The Big 12 men’s basketball teams started conference play on Monday, with four games across the country as the game’s best conference got things started.
The results included:
No. 3 Iowa State 79, Colorado 69
No. 14 Houston 60, Oklahoma State 47
Kansas State 70, No. 16 Cincinnati 67
This being the Big 12, the road team won two games. Because, of course.
Four more league openers will be played on New Year’s Eve.
Here are five takeaways from the first night of conference action.
Best Game
If you didn’t watch Kansas State beat Cincinnati you missed a treat. The Wildcats played like the team that, I think, most of us expected them to be this season. The defense was high-level and minimized Bearcats big man Aziz Bandaogo’s impact on the game (nine points, nine rebounds). Kansas State also held Simas Lukosius to just four points. And, K-State forced 15 turnovers and scored 15 points off of those mistakes, which was a big key in the game.
Still, the Bearcats never let Kansas State get away until the end. Dan Skillings Jr. had a great game (18 points, four 3-pointers) and guard Jizzle James added 11 points with four assists Forward Dillon Mitchell dumped in 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
K-State got huge games out of Coleman Hawkins (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Dug McDaniel (17 points). The Wildcats are going to need more of that from both players to make an impact this season. David N’Guessan added 13 points and seven rebounds.
I was interested to see how Kansas State would handle Bandaogo, given that I think interior play is the Wildcats’ biggest issue. K-State ran different players at him, put Mobi Ikegwuruka on him when he was on the floor and did a great job on team defense of taking away the lob game.
Best Performance
Arizona guard Caleb Love came up big for the Wildcats, who were 0-5 against high major teams until they beat TCU. Love dropped in 33 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. He made five 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.
I still believe Arizona is an NCAA Tournament team and it needs wins like this to boost a resume that by some metrics looks really good — except for that 0-5 record in Quad 1 games.
Most-Needed Win
I wrestled with Arizona or Kansas State, but I think K-State needed it more. These Wildcats entered the contest with a three-game losing streak, falling to St. John’s, Drake and Wichita State. At least Arizona had a three-game winning streak going into the TCU game.
Kansas State felt stuck and had 10 days to think about losing to the Shockers on the road. So, they responded with a little shock of their own against Cincinnati.
Worst Loss
The temptation is to pick Cincinnati. But, honestly, it was Colorado. The Buffs were blown out by 28 points when they faced the Cyclones in Maui. Colorado stepped up against Iowa State and played a great game. It never allowed the Cyclones to truly get away from it and, at one point, Colorado took the lead away from Iowa State.
But, those turnovers. Colorado committed 19 and Iowa State turned them into 24 points. That was difference. That’s always the difference against Iowa State.
The Buffs are going to feel as if they let one slip away from them. Remember — the Buffs were picked to finish 15th in the league to start the season. They are not playing like a 15th place team right now.
Odds and Ends
Entering the Cincinnati-Kansas State game the Bearcats were 8-1 all-time against the Wildcats. The loss was on March 14, 1958, in Lawrence, Kan. That loss was in the NCAA Tournament and that regional was held in Allen Fieldhouse. The Bearcats were led by Oscar Robertson.
Kansas State has won 10 games against Top 25 teams at home since Jerome Tang took over the program. That’s among the top three programs in the country in that span.
Caleb Love’s 33 points was a season-high for the Arizona guard. KJ Lewis, also of Arizona, had a season-high eight assists.
Arizona is now 43-1 under coach Tommy Lloyd when it scores 90 or more points in a game. The win was Arizona’s first in the Big 12.
Iowa State’s meeting with Colorado was the 150th all-time between the two programs, as they were rivals when the Buffaloes were still in the Big 12 and, before that, the Big Eight. Iowa State is 80-70 all-time and that includes their meeting in Maui earlier this season.
Iowa State scored 79 points. Entering the game, the Cyclones were the only team left in Division I that had scored at least 80 points in every game.
Houston’s win over Oklahoma State was the 10th straight conference-opening win for the Cougars.
Oklahoma State’s starters shot 4-of-24 and the Cowboys entered the game scoring nearly 80 points per contest.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
