The Big 12 men’s basketball teams concluded the 17th round of league action on Wednesday, with six teams in action.
Wednesday’s game results included:
UCF 80, Kansas State 76
No. 22 Arizona 83, Utah 66
No. 25 BYU 91, Arizona State 81
The Big 12’s 18th round of league action begins on Saturday with the following games:
No. 10 Texas Tech at Kansas, 1 p.m. CT, ESPN
UCF at TCU, 3 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Cincinnati at Houston, 3:30 p.m. CT, CBS
Arizona State at Utah, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN+
Oklahoma State at Baylor, 7 p.m. CT ESPN+
No. 22 Arizona at No. 9 Iowa State, 8 p.m. CT, ESPN
West Virginia at No. 25 BYU, 9 p.m. CT, ESPN2
Here are three takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
DESPERATE TIMES IN ORLANDO
The UCF Knights are still over .500 after their 80-76 win over the Kansas State Wildcats. It was a battle of two teams trying desperately to finish the season better than .500.
The Knights still harbor dreams of getting into the NCAA Tournament, though those hopes are extremely faint. The Knights are more than likely headed to the NIT or the new postseason tournament being promoted by Fox in late March. Plus, coach Johnny Dawkins is coaching for his job.
UCF was in control for most of this one, and Keyshawn Hall had another great game, as he dropped 26 points on the Wildcats. At least once every week he puts together another huge game. He’s just a junior. The Knights better hope they can hang onto him.
The Wildcats must win their final three league games to get above .500 for the season and without Coleman Hawkins, that will be a tough order. Kansas State played well without him as Max Jones had a big night with 22 points. But, since that six-game winning streak the Wildcats have lost four straight, and they look hard-pressed to turn it around.
Coach Jerome Tang might be reaching a pivot point in Manhattan. I don’t believe his job is on the line right now. But, Year 4 at Kansas State could prove to be monumental for his future.
WELCOME BACK, JOSH
Josh Eilert made his interim head coaching debut for the Utah Utes on Wednesday, as they fell to the Arizona Wildcats. Man, he can’t catch a break.
If Craig Smith’s firing on Monday took everyone by surprise, it put Eilert in the unusual position of being an interim head coach for a Big 12 team for the second straight season. He did the same thing last year at West Virginia. And, wouldn’t you know it? WVU is coming to Utah next week.
If this was athletic director Mark Harlan’s way of rallying the troops, it didn’t work. Arizona took care of business, with 23 points from guard Caleb Love and double figures from three other teams. The defense was much better, too, as the Wildcats held Gabe Madsen to 10 points.
The Wildcats don’t really have a prayer of catching Houston for a share of the Big 12 title. But, if the Wildcats keep winning then second place will be theirs. Three games to go, though.
NO LETDOWN FOR THE COUGS
Let’s see — four straight wins, including back-to-back wins over ranked teams, one of which was on the road at Arizona. A national ranking for the first time all season. And four days to think about it? That’s usually a recipe for a setback on the road.
No problem for BYU. The Cougars took care of Arizona State. Granted, the Sun Devils are bringing up the rear of the conference. But, hey? Colorado pushed Kansas to the final minutes the other night.
Still, it says something that BYU blocked out the noise and focused. I didn’t see a dip in play from the Arizona game to the Arizona State game. This team has fully embraced coach Kevin Young’s system and when this team is firing away from 3 and proving efficient on offense, they’re a hard beat. It was their third straight game with 90 or more points.
Richie Saunders — yet again — led BYU with 24 points and made six 3-pointers. In fact, BYU made 16 of them.
There is talent on this ASU team. But No Jayden Quaintance due to injury. BJ Freeman was just dismissed from the team. What a nightmare. Does this cost Bobby Hurley his job? It’s worth keeping an eye on.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
