Big 12 Basketball Weekly Recap — January 11

One week has passed in Big 12 Conference play and the Big 12 continues to make its case as the best conference in college basketball.

In the latest AP Poll, once again, the Big 12 had a nation-high six teams represented in it, with those teams being Houston at second, Kansas at third, Oklahoma at ninth, Baylor at 14th, BYU at 18th and Texas at 25th. The Big 12 also has Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Iowa State and TCU receiving votes.

As of games through Jan. 10, the last of the unbeatens have fallen in Division I College Basketball and that includes Houston. With every team having played at least 14 games, the Big 12 still has 11 of its 14 teams with three or fewer losses.

West Virginia remains the only Big 12 team without a winning record two games into conference play.

Let’s take a look at each Big 12 team and how they fared in games over the last week. This list is sorted alphabetically.

No. 14 Baylor (13-2, 2-0 Big 12)

Baylor opened conference play with a 75-70 overtime road win against Oklahoma State last Saturday. The Bears were nearly upset by an unranked team in a game that was tightly contested throughout but they managed to squeak out the win.

This past Tuesday, Baylor added another win with an 81-72 home against 18th ranked BYU. The Bears trailed at halftime and trailed by as many as nine points before rallying to win the game.

Next up for Baylor is a home game against Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against Kansas State on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

No. 18 BYU (12-3, 0-2 Big 12)

BYU opened conference play with a 71-60 home loss to Cincinnati last Saturday. The Cougars struggled in the second half after leading at halftime and that allowed Cincinnati to rally to win the game.

BYU followed that game up with another loss this past Tuesday, this time an 81-72 road loss to No. 14 Baylor. Blown leads became an issue once again for the Cougars, as they led by as much as nine points in the second half before allowing Baylor to rally to win the game.

Next up for BYU is a road game against UCF on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against Iowa State on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Cincinnati (12-3, 1-1 Big 12)

Cincinnati opened conference play with a 71-60 road win over No. 18 BYU last Saturday. The Bearcats trailed at halftime but had a strong second half to win the game.

Cincinnati followed that game up with a 74-73 home loss to No. 25 Texas this past Tuesday. The game was closely contested throughout, with neither team ever leading by more than seven points and Texas managed to squeak out the win.

Next up for Cincinnati is a road game against No. 14 Baylor on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against TCU on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

No. 2 Houston (14-1, 1-1 Big 12)

Houston opened conference play with an 89-55 win over West Virginia last Saturday. Their 89 points scored were tied for their most in a game this season.

Houston followed that game up with their first loss of the season to unranked Iowa State on the road 57-53 this past Tuesday. Both teams entered with top 10 scoring defenses nationally and Iowa State managed to hold Houston to its lowest-scoring output of the season.

Next up for Houston is a road game against TCU on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Iowa State (12-3, 1-1 Big 12)

Iowa State opened conference play with a 71-63 loss to No. 9 Oklahoma last Saturday. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Cyclones.

Iowa State followed that game up with an upset home win over No. 2 Houston 57-53 this past Tuesday. Both teams entered in with top 10 scoring defenses nationally and Iowa State managed to hold Houston to its lowest scoring output on the season.

Next up for Iowa State is a home game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against No. 18 BYU on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

No. 3 Kansas (13-2, 1-1 Big 12)

Kansas opened conference play with an 83-81 home win against TCU last Saturday. This was the second time this season that Kansas has allowed at least 80 points in a game, but fortunately, Kansas has won both such matchups.

Kansas followed that game up with a road loss to unranked UCF 65-60 yesterday. Kansas led at halftime but a strong second half from UCF propelled the Knights to victory.

Next up for Kansas is a home game against No. 9 Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Kansas State (12-3, 2-0 Big 12)

Kansas State opened conference play with a 77-52 home win against UCF last Saturday. Their 52 points allowed were their fewest in a game this season.

Kansas State followed that game up with a road win over West Virginia 81-67 this past Tuesday. West Virginia led at halftime but a strong second half from Kansas State propelled the Wildcats to victory.

Next up for Kansas State is a road game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against No. 14 Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

No. 9 Oklahoma (13-2, 1-1 Big 12)

Oklahoma opened conference play with a 71-63 home win over Iowa State last Saturday. Their 13th win of the season is now two games shy of what the Sooners finished with all of last season.

Oklahoma followed that game up with an 80-71 road loss to TCU yesterday. Oklahoma became the fifth AP Top 10 team to lose over a two-day span.

Next up for Oklahoma is a road game against No. 3 Kansas on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Oklahoma State (8-7, 0-2 Big 12)

Oklahoma State opened conference play with a 75-70 overtime home loss to No. 14 Baylor last Saturday. The Cowboys nearly pulled off an upset win over a ranked team in a game that was tightly contested throughout but Baylor managed to squeak out the win.

Oklahoma State followed that game up with a 90-73 loss to Texas Tech this past Tuesday. Their 90 points allowed were their most in a game this season.

Next up for Oklahoma State is a road game against Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

TCU (12-3, 1-1 Big 12)

TCU opened conference play with an 83-81 road loss to No. 3 Kansas last Saturday. The Horned Frogs nearly pulled off the upset road win but scoring 81 points wasn’t enough as they allowed at least 83 points for the fourth time this season.

TCU followed that game up with an 80-71 upset home win over No. 9 Oklahoma yesterday. TCU became the fifth team over a two-day span to pull off an upset win over an AP Top 10 team.

Next up for TCU is a home game against No. 2 Houston on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against Cincinnati on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

No. 25 Texas (12-3, 1-1 Big 12)

Texas opened conference play with a 78-67 home loss to unranked Texas Tech last Saturday. Their 67 points scored were their second-fewest in a game this season.

Texas followed that game up with a 74-73 road win against Cincinnati this past Tuesday. Cincinnati led by 3 with 59 seconds left in the game but Texas rattled off four unanswered points to squeak out the victory.

Up next for Texas is a road game against West Virginia on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a home game against UCF on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Texas Tech (13-2, 2-0 Big 12)

Texas Tech opened conference play with an upset road win over No. 25 Texas 78-67 last Saturday. Texas Tech’s Pop Isaacs was named in a civil lawsuit a day before, but the Red Raiders overcame that adversity to pull off an upset road win by double digits.

Texas Tech followed that game up with a 90-73 home win over Oklahoma State this past Tuesday for its eighth straight win. This was the third time this season in which Texas Tech has scored at least 90 points in a game.

Up next for Texas Tech is a home game against Kansas State on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game at No. 2 Houston on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

UCF (10-4, 1-1 Big 12)

UCF opened conference play with a 77-52 road loss to Kansas State last Saturday. Their 52 points scored were their fewest in a game this season.

UCF followed that game up with an upset home win over No. 3 Kansas 65-60 yesterday. Kansas led at halftime, but UCF had a strong second half to get its first conference win in the Big 12.

Up next for UCF is a home game against No. 18 BYU on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against No. 25 Texas on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

West Virginia (5-10, 0-2 Big 12)

West Virginia opened conference play with an 89-55 road loss to Houston last Saturday. Their 89 points allowed were their most in a game this season.

West Virginia followed that game up with an 81-67 home loss to Kansas State this past Tuesday. West Virginia led at halftime but a strong second half from Kansas State propelled the Wildcats to victory.

Up next for West Virginia is a home game against No. 25 Texas on Saturday, Jan. 13. After that is a road game against No. 9 Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 17.