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Big 12 basketball race

Big 12 Basketball: A Deep Year Ahead

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The world of Big 12 sports is riding high right now, coming off Oklahoma’s upset win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. On Saturday the focus turns to basketball, as the conference basketball season begins.

Big 12 basketball looks deep, with four of the ten teams ranked in the Top 25 and three more receiving votes. To set the stage for the race ahead, here’s a look at each team, what they’ve accomplished and who they’re working with.


Oklahoma State (#6): The Cowboys have the horses to make sure the Big 12 is represented when the Final Four comes to their backyard in Dallas. Marcus Smart is an elite player, and the sophomore two-guard averages 17 ppg. The same goes for guard Markel Brown and forward LeBryan Nash is averaging 14 points/6 rebounds. Okie State has role players in sharpshooter Phil Forte and rebounder Kamari Murphy. They’ve split two games with Memphis, while beating Butler and Colorado.

Baylor (#9): A balanced backcourt of Kenny Chery disturbing the ball and Brady Heslip hitting the three, is joined by forward Cory Jefferson, with his 14/9 per-game average. Gary Frank can hit from long range and Rico Gathers hits the boards. What the Bears need to move into the national elite is for 7’1” sophomore Isaiah Austin to start getting more than five rebounds a game. Baylor has already knocked off Kentucky, and the only loss is to Syracuse.

Iowa State (#13): Wins over Michigan, BYU and Iowa highlight an undefeated start for the Cyclones. This is a group of ‘tweeners, players between 6’4” and 6’7” who all score and rebound. Dustin Hogue is a double-double man at 14 points/10 rebounds, while DeAndre Kane does it all, with 15 points/8 rebounds/6 assists. And neither is among Iowa State’s top two scorers, those being Melvin Ejim and Georges Niang.


Kansas (#16): Bill Self has won at least a piece of the Big 12 for nine consecutive years. Oddly enough, the year when he has the nation’s most highly touted recruit, the one-and-done Andrew Wiggins, could be the year the streak ends. Wiggins is averaging a 16/5, and there is not a lot of depth to the lineup. Kansas is big, with sophomore forward Perry Ellis and 7’0” freshman Joel Embiid anchoring the front line, but Self needs to develop a backcourt and find some perimeter shooting.

Texas (Receiving votes): Rick Barnes hasn’t had a really good team since 2008, but there are some early signs of promise with this group. The Longhorns have already beaten North Carolina and have a deep lineup that is well-balanced. Jonathan Holmes, a 6’8” forward is the best player, but it’s a first-among-equals kind of best. The lack of three-point shooting is the biggest weakness.

Oklahoma (Receiving votes): Like their archrival in Austin, the Sooners have good balance, but are weak in three-point shooting. Cameron Clark, a 6’7” forward, is knocking down 19 ppg, while fellow forward Ryan Spangler is averaging an 11/10. The backcourt of Buddy Hield, Jordan Woodward and Isaiah Cousins can all chip in. Now they just need someone to do the chipping in from behind the arc.

Kansas State (Receiving votes): A terrible start saw quick losses to Northern Colorado, Charlotte and Georgetown, but each loss improved in quality and eventually K-State won eight in a row, including a win over Gonzaga. Bruce Weber has this team getting better, and…stop if you’ve heard this before—they have good balance in their scoring, but don’t have anyone who can loosen up the defenses from three-point range.

West Virginia: The losses have piled up, but the competition has been good—Wisconsin, Missouri and Gonzaga, along with Purdue and Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers have an outstanding scorer in guard Eron Harris, and his ability to hit the trey can give them an edge against midlevel Big 12 teams that otherwise have more talent. Juwan Staten is a quality backcourt scorer, while 6’9” freshman Devin Williams is emerging as both a scorer and rebounder.


Texas Tech: Here’s another team that has challenged itself and paid the price in the W-L record. The Red Raiders have quality losses to Arizona, Arizona State and Pitt, and tolerable defeats to Alabama and LSU. Even better, Texas Tech has a nice win against Houston. The Red Raiders are built around a pair of 6’7 forwards in Jaye Crockett and Jordan Tolbert, but they have to shoulder a big load.

TCU: Kyan Anderson is an exciting player, that averages 17 ppg and dishes five assists per game. The team lost to Longwood, which tells us about all we need to know. The Horned Frogs are the one Big 12 team where I really can’t find any reason for hope. 

The Roller-Coaster Ride Of Kansas Basketball

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Kansas basketball has been so ruthlessly efficient over the years that it’s easy for them to become an afterthought. You know they’ll win the Big 12, be a high seed in the NCAA Tournament and a potential Final Four pick in your bracket, but the consistent efficiency that the Jayhawk program operates makes it easy to take them for granted—to assume that every KU team is basically the same.

Maybe that’s true, but this February has been anything but ordinary. Bill Self made national news with a public lambasting of his team and Kansas lost three in a row. Then they turned it right back around with a five-game win streak that included last night’s wild 108-96 overtime win at Iowa State. So just who are these guys at Kansas and can they win Self’s second national title? Here’s a closer look at the personnel and a special emphasis on the key moments of February’s roller-coaster ride.

Jeff Withey may or may not be Kansas’ best player, but the 7-foot center is certainly the most consequential. In an era where true post players at the center position are hard to find, the senior is just that. He averages 14 points/8 rebounds a night, and while he’s not a dominator that makes NBA scouts drool, he’s a very difficult matchup for most anyone.

Even with Withey’s presence in the middle, Self’s team is still backcourt-heavy though. Kevin Young, a senior with pedestrian numbers is the only other starter on the frontcourt, is this not a team that has great depth at any position. But a trio of guards is difficult to defend and offer diversity in production.

Freshman Ben McLemore has emerged as the leading scorer, with 16 ppg and he does it with high efficiency. McLemore shoots 49 percent from the floor and a red-hot 42 percent from behind the arc. Senior Travis Releford shoots even better, an astonishing 61 percent from the floor and 46 percent from three-point range. Elijah Johnson runs the show at the point and is a competent shooter. Actually, Iowa State fans might be forgiven for thinking Elijah is a little more than competent, given his 39-point explosion last night in Ames, but for the season Johnson averages 10 ppg and shoots 40 percent from the floor.

The combination is a well-balanced floor. Kansas can open the half-court offense up with the three-ball and then pound it to Withey in the post if defenses extend to far to the perimeter. All they need to do is make sure everyone stays healthy and out of foul trouble and the balance is there for another big run in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course the first half of February made it look like even a big run in the Big 12 tournament was wishful thinking. Kansas hit a funk, that started with a loss to Oklahoma State at home, a stunning upset at TCU and another road loss at Oklahoma. Here’s a brief summation of what went awry in each game…

*The backcourt defense didn’t get it done in the 85-80 loss to Okie State. The talented Cowboy guards, Markel Brown and Marcus Smart, scored 25 & 28 points respectively. Releford was a non-factor for Kansas, preventing the Jayhawks from answering.

*Self’s highly publicized postgame press conference came after the TCU game. As ugly as the loss looks on paper, I’m inclined to cut them a little bit of a break. KU shot 30 percent from the floor and every team is going to have games where they can’t buy a shot. Their own defense and rebounding was actually pretty good. I thought Self’s comments—“this is the worst Kansas team since James Naismith”—were rather funny, but I never read too much into this game as a long-term predictor of Jayhawk fortunes.

*I was concerned with the ensuing loss to Oklahoma though. Even though a 72-66 road loss at a likely NCAA Tournament team is nothing to be ashamed of on paper, the fact a smallish Sooners team stayed with Kansas on the boards in spot where you would have thought all the Jayhawks intensity would be at max levels, was a little disconcerting.

It turned out that OU loss was finally where things bottomed out. Kansas has now won their last five. Two of the wins were against bad teams in Texas and the home rematch with TCU. But three others have been significant, with a home win over Kansas State, then road wins at Oklahoma State and last night in Iowa State. Here are the pertinent points on this trio of games…

*The rebounding ferocity came to bear in the 83-62 destruction of Kansas State, a game the Jayhawks had to win if they were going to keep their run of eight straight Big 12 titles (outright or shared) going. Withey and Young led up an effort that produced a 39-20 rebound advantage.

*Kansas played tough defense against Oklahoma State, holding the Cowboys to 33 percent shooting from the floor, while Withey and Young again cleaned up the glass in a 68-67 double-overtime thriller.

*The 108-96 final from last night’s game in Iowa State will raise everyone’s eyebrow, but Kansas was the team that defended better inside the arc. The Cyclones were forced outside where they chucked up 41 treys and only shot 35 percent from the floor. I won’t go so far as to see that Withey and Young’s combined 26 points and 19 rebounds was the biggest point of the night—not when Johnson dropped 39—but the play of the frontcourt personnel for Kansas was certainly the factor that distinguished them from their opponent.

I like what I see in this Kansas team. The sustained effort by Withey and Young to control the glass, and the quality defense—holding good teams to sub-40 percent from the floor for two consecutive games—suggest that Self has gotten his team’s attention  and has them bringing the intensity. When the effort levels are there, the overall balanced lineup is a tough out for anyone.

Before we get to March Madness though, there’s still  the question of a regular season championship streak to keep going. Kansas is tied with Kansas State in the loss column, but the schedule works for KU—they’ll have easy home games with West Virginia and Texas Tech that set up a season-ending finale at talented, but inconsistent Baylor. It’s been a more interesting ride than normal for Kansas basketball this year, but it looks set for a familiar finish.

SPEAKING OF BAYLOR

When I did my regular Monday podcast yesterday with Greg DePalma at Prime Sports Network, we both unveiled our current field of 68 if the season were to end today. I had Baylor as the very last team in and wasn’t real happy about having to include the schizophrenic Bears. ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Baylor as his last team out.  This is about as pure a bubble team as you can imagine.

It’s also a team that can be very dangerous. Baylor’s got good interior personnel, with 7’1” freshman Isaiah Austin and power forward Cory Jefferson. The backcourt has an explosive scorer in Pierre Jackson, and they should be getting more than they are from playmaker A.J. Walton and three-point shooter Brady Heslip.

If Baylor puts it all together, they’re the one team that has the talent to match up with Kansas and that regular season finale—a Saturday night ESPN game at 6 PM ET on March could be about a championship for the Jayhawks and an NCAA bid for the Bears. I’m disgusted with the inconsistency and underachievement Baylor has shown, but there’s no denying what they could be if everything clicks at the right time.

Big 12 Basketball’s Power Trio

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Big 12 basketball has shaped up into a three-team race, with all three teams playing legitimate national powers. Baylor, Missouri and Kansas are the only teams with winning conference records after four games, and there’s head-to-head battles involving all three, starting tonight with Baylor’s visit to Lawrence to meet the Jayhawks (9:30 PM ET, ESPN). With today being Martin Luther King Day, Missouri will also be on ESPN against Texas A&M in a 5:30 PM ET tip. If we look ahead to the weekend, it’s a Baylor-Missouri showdown on Saturday (2 PM ET, ESPN) and Kansas gets another nationally televised date, this one with Texas at 4 PM ET Saturday on CBS. With a big week coming up ahead and a great race in the making, the Notebook takes today to evaluate the Big 12’s Power Trio.

Kansas (14-3, 4-0, ranked 10th): The traditional power in this conference doesn’t look dominating this year, but they beat Kansas State decisively to open league action and also beat a decent Oklahoma team. Thomas Robinson is well on his way to Big 12 Player of the Year honors, averaging 17 pts/12 rebs per game. Tyshawn Taylor is excellent at point guard, averaging 16 ppg and shooting the ball pretty well from the floor and very well from behind the arc. Filling in the gaps around his point guard and power forward is the challenge for head coach Bill Self and there are mixed reviews early on.

Travis Releford has made some progress at shooting guard, moving his scoring average into double figures and shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. Going up against a team like Baylor that’s very deep up front, Releford has to open up some room for Robinson to operate in the post. The task of getting Robinson help down low hasn’t fared quite as well. Jeff Whitey, the 7’0” center has been average at best, and wing players Connor Teahan and Elijah Johnson haven’t been able to crash the glass, or score. I haven’t seen this team as championship-caliber all year and still don’t, even if they defend their home floor tonight and take the early conference lead. Robinson is going to have to wake up the echoes of Danny Manning in 1988 and put the Jayhawks on his back if they’re going to be any more than a second or third-place team in the league and 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Which is hardly a disgrace, but the folks in Lawrence are used to a lot more.

Baylor (17-0, 4-0, ranked 4th): Baylor’s powerful front line of Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller and Quincy Acy has been every bit as good as advertised, as the Bears consistently win the rebounding battles and they get a lot of points from this frontline trio. Jones is the main man who gets the ink, but Acy, with his 13/7 points/rebounds line isn’t far behind, and Miller is a 12/5 man. This group is physically imposing with Jones going 6’11”, Miller going 6’9” and Acy going 6’7”. The backcourt was the question mark and they’ve come through in a big way, with point guard Pierre Jackson running the show and also able to hit 51 percent from the floor and keep defenses from collapsing down. And no one opens up a packed defense like Brady Heslip, the sophomore shooting guard who’s hitting 48 percent of his three-point shots and has been an unexpected boon for the Bears.

The only thing Scott Drew has to worry about is his depth. Baylor hasn’t gotten the production expected from forward Anthony Jones, and there’s no reliable third guard in the rotation. We’ll have to see how the minutes logged by the starters affect them as the season rolls in and we get into February. For now, this is one of the best starting five in basketball, fully capable of a championship run in the regular season and earning a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Missouri (16-1, 3-1, ranked 9th): This is a backcourt that’s very talented and explosive in the starting lineup and very deep. Marcus Denmon and Kim English are as good as duo as there is in America, combining to average 33 points a game. Both shoot the ball very well, sitting in the 50 percent range from the floor and both can nail it from downtown. They don’t get their points by piling up a raw volume of bad shots. Then off the bench comes the Pressey brothers, Matt and Flip. The sons of former NBA player Paul Pressey (a key to the successful Milwaukee Bucks teams of the 1980s), Matt and Flip provide quality depth and would be a respectable starting duo in of themselves, with the only weakness being consistent three-point shooting.

Mizzou is painfully lacking depth inside though, where power forward Ricardo Ratcliffe has to fight lonely battles. The Tigers were hammered on the boards in their one conference loss to Kansas State. It will be interesting to see how Ratcliffe can match up with UK’s Robinson when they play on the prime-time game the Saturday night before the Super Bowl. It won’t be as interesting to see how poor Ratcliffe matches up with Baylor’s threesome. He’ll be outnumbered and it will be up to the backcourt to bail the team out.

It’s very easy to see any of these teams having a big year on a national scale. Baylor is the most complete team. Kansas has the league’s signature player. Missouri can come at you with waves in the backcourt. Now they start playing each other as of tonight, and the Big 12 race is about to get very interesting.