Big 12 Weekend Recap: Houston Secures Top Spot in Big 12

Cincinnati beat TCU 75-63.

Cincinnati guard Jizzle James scored 18 points against the Horned Frogs and led the game in scoring. TCU was led by forward David Punch, who scored 18 points. Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell scored 12 points and had 13 rebounds. The Bearcats outrebounded TCU 39-32, 24 of which were defensive rebounds. Cincinnati's defense was critical in their victory over TCU.

The Horned Frogs' three-point shooting accuracy was 26.1%, 6% more accurate than the Bearcats'. TCU had 16 fouls, which, in comparison, dwarfs Cincinnati's 10. The Horned Frogs need to win-out to make it to March Madness.

TCU plays at West Virginia, and Cincinnati will take on Baylor today.

#9 Texas Tech beat West Virginia 73-51.

Texas Tech had two players who scored over 20 points. Red Raider forward JT Toppin scored 22 points and had eight rebounds, and guard Christian Anderson scored 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Anderson had a season-high for points and three-point shots made in his first career start. Mountaineers forward Amani Hansberry scored 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Texas Tech lost to Houston last night 61-69 and West Virginia plays TCU tonight.

#5 Houston beat #8 Iowa State 68-59.

Houston guard L.J. Cryer scored 28 points and five assists. He shot five for seven on three-point shots. Guard Milos Uzan scored 19 points while shooting seven for 10 from the field. Houston dominated in shooting. They shot 53.2% from the field and 58.8% on three-point shots. They were more accurate than the Cyclones by double digits in all statistics but free throws. Houston had 22 defensive rebounds, which is the same amount Iowa State had in total. Houston is in a fantastic position for the upcoming March Madness Tournament.

Iowa State was missing its two leading scorers, Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert. This was a perfect storm for Houston, as Iowa State was missing its best scorers while also hosting the game in Houston. Iowa State was led by forward Milan Momcilovic, who had 16 points and five rebounds.

Houston beat Texas Tech last night 69-61, and Iowa State plays Oklahoma State tonight.

Kansas beat Oklahoma State 96-64.

Kansas Star center Hunter Dickinson scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds. Four different Jayhawks scored 14 or more points, and guard David Coit came off the bench and scored 15 points. Oklahoma State had a total of 28 rebounds, Kansas had 29 defensive rebounds and 48 in total. Kansas dominated all facets of the game except steals, where they only had one more steal.

Oklahoma State guard Bryce Thompson scored 21 points and shot three for four from the three-point line. Only three players for the Cowboys had 10 or more points: Thompson, guard Brandon Newman, and forward Marchelus Avery. Newman scored 11 points and two rebounds coming off the bench. Avery scored 10 points and recorded three rebounds off the bench.

Oklahoma State plays Iowa State tonight, and Kansas beat Colorado 71-64 last night.

Colorado beat Baylor 76-74.

Colorado guard Julian Hammond III hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to hold off the Bears' comeback. These baskets put the Buffaloes up by four, securing their victory. Colorado was led by guard Andrej Jakimovski, who scored 17 points and had seven rebounds and five assists. This game was close in almost every way except two ways: Colorado had six more points off of fast breaks and the Buffaloes shot 12.7% higher on field goals, which proved to be the difference.

The Bears have lost three of their last four games, two of which are the top two teams in the divisional standings. Baylor forward Norchad Omier led the game in scoring and assists with 18 points and 13 assists. Baylor led 32-30 going into halftime, and the game slipped through their hands

Colorado lost to Kanas last night 64-71, and Baylor plays at Cincinnati tonight.

BYU beat #19 Arizona 96-95.

BYU forward Richie Saunders scored two go-ahead free throws with three seconds left to give the Cougars the lead. This was a back-and-forth game, and either team could have walked away with a win. BYU is red hot; they have won eight of their last ten games. BYU had five players score 10 or more points.

Arizona guard Caleb Love led the game in scoring with 27 points. Arizona outrebounded BYU 36 to 25, but BYU made up for this by forcing 14 turnovers to Arizona's 9. BYU scored 22 points off turnovers, which is 12 more than Arizona did off turnovers.

BYU plays Arizona State on Wednesday, and Arizona plays Utah.

Arizona State beat Kansas State 66-54.

Kansas State has played to the level of its opponent over the past few weeks. Over two weeks, they beat three ranked teams and then lost to two of the bottom half of the divisionally ranked teams. Wildcats guard David N'Guessan led the team in points and rebounds with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Sun Devils forward Jayden Quaintance led the team in scoring with 18 points and seven rebounds. Quaintance shot 8 for 11 from the paint. Arizona State center Shawn Phillips Jr. recorded a career-high number of rebounds with 11.

Arizona State plays BYU on Wednesday, and Kansas State plays UCF.

UCF beat Utah 76-72.

Utah head coach Craig Smith was fired on Monday after the Utes' loss to UCF. This was his fourth season with the Utes, and his all-time record with them was 65-62. Utah guard Gabe Madsen led the team in scoring with 23 points. Utes forward Ezra Ausar scored 20 points and had six rebounds.

UCF center Moustapha Thiam led the team in both points and rebounds with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Knights had five different players with 10 or more points. This was UCF's first victory since beating TCU on Jan. 25.

UCF plays at Kansas State on Wednesday. Utah travels to Arizona for their game on Wednesday.

Big 12 Standings:

1. #6 Houston 24-4 (16-1)

2. #22 Arizona 18-9 ( 12-4)

3. #10 Texas Tech 21-7 ( 12-5)

4. #9 Iowa State 21-6 (11-5)

5. #25 BYU 19-8 (10-6)

6. Kansas 19-9 (10-7)

7. Baylor 16-11 (8-8)

8. TCU 15-12 (8-8)

9. West Virginia 16-11 (7-9)

10. Utah 15-12 (7-9)

11. Kansas State 13-14 (7-9)

12. Cincinnati 16-11 (6-10)

13. UCF 14-13 (5-11)

14. Oklahoma State 13-14 (5-11)

15. Arizona State 13-14 (4-12)

16. Colorado 11-17 (2-15)

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