The second-to-last Saturday of the college basketball regular season wrapped up, and it could not have gone better for the Big 12 Conference NCAA Tournament bubble teams. The day began with four teams listed on the bubble, and all four teams grabbed wins on Saturday. TCU began the day as one of the “Last Four In”, while Cincinnati was in the “Next Four Out” and Baylor and West Virginia were listed in the “Next Next Four Out”, according to Joe Lunardi.
And then, the games were played and the day could not have gone better for the Big 12 Conference.
Cincinnati Handles Oklahoma State
The Cincinnati Bearcats rolled Oklahoma State at home 91-68 on Saturday. Day Day Thomas matched a career-best with seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points, while Moustapha Thiam added a double-double with 24 points and 15 rebounds. The Bearcats have won five of their last six games, with two games remaining at home vs. BYU and on the road at TCU.
West Virginia Upsets BYU
West Virginia had to win this game, and with their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, the Mountaineers picked up an enormous Quad 1 win over the Cougars. Honor Huff scored 19 points, Brenen Lorient added 18 and West Virginia led the entire second half to beat BYU 79-71. The Mountaineers broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-4 against Top 25 opponents.
The Mountaineers are now 17-12 overall and 8-8 in the league, snapping a three-game losing streak. Next up is a road trip to Kansas State followed by next Saturday’s final regular season game at home against UCF.
TCU Beats Kansas State
The Horned Frogs handled the Kansas State 77-68 on Saturday in Manhattan. Xavier Edmonds had 15 points, a career-high tying 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the game. The game was close early. There were five lead changes and nine ties before Edmonds made a layup with under seven minutes left until halftime that gave TCU the lead for good.
By Saturday night, Lunardi moved TCU up to one of his “Last Four Byes”. TCU is 19-7 overall and 9-7 in the league with games left against Texas Tech on the road and home vs. Cincinnati.
Baylor Hangs on vs. UCF
The Baylor Bears are still somehow on the bubble, despite entering this game with a 14-14 record and 4-11 league market. But Lunardi had them in the conversation to start the day, and Baylor got the win it needed to stay in the mix. Obi Agbim’s free throw in the final second gave Baylor the 87-86 win, securing a win that was not expected to be this close. The Bears led 56-42 at halftime before the Knights came storming back in the second half to tie the game in the final couple of minutes. Cameron Carr led four players in double figures scoring for Baylor with 26 points.
The Bears still have a lot of work to do, and need to win next week at Houston to keep any hope alive. That game is followed by a home game vs. Utah next Saturday.
Around the Rest of the Big 12
There were two major high-profile Big 12 games on Saturday as well. Most notably, No. 2 Arizona beat No. 14 Kansas at home 84-61. Meantime, Texas Tech upset Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum 82-73. In the two other games, No. 5 Houston rolled Colorado 102-62 at home, and Arizona State handled Utah 73-60 at home.
With two games left, Arizona now has a two-game lead in the Big 12 regular season title race over Texas Tech and Houston. Arizona wraps up the season against Iowa State on Big Monday and then Colorado. They would just need a split to land the No. 1 seed in Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament.
