Around the Big 12 basketball: Week of Jan. 15

The Big 12 conference has cemented itself among the best in the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season. 12 out of 14 teams in the conference sport a winning record. Last week’s Big 12 slate included a massive upset and more thrillers. Let’s dive in.

A Good Ole Country Upset

One would be remiss to not begin with the big upset of the week. On Saturday night, a third-ranked Kansas Jayhawks team waltzed into WVU Coliseum looking for a win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. West Virginia had not experienced the successes of their fellow conference members, but the team hoped to ride the underdog role to a massive upset win.

An offensive onslaught ensued in the first half as the teams played to a 51-51 tie. A motivated Mountaineers squad went into the second half with a purpose. The Mountaineers out-scored the Jayhawks 40-34 in the second half and won 91-85.

The Mountaineers shot 57.1 percent from three-point range in the shocking upset. Kansas could only muster a 30.4 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Redemption for the Wildcats

Still looking at the Sunflower State, Kansas State had something to prove after losing a tough one-point contest to a ranked Texas Tech team going into this past week.

The Wildcats impressed on Tuesday with a 68-64 win over No. 9 Baylor. On Saturday, K-State won over Oklahoma State 70-66 (the Cowboys are the only Big 12 team still searching for their first conference win). Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma finished as the Wildcats’ leading scorer in that contest with 23 points.

Kansas State is now 4-1 in the Big 12 and 14-4 overall.

The Week of Hard Knocks

The ebb and flow of the college basketball season can lead to a tough week of matchups which BYU, Texas Tech and Iowa State discovered as all three teams faced two ranked opponents last week.

First off, it was No. 20 BYU against No. 24 Iowa State on Tuesday. Neither team shot above 50 percent from the field but the Cougars were still firmly in control, beating the Cyclones 87-72.

On Wednesday, No. 25 Texas Tech was dealt with a tough road matchup against No. 5 Houston. Texas Tech fought but was outmatched by Houston in a 77-54 defeat. Houston’s Jamal Shead shot 12-of-16 for 29 points in the win.

On Saturday, Iowa State faced yet another road matchup at No. 19 TCU. The Cyclones put together a terrific first half, outscoring TCU 44-26. TCU would mount a comeback bid that would fall just one point short as the Cyclones won in Fort Worth 73-72.

On the same day in Lubbock, BYU would blow a 16-point halftime lead over Texas Tech and lose 85-78. Richard Isaacs put together a masterful 32-point performance for the Red Raiders.

More Nail Biters and Heartbreakers

In Cincinnati, No. 15 Oklahoma edged out the Bearcats 69-65 in a game that was tied at halftime while Texas squeaked past No. 9 Baylor 75-73. Both games took place on Saturday.

In a major heartbreaker, UCF lost to Houston 57-42 this weekend. The Knights pulled together a better three-point percentage (19 percent) than overall field goal percentage (15.9).

Another week of Big 12 basketball begins on Tuesday with UCF-West Virginia and Texas-Oklahoma at 7 p.m. TCU-Oklahoma State and Houston-BYU will follow at 9 p.m.

Isaac Hallock is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email idh5055@psu.edu