It’s a full Saturday in the Big 12 this weekend, with five games on the schedule spaced throughout the day. Let’s take a look at each, digging into what’s on the line during conference play’s second weekend.

• Iowa State at West Virginia (8:00 ET) – The last time the Cyclones met the Mountaineers in Morgantown, an otherwise disappointing West Virginia team blew the doors off of Iowa State with a 25-point win. In the closing minutes, if you recall, Dustin Hogue let emotions get the best of him as he karate-kicked Nathan Adrian, causing former Mountaineer Eron Harris to respond by punching Monte’ Morris in the neck. This year, Bob Huggins’ team is fueled by a more controlled brand of chaos (not that scuffles like last year’s were regular occurrences), and it just so happens that Iowa State is in a mini-funk, having scored just 0.86 points per possession over its last two games. West Virginia has already brushed off Texas Tech and TCU, so this will mark the reinvented Mountaineers’ first game against a Big 12 team on their level both in overall effectiveness and pace. The best game of the day should make for a fun nightcap.

Bryce Dejean-Jones will try to dig Iowa State out of an offensive slump Saturday. (Cyclones.com)

• Texas at Oklahoma State (5:00 ET) – The Longhorns are talented and cohesive enough this season that Monday’s drubbing by Oklahoma should probably just be chalked up as a fluke, but it did underscore some questions about Rick Barnes’ roster. Isaiah Taylor is getting re-acclimated to the team (and vice versa) after returning from his wrist injury, and while the frontcourt is very deep it is also penetrable, at least until Myles Turner becomes a stronger defensive presence in the low post. I wrote in last week’s conference catch-up that Oklahoma State didn’t make much progress in its non-conference slate, but the Cowboys have since easily handled Kansas State at home and limited Iowa State’s offense at Hilton Coliseum (despite a loss). It’s therefore safe to stay that they’ve taken some steps in the right direction. Will they keep it up and notch what would be — to this point — their best win of the season? Tune in Saturday evening to find out.
• Kansas State at Oklahoma (7:00 ET) – After a brief stay, Marcus Foster is out of Bruce Weber’s doghouse and it couldn’t come at a more important time. A win at Oklahoma, while impressive, wouldn’t undo all the harm the Wildcats have brought on themselves so far, but they need to get moving if they want to get back in the picture for an at-large bid. Wednesday’s win over TCU started a stretch when five of their next seven games will be played at home, so there will be plenty of opportunities to start making waves before desperation hits. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has clearly surged ahead of Texas as the top challenger to end Kansas’ reign of dominance with a decisive win over the Longhorns on Monday, so this is a game they should win decisively if they’re the dark horse Final Four contender some are claiming.

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for Marcus Foster, but he and Bruce Weber appear to be back on the same page. (Scott Sewell/USA Today)

• Baylor at TCU (4:00 ET) – Both these teams have started 0-2 in conference play, so someone’s going to break free this weekend. The Horned Frogs’ losses to West Virginia and Kansas State threw a bucket of cold water onto any media who were still touting Trent Johnson’s team after their unblemished trip through non-conference play, and Baylor will be heavily favored in this one. TCU is an improved team that is capable of springing an upset or two, though, and it has a frontcourt capable of muscling up with the Bears, but Baylor is simply too talented to start 0-3 in Big 12 play. I look for their three-point shooters to be the difference in this one as the rude awakening continues for TCU.
• Texas Tech at Kansas (3:00 ET) – The Red Raiders lost a pair of productive seniors from last season in Jaye Crockett and Dejan Kravic, but the rebuild has been even slower than anticipated with senior Robert Turner taking a step back. The Jayhawks would be favored even if the game were being played in Lubbock, but it will be interesting to see if Kansas can put two good halves of basketball together and whether Jamari Traylor continues his inspired play from Wednesday’s win over Baylor.

Brian Goodman (987 Posts)

Brian Goodman a Big 12 microsite writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BSGoodman.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2015 at 2:31 pm by Brian Goodman and is filed under big 12, microsites. Tagged: baylor, dustin hogue, iowa state, Isaiah Taylor, Jamari Traylor, kansas, kansas state, marcus foster, monte morris, myles turner, oklahoma, oklahoma state, tcu, texas, texas tech, west virginia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.