Tag: big 12 basketball

Houston-Baylor headlines Big 12 contests on Saturday

A major top-15 showdown is coming Saturday between two of the top teams in the loaded Big 12.

Nothing comes easy in the Big 12 when it comes to the conference’s slate of games on the hardwood. The Houston Cougars have proven to be the best of the best with their 23-3 record and 10-3 record in Big 12 play.

That doesn’t mean it has come easy for one of the newcomers to the conference, they had to survive games against Iowa State, Texas, and Cincinnati while losing other games to Iowa State and TCU.

Currently, Houston is joined by the aforementioned Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas Jayhawks, Baylor Bears, and Texas Tech Red Raiders in the top five of the conference standings. They are separated by just two games. Baylor has an opportunity to close the gap this weekend as they host Houston, which headlines the slate of games on Saturday.

No. 2 Houston Cougars at No. 11 Baylor Bears

IndyStar-USA TODAY Sports
  • Game Time: 11 a.m. CT
  • Location: Waco, Texas
  • Broadcast: CBS

Houston and Baylor is a rematch of the 2021 Final Four matchup. Ultimately the Bears came out victorious en route to their national championship run. This game will only be the third matchup all-time between the two schools and the first time they will face off on Baylor’s home court. Houston is 0-2 in both games and now looks to continue their stranglehold on the Big 12’s No. 1 seed after they vanquished Iowa State earlier this week.

Baylor was upset on Tuesday night in Provo against the BYU Cougars. They currently sit tied for the No. 3 spot in the conference with Kansas and Texas Tech. Perhaps this time around they can come out victorious against a Cougars squad they haven’t fallen victim to in two matchups all-time.

The Best of the Rest

  • No. 21 BYU Cougars at Kansas State Wildcats (1 p.m. CT on ESPN+)
  • Cincinnati Bearcats at No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs (2 p.m. CT on ESPN+)
  • Oklahoma Sooners at Oklahoma State Cowboys (3 p.m. CT on ESPN2)
  • Texas Longhorns at No. 10 Kansas Jayhawks (5 p.m. CT on ESPN)

Texas wins a rockfight over Kansas State, 62-56

Texas isn’t done yet after a huge win over Kansas State.

The Texas Longhorns (17-9) are still alive in the NCAA Tournament race. It wasn’t pretty nor impressive, but the Longhorns earned a win over the Kansas State Wildcats (15-11) at home.

Texas guard Max Abmas headlined the game reaching 3,000 career points. Much of the Oral Roberts transfer’s points came from elsewhere, but the high scoring guard accomplished the milestone on Monday.

Texas was the first to 50 points with under five minutes left to play. Despite the low scoring output the Longhorns never trailed in the game.

An intentional foul by Kansas State on an airborne Texas forward Chendall Weaver nearly cleared the Longhorns bench late in the contest, but cooler heads prevailed. The cheap foul resulted in a technical and allowed the ‘Horns to further separate.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but Texas is still in the hunt for March Madness. In a must-win game, the Longhorns won. Nevertheless, there’s five games left and head coach Rodney Terry’s squad will need to win two or three more to reach the tournament.

Texas next faces the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.

No. 3 Houston defeats Texas, 82-61

Texas stays on the NCAA Tournament bubble in a blowout loss to Houston.

The Houston Cougars (22-3) shellacked the Texas Longhorns (16-9) on Saturday. The loss continues the Longhorns’ recent trend of following a win with a loss in Big 12 play.

Texas falls to 2-4 in its last six games. It’s not the stretch the team hoped for after a slow start to conference play. While the effort was there for the Longhorns early, the game wasn’t close.

Houston reached 60 points before Texas scored 40. The Cougars weren’t all that efficient from the three-point line either. The team built a decisive early lead despite a 2-for-10 start from three-point range. They finished 8-for-23 from behind the arc.

Texas’ didn’t have many good offensive performances on the day. Texas guard Max Abmas shot a disappointing 2-for-14 from the field with seven points. The closest to a good offensive performance came from Texas forward Dylan Disu who scored 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Forward Chendall Weaver added 11 points.

With six games remaining, the Longhorns have two losses to spare to comfortably reach the NCAA Tournament with 20 wins. The final six games are home battles with Kansas State, Oklahoma State and No. 25 Oklahoma, and road trips to face No. 6 Kansas, Texas Tech and No. 12 Baylor.

Texas Basketball: Preparation begins for a rematch with No. 3 Houston

The Longhorns face another tough test against the Houston Cougars.

It’s crunch time in college basketball. Teams on the bubble across the country are looking to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Texas is one of those teams.

The Texas Longhorns (16-8) face the Houston Cougars (21-3) on Saturday. With no game in between now and then, the Longhorns should have plenty of time to prepare. They’re going to need it.

The two teams faced earlier this season in the Moody Center in Austin. Texas battled back from an 11-point second half deficit to send the game to overtime, but the better team separated. Houston won the game on an 11-7 overtime period, 76-72.

Fast forward to Saturday where Texas will again face one of the top NCAA title contenders on the road. The venue ramps up the degree of difficulty for the Longhorns and head coach Rodney Terry.

Houston doesn’t often lose at home. The Cougars are 13-0 when playing at the Fertitta Center in Houston. Terry and company will be due significant credit if they can find a way to win.

The battle for Texas will come down to rebounding perhaps more than anything else. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson reiterated the importance of rebounding following the Cougars’ win over the Longhorns stating that rebounding has been key to his teams’ success. It wasn’t coachspeak.

Houston won the rebounding battle in the last matchup, 47-36. In a game that went to overtime, a disparity that wide can change the outcome.

Texas is still an unfinished product. Even in Saturday’s 94-58 win over West Virginia, the Mountaineers brought in more rebounds than the Longhorns. It took Dylan Disu shooting 7-for-10 from the three point line to earn that margin of victory.

Despite room for growth, the Longhorns played well in spurts in recent losses to Houston and Iowa State. They will look to put it all together in a big game at 12 p.m. CT on CBS.

Oklahoma Sooners Women move up one spot in latest AP Poll

The Oklahoma Sooners are rolling through Big 12 play and moved up one spot in the latest AP Poll.

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team is arguably the hottest in the country right now. They’re in the midst of an eight-game winning streak and are 11-1 in the Big 12.

Last week, they beat TCU and Iowa State by an average of 15.5 points per game. With their success since conference play began, the Sooners entered the AP Top 25 last week and then rose one spot to No. 23 in this week’s poll after their 2-0 week.

Though Oklahoma’s all alone in first place, they still have a lot to prove to the AP voters, who have Big 12 teams Texas, Kansas State, and Baylor ranked ahead of the first-place Sooners.

Oklahoma split the season series with Kansas State, beating the then No. 2 Wildcats. They also hold a win over the Texas Longhorns

Oklahoma will have a chance to make a statement this week when they take on No. 21 Baylor and No. 24 West Virginia.

RK
TEAM
 REC PTS
TREND
1
South Carolina (35)
 23-0 875
–
2
Ohio State
 21-3 821
+3
3
Stanford
 22-3 788
+3
4
Iowa
 22-3 726
-2
5
Texas
 22-3 708
+2
6
NC State
 21-3 703
-3
7
Kansas State
 21-3 631
+1
8
Colorado
 20-4 625
-4
9
UCLA
 19-4 565
–
10
USC
 17-4 555
–
11
Oregon State
 20-3 514
+6
12
Virginia Tech
 20-4 509
+4
13
LSU
 21-4 472
–
14
Indiana
 20-3 432
–
15
UConn
 20-5 398
-4
16
Notre Dame
 18-5 340
-4
17
Gonzaga
 24-2 300
+2
18
Louisville
 20-5 299
-3
19
Syracuse
 20-4 223
+4
20
Creighton
 20-3 200
+1
21
Baylor
 18-5 172
-3
22
Utah
 18-7 142
-2
23
Oklahoma
 17-6 135
+1
24
West Virginia
 20-3 85
-2
25
Princeton
 18-3 71
–

Others receiving votes: UNLV 41, Fairfield 29, Saint Joseph’s 4, North Carolina 4, Duke 4, Tennessee 1, Mississippi State 1, Nebraska 1, Michigan State 1

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Texas guard Tyrese Hunter jumps from near the free throw line in dunk

Tyrese Hunter caught serious air in this dunk.

Tyrese Hunter caught flight on Saturday. The Texas Longhorns guard took off for one of the more impressive highlight dunks for the 2024 basketball season.

Hunter might not have been known for his dunk hang-time, but perhaps he will moving forward. After getting a steal to change possession, the Texas guard beelined toward the basket ahead of the West Virginia transition defense. After getting just inside the free throw line, Hunter took flight for a long jump to the basket before slamming it home.

The veteran player has had his ups and downs at Texas, but continues to show up and give a quality effort. His last game saw Hunter go 0-for-8 against the Iowa State program from which he transferred to Texas. The dunk had to provide some level of outlet for his frustration.

The Longhorns have plenty of work to do as the season nears the finish line, but plays like this particular highlight indicate the talent is present. The team will look to close toward an NCAA Tournament bid with a strong finish to the season.

Sooners Rolling: Best photos from Oklahoma’s 72-55 win over TCU

The Sooners are rolling through Big 12 play. Here are the best photos from Oklahoma’s win over TCU.

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team is on a tear. Nonconference play didn’t go according to plan, but Jennie Baranczyk’s crew has responded in a big way since Big 12 play began.

They’re 10-1 and in first place in the conference after their 72-55 win over TCU Tuesday night.

In the midseason resurgence, Skylar Vann has been fantastic, averaging 17 points per game in conference play. In her last seven, all Oklahoma wins, she’s averaging 20 points per game for the Sooners.

With seven games remaining on the schedule, the Sooners are in the driver’s seat to win back-to-back Big 12 regular season titles. They’re playing their best basketball at the right time and getting contributions from a number of players.

Here are the best photos from Oklahoma’s win over TCU.

After 19-point first half, Texas falls to No. 14 Iowa State, 70-65

A 19-point half won’t cut it against top Big 12 teams.

The Texas basketball program scored 19 points in the first half of Tuesday night’s game. The slow start was too much to overcome for the team.

The Longhorns backcourt no showed despite a strong game from Texas forward Dylan Disu. The veteran player put up 28 points on 10-for-19 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range.

Outside of Disu, the Longhorns offense put up a poor showing. Texas guard Max Abmas had the next highest point total with 13 despite a poor 3-for-11 shooting night from the field. Abmas went 0-for-5 on three-point attempts. Texas forward Dillon Mitchell had a solid night with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting.

Longhorns guard Tyrese Hunter had a rough game shooting 0-for-8 against his former team. Understandably, Hunter might have pressed to make an impact against the program he transferred away from, but the inefficiency proved costly.

There’s still plenty of basketball left to play. The Longhorns are somehow a better team on the road so far in Big 12 play. Nevertheless, you can’t help but think the team left an opportunity to move off the tournament bubble slip away.

Head coach Rodney Terry will need to address flat starts in games and find away to get more opportunities to the more efficient scorers in Disu and Mitchell. And he’ll need his guards to start taking and making better shots.

The Longhorns (15-8) reasonably only have three losses to spare to make the NCAA Tournament. They face the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-14) at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday on the Longhorn Network.

Texas hoops prepares for pivotal Tuesday matchup vs. No. 14 Iowa State

Texas can earn a huge win in front of a home crowd Tuesday night.

A heated battle is set to ensue on the basketball court. The Texas Longhorns (15-7) face the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones (16-5) on Tuesday night. Continue reading “Texas hoops prepares for pivotal Tuesday matchup vs. No. 14 Iowa State”

Latest bracketology has 10 teams from the Big 12 represented

Houston leads the field for the Big 12.

Selection Sunday is set for Mar. 17, 2024, which means we are still more than a month away from everything being finalized. The Big 12 has two teams that are capable of being a No. 1 seed when push comes to shove but after a massive win over Houston, the Kansas Jayhawks had another misstep.

In this particular Bracketology, the Cougars get the nod as the No. 1 seed from the Big 12 due to having the second most quad 1 victories in the country. Only Purdue and UConn have more with identical 8-2 records in quad 1.

Check out how the USA TODAY Sports team laid out the latest edition of their brackets on Tuesday:

East Region

  • No. 4 BYU Cougars (Spokane)
  • No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders (Pittsburgh)
  • No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs (Brooklyn)

Midwest Region:

South Region:

  • No. 3 Iowa State (Salt Lake City)
  • No. 4 Baylor Bears (Charlotte)
  • No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners (Memphis)

West Region:

  • No. 1 Houston Cougars (Memphis)
  • No. 10 Cincinnati Bearcats (Salt Lake City)

Of the nine conferences with representation in the latest bracketology, no conference has more members than the Big 12. A total of 10 teams from the Big 12 were selected, the SEC is a close second with 8 teams.

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