Big 12 Men’s Basketball: Gauntlet Of Conference Play Continues

The craziness that is Big 12 Men’s Basketball has been on full display the last few weeks. Conference play began on December 31. Each team has played five conference games. Only No. 2 Kansas remains undefeated in conference play. Texas Tech and West Virginia are the only teams without a conference win.

The Big 12 is one of the most, if not the most, competitive conferences in the nation. The parity among the teams is such that any team can beat another team any day, either at home or on the road. With this week’s rankings, six of the teams are ranked in the Top 25 – Kansas (2/2), Texas (7/7), Iowa State (12/12), Kansas State (13/15), TCU (14/13), and Baylor (21/22). Texas Tech is also receiving votes in the Coaches Poll. The Big 12 leads the nation, with 60% of the teams being ranked. It’s the first time since March 15, 2021, that the league has had six ranked teams. Those six are a combined 17-9 (.654) against Top 25 opponents.

The Big 12 is the only conference in the nation with all teams in the top 65 in NET Rankings, one key factor used in postseason seeding. Currently, the conference NET Rankings are Kansas (5), Iowa State (10), Texas (11), Kansas State (14), Baylor (19), TCU (21), West Virginia (30), Oklahoma (44), Oklahoma State (56) and Texas Tech (65).

The conference’s NET ranking of 27.5 is the lowest of all leagues. The next-lowest is 55.6. The Big 12 teams have ten of the top 11 toughest remaining schedules per NCAA stats. West Virginia has the most challenging remaining schedule in the nation, followed by Kansas (T2), Oklahoma (T2), Texas (4), Baylor (5), Iowa State (6), Kansas State (7), Oklahoma State (8), Texas Tech (9), and TCU (11).

Here are some other interesting stats about the conference

90% of the Big 12 teams are in KenPom’s Top 38
The 7.2-point average scoring margin is the smallest of all conferences and 2.5 points smaller than the closest A5 league.
5-or-fewer points have decided 56% (14-25) of league games, the highest among the A5 leagues and second overall.
For the first time in league history, nine straight conference games were won by visiting teams between January 3-7.
Home teams rebounded last week to win nine of the ten games and hold a 14-11 advantage.
The Big 12 is the only conference with all teams above .500 for the season
The Big 12 leads all leagues in scoring defense (65.2 points per game), field goal percentage (.468), and assists (15.7 per game); the conference is third in scoring offense (75.8 points per game).

Saturday, January 14 Big 12 Men's Basketball Results

Last Saturday, three of the five games played had at least one ranked team playing. Two of the games had both teams ranked. Three of the games were decided by one possession.

Here are those results (the rankings listed were the team’s ranking at the time of the game).

#17 TCU (14-3, 3-2) vs. #11 Kansas State (15-2, 4-1)

TCU wins 82-68

Game leaders:

Emanual Miller (TCU) 23 points; Keyontae Johnson (KSU) 18 points
Emanuel Miller (TCU) eight rebounds; Nae’qwan Tomlin (KSU) ten rebounds
Mike Miles Jr (TCU) 11 assists; Nae’qwan Tomlin (KSU) five assists
Chuck O’Bannon Jr (TCU) four steals; Keyontae Johnson (KSU) two steals

Oklahoma (11-6, 2-3) vs. West Virginia (10-7, 0-5)

Oklahoma wins 77-76

Game Leaders:

Grant Sherfield (OU) 22 points; Tre Mitchell (WVU) 16 points
Milos Uzan (OU) nine rebounds; Jimmy Bell Jr (WVU) six rebounds
Grant Sherfield (OU) five assists; Tre Mitchell (WVU) three assists
Milos Uzan (OU) one steal; Tre Mitchell (WVU) two blocks

#2 Kansas (16-1, 5-0) vs. #14 Iowa State (13-3, 4-1)

Kansas wins 62-60

Game Leaders:

Gradey Dick (KU) 21 points; Gabe Kalscheur (ISU) 23 points
Jalen Wilson (KU) 11 rebounds; Robert Jones (ISU) nine rebounds
Dajuan Harris Jr. (KU) six assists; Tamin Lipsey (ISU) six assists
Jalen Wilson (KU) two blocks; Demarion Watson (ISU) two blocks

Baylor (12-5, 2-3) vs. Oklahoma State (9-8, 1-4)

Baylor wins 74-58

Game Leaders:

LJ Cryer (BU) 16 points; Caleb Asberry (OSU) 14 points
Jalen Bridges (BU) eight rebounds; Caleb Asberry (OSU) seven rebounds
Adam Flagler (BU) eight assists; Avery Anderson III (OSU) three assists
Flo Thamba (BU) one steal; Caleb Asberry (OSU) two blocks

#10 Texas (15-2, 4-1) vs. Texas Tech (10-7, 0-5)

Texas wins 72-70

Game Leaders:

Marcus Carr (UT) 20 points; Pop Isaacs (TTU) 23 points
Marcus Carr (UT) six rebounds; Jaylon Tyson (TTU) 14 rebounds
Sir’jabari Rice (UT) four assists; Pop Isaacs (TTU) three assists
Sir’jabari Rice (UT) two blocks; De’vion Harmon (TTU) two steals

Big 12 Standings

Team	Conference	Overall	Home	Away	Versus Top 10	Versus Top 25
Kansas	5-0	16-1	10-0	3-0	1-0	3-1
Kansas State	4-1	15-2	8-0	3-2	1-0	3-1
Texas	4-1	15-2	11-1	2-0	2-0	3-1
Iowa State	4-1	13-3	9-0	2-2	1-1	3-2
TCU	3-2	14-3	9-2	1-1	0-1	3-2
Baylor	2-3	12-5	8-2	1-2	1-0	2-2
Oklahoma	2-3	11-6	6-3	1-2	0-3	0-4
Oklahoma State	1-4	9-8	6-2	2-4	0-3	0-4
Texas Tech	0-5	10-7	8-2	0-3	0-3	0-5
West Virginia	0-5	10-7	7-2	1-4	0-1	0-2

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