The Big 12 Tournament Second Round kicked off Wednesday, with the 4-8 seeds playing the winners of Tuesday’s matchups.
It was an up-and-down day, with two less exciting games and two very exciting games. This included an overtime game between Kansas and UCF, which will most likely be the game of the tournament.
Colorado continues their Cinderella run, making the quarterfinals as the 16 seed. Meanwhile, Baylor made their spot in the NCAA Tournament more comfortable, and Iowa State pulled off a dominant win. Kansas avoided going one and done for the second straight year.
Eight games down, seven to go. Here’s a recap of the Big 12 second round.
Final Scores
Iowa State 76 Cincinnati 56
Colorado 67 West Virginia 60
Baylor 70 Kansas State 56
Kansas 98 UCF 94 OT
Takeaway #1: Iowa State controls the game despite quiet games from Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert
Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert have led the Cyclones in scoring all year, averaging a combined 30 points a game. Gilbert has been dealing with injury and only played 11 minutes, scoring three points. Jones played his normal minutes but had an off day, scoring just eight points on 3-10 shooting. Despite the top two scorers not holding much weight, Iowa State still won by 20.
Joshua Jefferson scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting. Tamin Lipsey added 16, and Milan Momcilovic scored 13 on 3-5 shooting from deep. You can’t forget Dishon Jackson either, who scored 10 points while grabbing 15 rebounds. This just shows how deep and balanced this team is. Many teams across the league would struggle significantly if their top two scorers went cold, but Iowa State stepped up and delivered a convincing win.
The game was closer than it looked. Cincinnati kept them around the ten-point mark for most of the second half, thanks to 17 Iowa State turnovers. Iowa State is lucky they shot the ball so well because an off-shooting day plus carelessness with the ball could be an ugly combination.
When Gilbert is healthy and Jones gets hot, this team can be unstoppable if they play like they did Wednesday night. They’ll face Baylor Thursday, a team they lost to in a thrilling double overtime game a week ago.
Takeaway #2: West Virginia’s lack of depth haunts them again
We talked about the reverse for Iowa State, but ever since Tucker DeVries’ injury in early December, they have struggled to find a secondary option behind small. Wednesday, it didn’t look like it would be an issue after Jevon Small scored 13 points in the first 12 minutes of the game, and West Virginia took a 25-12 lead. However, Tad Boyle, Colorado’s coach, made defensive adjustments, and not only did Small not score the rest of the half, but West Virginia only scored four more points the rest of the half, allowing Colorado to come back and cut the lead to six.
In the second half, Colorado basically told West Virginia, if someone else steps up, we’ll let them beat us, but we’re not letting Javon Small beat us. It worked. Small only scored two points in the first 17 minutes of the second half, and Colorado was able to take a comfortable lead. No one else could step up and lead this team on offense. By the time Javon Small hit a few heroic shots, it was too late.
It seems like West Virginia is still in the NCAA Tournament field, meaning the season is still alive. They need other guys to step up and make an impact, or we’ll see this result again in the Round of 64. Toby Okani was the only other player in double figures, and nearly everyone shot under 50%.
Give a lot of credit to Colorado, they continue to fight. They’re now 5-4 in their last nine after an 0-13 start to conference play, and the guys are playing hard. They’ll face Houston Thursday in hopes of continuing their Cinderella run.
Takeaway #3: Jayden Nunn’s big minutes help Baylor reach cruise control
This one felt like Baylor’s from the start, and a big reason was Jayden Nunn’s performance. Nunn, who averages just under nine points a game, tied his second post scoring performance of the season, scoring 18 points on 7-10 shooting. He had 12 in the first half on 5-6 shooting and helped them build a comfortable enough lead where Kansas State couldn’t close the gap.
VJ Edgecombe and Norchad Omier also had big games. Edgecombe finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Norchad Omier added 12 and 14. On a night where freshman Rob Wright well… looked like a freshman, Jayden Nunn’s maturity allowed Baylor to get the easy win over former assistant Jerome Tang.
Coleman Hawkins, who scored 26 Tuesday against Arizona State, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with five points on 2-9 shooting. Credit to Baylor for slowing him down.
The Baylor Bears will take on Texas Tech Thursday night.
Takeaway #4: AJ Storr shows up when it matters
AJ Storr, to put it lightly, has been underwhelming this season. Listed as one of the top players in the portal after averaging 16.8 PPG last season at Wisconsin, AJ has been nowhere near that player at Kansas. He came into this game averaging 5.6 points a game, and in the last four games, he’s played under 10 minutes a game.
Wednesday, it was like watching a new player. He scored 19 points, a season-high on 7-11 shooting, and logged 27 big minutes for the Jayhawks. He was aggressive and made the right decision offensively more times than not, and in the first half, when Hunter Dickinson and Rylan Griffen were struggling, he stepped up and kept them ahead.
It can’t be stated enough that Kansas’s ceiling relies on how good AJ Storr is. It felt like everyone accepted that they would never hit that ceiling, but today sparks a new energy in the team. It’s just a one game sample size, but it’s an encouraging one. Kansas takes on Arizona tomorrow, a team they played on Saturday, in hopes of another win.