that mark.
And while some have talked about Marvin Menzies as being on a hot seat in Las Vegas, his UNLV team moved to 3-0 in Mountain West play last night with an 80-69 win at New Mexico thanks largely to a big second half.
Buffalo got what will probably be their toughest test in the MAC on Tuesday as Toledo came to town. In many years, the Rockets’ 12-1 non-conference mark would have earned them top billing, but this isn’t a normal year. The Bulls made quick work of the Rockets in a 110-80 blowout, confirming that the gulf between them and everyone else in the MAC this year is very wide.
Recent USC transfer Jordan Usher is heading to Georgia Tech, according to a school release. The sophomore forward will be eligible after the first semester of next season and have the remainder of the season plus one additional year of eligibility. Usher grew up in Georgia, so he’s a hometown kid coming home. Other transfer news on the day included Oklahoma State announcing that Mike Cunningham is no longer with the program, with the graduate transfer having decided to move on from basketball. He had not played since December 16 after playing in seven games beforehand.
Tonight’s Menu
A relatively busy night of action includes busy slates in conferences like America East, Atlantic Sun, Big West, Patriot League and Southland Conference.
- ACC play gets going with Virginia Tech traveling to Georgia Tech (7 p.m.), then Syracuse hosts Clemson and Louisville heads to Pittsburgh (8 p.m.) and Boston College hosts Virginia while Miami heads north to Florida State (9 p.m.)
- Houston tries to keep their undefeated run going as they travel to Temple (7 p.m.)
- In the Atlantic 10, St. Bonaventure hosts Saint Joseph’s and George Mason hosts Davidson (7 p.m.) among the early matchups, while Saint Louis hosts UMass later on (9 p.m.)
- A couple of important Big 12 matchups are on tap with Kansas State hosting West Virginia (7 p.m.) in a matchup with a pair of surprising 0-2 teams, then a showdown later as Kansas hosts TCU (9 p.m.)
- The night in the Big East starts with Xavier hosting Georgetown (6:30 p.m.), then Marquette travels to Creigton (7 p.m.) and Seton Hall hosts Butler (8:30 p.m.)
- Big Ten action is highlighted by Iowa visiting Northwestern (9 p.m.)
- Mountain West action features Utah State hosting Fresno State (9 p.m.) and Nevada hosting San Jose State (11 p.m.)
- In Pac-12 action, Arizona State goes to Cal (9 p.m.) and Stanford hosts Arizona (11 p.m.)
- In the SEC, the evening starts with Georgia hosting Vanderbilt (6:30 p.m.), then a dandy is on tap as Ole Miss hosts Auburn (7 p.m.) while Arkansas hosts Florida later on (8:30 p.m.)
