Too bad Missouri couldn’t follow Bill Self‘s advice. Like any seasoned coach, he’s keeping his team in check before the final Border War game on Saturday by focusing on Texas A&M first. The Tigers, of course, fell victim to Kansas State on Tuesday night, taking a little luster off the matchup this weekend. Still, it will essentially determine the Big 12 regular-season championship, and if Kansas takes care of business against the Aggies it will be in the driver’s seat. Lose that game, though, and they are in the same boat as Missouri.
Who’s responsible for Jeff Withey‘s hot streak lately? In a lot of ways, it’s Withey himself since he is finally playing to his potential. Bill Self can also take a lot of credit for building him from scratch and developing him over the course of a few seasons. But what about Danny Manning‘s role? Apparently, the former Jayhawk star and current assistant has served as a mentor and teacher to Withey this season. Not a bad guy to take advice from.
Texas‘ NCAA Tournament hopes are dwindling by the second, especially after a home loss to Baylor on Monday. The Longhorns still have a chance to win at the Phog to pick up a signature win against Kansas, but that’s a tall task as we all know. This article takes an interesting angle on the matter, though. Is anyone all that upset about Rick Barnes‘ failure to make the NCAAs this season, barring a late surge? According to this particular writer, Barnes is “fighting the indifference that can swallow this sport in this state.” That’s always been a problem in Austin, but for the first time during his tenure, we’re seeing a Barnes team in danger of playing in the NIT.
Royce White has made a name for himself with both his play and his mohawk this season, but behind the scenes he has dealt with a lot of adversity. In this digital age especially, we idolize players and make them into heroes on the basketball court, forgetting their human sides sometimes. White has fought an anxiety disorder for years and takes medication for the issue, something you would never be able to tell by watching his graceful play from the stands or on television. This Des Moines Register article also helps put his arrest at Minnesota in perspective, giving the other side of the story from White’s perspective.
Oklahoma would be elated to make the NIT at this point, but forward Romero Osbyhas bigger plans. As he points out, Osby played for Mississippi State in 2009 when it won the SEC Tournament to earn an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament, shaking off a somewhat lackluster regular season. That Bulldogs team was a little better than these Sooners, but the sentiment remains. If Oklahoma can figure out how to play like it did during stretches of November and December– albeit against weaker competition– maybe there’s something to Osby’s optimism.
Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was
Baylor Falls At Home: Baylor had only lost conference games to Kansas and Missouri, but that changed with a one-point loss at home against Kansas State. Despite Wildcat freshman Angel Rodriguez traveling on an easy layup, Baylor could not win on its last possession when freshman Quincy Miller missed a shot with just seconds left. Baylor didn’t score in the final two minutes of the game, and had a couple of possessions marred by some physical play that went uncalled. The loss drops the Bears into a tie with Iowa State for third in the league.
Can The Jayhawks Make A Deep Run?: One of the tenets in picking a national champion is finding a team that is ranked in the KenPom top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency. At this point, only two teams meet these criteria: Kentucky and Kansas. The Jayhawks are tenth in adjusted offense and fourth in adjusted defense, giving them the ability to play with any team in the nation. Though its offense has been concentrated in Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor (and lately Jeff Withey), the Jayhawks have good defenders all over the floor, which is exactly how Bill Self likes it. Considering the perception of Kansas coming into the season after losing the Morris twins, Self’s team has come a long way.
A Banner Day In Stillwater: Oklahoma State’s Keiton Page had the game of his career, scoring a career-high 40 points in a win over Texas. Page was efficient from the field, going 4-6 from two and 4-8 from three, but he was fantastic from the line, getting to the charity stripe 20 times and making every last one. Page’s shooting percentages have dropped a bit this year as he’s had to take a more active role in the offense, but Saturday was a reminder of what shooting skill the senior has.
Phil Pressey And The Tigers Keep Their Eyes On The Prize As They Battle Kansas In Lawrence This Saturday. (US Presswire)
Power Rankings
Missouri (25-2, 12-2): Missouri has the best offense in the country (by a good margin), but its defense has been just mediocre. The Tigers are now fourth in the Big 12 in defensive efficiency, and have allowed over a point per possession in five of their last six games. Hosting a Kansas State team that struggles to score should give Frank Haith’s crew an opportunity to tighten up its defense.
Kansas (18-5, 8-2): Kansas has never lost to Texas Tech in Allen Fieldhouse, winning this year’s edition by 33 points. Four Jayhawks scored in double figures, including Conner Teahan, who made three of his five threes, which is a huge key for the Jayhawks if they want to advance far in the NCAA Tournament. Probably the player who most delighted the home crowd, though, was walk-on Jordan Juenemann, who scored a career-high 7 points in the waning minutes. Read the rest of this entry »
Big 12Alley-Oops and Airballsis a weekly article examining what’s hot and what’s not in Big 12 basketball.
Just like that, it’s a two-team conference title race. Missouri ran Baylor out of Mizzou Arena, and continued their hot shooting against Oklahoma State on Wednesday. Across the border, Kansas escaped the Octagon of Doom with a win over Kansas State, two days after easily defeating the Pokes from Oklahoma State. Kansas and Missouri are tied for first in the Big 12, both boasting an 11-2 conference record. Missouri is ranked #3, while Kansas is ranked #4. Missouri has the better overall record at 24-2, but Kansas has the higher strength of schedule. Next weekend is the last Border War. Needless to say, it’s going to be a good time.
Jeff Withey (5) and I Share A Birthday. That's About It. (AP)
Alley-Oops
Runnin’ From the Bubble: This alley-oop one-liner is required to be read aloud in your best Van Halen voice. While the Big 12 has been blessed to have three teams considered to be NCAA Tournament “locks” from the dawn of this season’s bracketology, they’ve been lucky to have three more teams in the race for a bid, as well. More importantly, these three teams — Iowa State, Texas, and Kansas State — have been doing a very good job avoiding their bubble bursting. Texas has won four games in a row, Iowa State has moved to fourth place in the Big 12 standings, and Kansas State continues to win the games they’re supposed to. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see six Big 12 teams in the Tournament. Read the rest of this entry »
With another Big 12 title within reach, one Kansas writer claims Elijah Johnsonmay need to be a catalyst down the stretch for the Jayhawks. With Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor playing at an All-Big 12 level and Jeff Withey emerging lately, it’s easy to forget about Johnson’s role on this team. Still, his skill set and versatility could really help the Jayhawks once the NCAA Tournament rolls around, and he’s also not an easy matchup for anybody at 6’4”.
Thomas Robinson looked like a runaway favorite for the Big 12 Player of the Year at one point, and he’s still a heavy favorite. In the national race, he’s also a primary contender. Missouri’s beat writer isn’t buying Robinson anymore from a national standpoint, however. Sure, he’s probably a bit biased as a writer based in Columbia, Missouri, but he makes a decent argument for Anthony Davis as the NPOY. Robinson’s play has overshadowed his teammates for most of the year, but Taylor and Withey are beginning to emerge as secondary threats, thus stealing his thunder a little bit. Still, although Davis is the nation’s best shot-blocker, Robinson has to be considered one of the the best rebounders in America. And that has to count for something, right?
You’ve probably seen this story by now, but it’s worth a re-post: Apparently, a young Kansas State fan is already protesting the Kansas Jayhawks’ mascot at an early age. For Missouri fans and Wildcats supporters, this story is adorable, and for the rest of the country it’s at worst a cute little anecdote. KU fans probably aren’t thrilled with her parents’ decision to raise her as a Kansas State fan, though.
Conference realignment has destroyed two old Big 12 rivalries by breaking up Missouri/Kansas and Texas/Texas A&M, and most of the blame lies with the SEC’s decision to expand. Not much has been made, though, of the Big 12’s role in destroying rivalries from other conferences. Take the Backyard Brawl, for example. Pittsburgh and West Virginia‘s future non-conference rivalry is in doubt, though Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said he would be “shocked” if the series was not extended. Let’s not forget that the ACC also pulled Pitt from this rivalry, too, so this isn’t the same sort of one-sided situation as, say, the Border War. Still, the future Big 12 could really benefit from a Backyard Brawl non-conference rivalry.
Texas has taken care of business against inferior opponents. Now, it has a chance to lock up a 14th-straight NCAA bid with a critical five-game stretch to finish out the regular seaosn. The Longhorns should be favored in three of them, but the swing games vs. Baylor and at Kansas will determine Texas’ ultimate at-large chances. Win both of those games and Rick Barnes is dancing once again — 1-1 might get it done; 0-2 probably won’t.
You are probably sick of these “will-they-won’t-they” articles about the Border War, but here’s another look at the state of the Missouri–Kansas rivalry. In particular, check out the comments from former Missouri coach Norm Stewart at the bottom of the article. “I really understand why Kansas would not want to play Missouri if we’re not in the conference. I really would understand that,” Stewart told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week. “I hope Missouri people do, too, because if you don’t, then you’re never going to play.” No matter what Stewart or anyone else says, though, we know this: Missouri and Kansas won’t play each other any time soon. So let’s savor the February 25 match-up coming up in less than two weeks.
Speaking of conference realignment, not everybody agrees that Missouri and Texas A&M‘s moves to the SEC will benefit the respective schools. The article says Missouri will “miss” Big 12 basketball, solely because the league’s tournament is held in Kansas City. In the end, both programs will be just fine in every sport. There’s a reason the SEC accepted them– they can both play at that level. To think otherwise sounds a bit like sour grapes.
Sticking with our theme of repeating ourselves each morning, here’s yet another look at the state of Texas‘ NCAA Tournament hopes. The Longhorns are now a 12-seed in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, thanks in large part to that win over Kansas State this weekend and a solid RPI. Rick Barnes‘ team hasn’t suffered any bad losses, and that’s why it’s right in the hunt for that elusive at-large bid.
Oklahoma isn’t anywhere near an at-large bid, mostly because it cannot close games or figure out a way to upend top competition in the final minutes. Any post-season chances may be dwindling right now, but this article outlines the ways Lon Kruger’s guys can end the season with modest improvement. With the majority of the roster presumably returning in 2012-13, don’t underestimate the importance of these final six games for Oklahoma. It could be a real momentum-builder for a somewhat young team heading into next season.
Texas Tech hasn’t gotten much good news this season, but got a big boost yesterday as Wannah Bail and Michael Carey, teammates from a school in Houston, Tx., committed to Billy Gillispie. Bail is a big-time get for Gillispie, as he’s rated in the top-100 by Rivals and was nominated for McDonald’s All-Americans honors. Carey isn’t shabby either, and both were courted by major schools like Oregon. According to the article, Marquette and Florida State were also in the running for Bail.
Kansas State has eight days to figure things out. Starting Monday night, the Wildcats host Kansas and then travel to Baylor and Missouri, a stretch that will ultimately define Frank Martin’s 2011-12 season. After a surprising 11-1 start in non-conference play — which included a Diamond Head Classic title in Hawaii during Christmas —the Wildcats have stumbled against Big 12 competition. A signature win over the Tigers back in early January has kept it in contention for an NCAA bid, but two embarrassing collapses in recent weeks has slid KSU more toward the wrong side of the bubble. The latest blow came this weekend, when fellow bubble team Texas rallied from a double-digit deficit to outscore the Wildcats by 24 points in the second half.
It All Comes Down To a Three-Game Stretch for Frank Martin
This team isn’t playing like a typical Frank Martin squad right now. It’s not rebounding with tenacity or intimidating opponents, and most importantly, it’s not finishing games with authority. In a two-point loss to Iowa State on January 31, KSU offered little resistance to Royce White (22 points) and the Cyclones. The same thing happened on Saturday against UT in the second half — the smaller Longhorns even won the rebounding margin.
Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was
Baylor Drops From Contention: The Big 12 separated at the top this week as Baylor lost both to Kansas and Missouri.Perry Jones III, who is talked about as a probable lottery pick next June, disappeared this week, scoring five points on 1-8 shooting against Kansas and four points on 2-12 shooting against Missouri. Jones, like the rest of his teammates, has a ton of talent, but doesn’t appear to have the toughness necessary to compete at the highest level.
A Third Weapon for Kansas: When the weekly conference awards are announced, Jeff Withey may be the fourth different Kansas player to be named Big 12 Player of the Week this season. Withey had a career-high 25 points against Baylor on Wednesday and followed it up with a great game against Oklahoma State, with 18 points, 20 rebounds, and seven blocks in Lawrence on Saturday. Everyone knows what Thomas Robinson has done, and Tyshawn Taylor’s putting up solid lines lately, but Withey’s emergence gives Kansas maybe the best post combo in the country.
Red Raiders Hit The Win Column: The Red Raiders, who were 0-11 in conference play going into the weekend, got an early Valentine’s Day present, beating Oklahoma 65-47 at home. Javarez Willis scored 21 points and Robert Lewandowski had 16, but it was the Red Raiders’ defense that stole the show: Texas Tech held Oklahoma to just 0.73 points per possession and forced them to turn it over on a quarter of their possessions.
Kansas' Jeff Withey Builds A Case For Most Improved Player. (AP)
Power Rankings
Missouri (23-2, 10-2): Missouri survived a scare on Monday when Oklahoma guard Steven Pledger’s three at the buzzer rimmed out (it didn’t stop him from celebrating a bit early, though). They’ll get the opportunity to avenge one of their conference losses this week when Oklahoma State comes to town. I’m assuming they’ll shoot a bit better than 48% from two and 21% from three in that one.
Kansas(18-5, 8-2): It was a tale of two halves on Saturday, as Kansas completely destroyed Oklahoma State in the first half, jumping out to a 51-24 lead after 20 minutes. But they came out lethargic in the second and struggled with Oklahoma State’s press, turning it over regularly and getting outscored by 12. Kansas used its size advantage well that day, grabbing over half of its misses and limiting Oklahoma State to just a 13.2% offensive rebounding rate. The one negative for Kansas as of late has been their inability to take care of the ball: their turnover rate is sixth in the Big 12. Read the rest of this entry »
Lots of Texas news this morning… here’s the first bit: the Longhorns appear to be turning the corner after 24 games. Texas won at Texas A&M on Big Monday thanks in large part to a terrific effort from freshman point guard Myck Kabongo. Still under .500 in the Big 12 at 5-6, the Longhorns probably won’t make the NCAA Tournament if they do not knock off Kansas or Baylor in the final month of the season. It is impressive though that Rick Barnes has this young team in contention for anything at this point.
Seven games remain now on the Longhorns’ schedule. Can Barnes make his 14th-straight NCAA Tournament at Texas? It’s going to be difficult, but the path exists. The Longhorns’ resume looks like the epitome of a bubble team right now, but again, it still has two prime opportunities for RPI-boosting wins against Kansas and Baylor. If the Longhorns cannot close out this final seven-game stretch, they will have to look back at the “what ifs” this season after suffering so many close losses.
That win at A&M, however, may mean the Longhorns are growing up in late-game situations. Unfortunately, Texas and Texas A&M may not ever play again– not in the near future, at least. Much like the Missouri-Kansas dispute,Rick Barnes has vowed not to play the Aggies when they leave for the SEC. “We’ve got a lot of rivals,” Barnes said. In a way, that’s true. In the state of Texas, the Longhorns can battle Baylor, Texas Tech, or even TCU (if the program improves, of course). But it’s not Texas/Texas A&M. Nothing is, and that’s not lost upon Billy Kennedy. The A&M coach offered to play a neutral-site game in the non-conference schedule, but Barnes told him before the game that it would never happen.
Staying in-state, Scott Drew has an idea for guardingKansas forward Thomas Robinson tonight: use Britney Griner. The Baylor women’s basketball phenom certainly has the height to hang with Robinson, and they are both elite players in their respective women’s and men’s divisions of college basketball. It hardly matters who guards Robinson at this point, though. He was unstoppable in the second half at Missouri, and he’ll probably put on a similar show in Waco. Now, his teammates need to support him, something they did not do in the final three minutes of that game in Columbia.
Jeff Withey is one of those teammates. He did not play well against the Tigers, perhaps because he played against smaller, quicker players. It makes sense. Withey may have been able to physically overpower Missouri’s guards, but it’s hard to play when little guys are swatting at you and speeding up the pace of the game. He even said so himself: “I like playing against guys my size a lot more than playing against a bunch of guards,” he said. Well, he’ll get a more favorable matchup then against Baylor tonight, who starts three future pros in the frontcourt. Maybe that will help him find his groove.
Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was
Fever Pitch, Columbia: The game of the year so far in the league ended with Missouri beating its archrival Kansas. The game was unfortunately marred by a questionable late charge call against Thomas Robinson as well as a 20-10 foul disparity favoring the home team, which has taken subsequent discussion away from the fantastic basketball that was played. Marcus Denmon had 29 points, shooting 6-9 from three, and Robinson had 25 points and 13 rebounds as each team showed why they’re among the best in the country. This might be the last meeting between the two schools in Missouri with the Tigers now moving to the SEC. Some fans of both schools want to see the rivalry saved, but, in basketball at least, it doesn’t make much financial or competitive sense for Kansas to play Missouri. Another sad consequence of conference realignment greed, but perhaps talks will revitalize after heads cool.
Missouri Turned Up The Volume For The Gameday Crew. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star)
Bears Try To Keep Pace: By holding serve, Baylor has crept back into the discussion, and the Bears are tied for the conference lead at 8-2 (there’s no head-to-head tiebreaker in the standings). They won by a total of seven points last week over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M so they certainly haven’t been impressive, but both wins came on the road and any road win is a good win. They still host Kansas and play at Missouri, so they are in control of their own destiny in the Big 12 race.
Jury Still Out On Haith: Ken Pomeroy wrote an interesting post last week regarding Frank Haith’s deployment of a zone defense in the final possession against Texas. Haith has gotten a lot of Coach of the Year support, but I think it is a bit overblown. As Pomeroy notes, if Texas had scored on the final possession, people would be killing Haith for deviating from the norm. Also, it was his attempt to kill the clock starting with over four minutes left that let the Longhorns back in it in the first place. Also, though Texas looked a bit confused, Rick Barnes still had a timeout left and somehow chose not to use it. Perhaps he thought he would get six in the next game. Haith has done a good job not upsetting things in Missouri to be sure, but remember that Bruce Weber went to a national championship game in his second season at Illinois.
Power Rankings
Missouri (21-2, 8-2): Marcus Denmon broke out of his slump in a big way on Saturday. The senior came into the contest against Kansas shooting under 30% from three in Big 12 play, but he hit six of his nine shots from deep en route to a game-high 29 points. The 6’3” guard also led the team with nine rebounds and has established himself as one of the best rebounding guards in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Brian Otskey is the Big East correspondent for RTC and a regular contributor. You can find him @botskey on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.
Connecticut can join a crowded bunch and move above .500 in the Big East with a win tonight while Louisville looks to continue its hot play of late. In the Big 12, Texas faces a pivotal game with regards to its NCAA chances. Rankings are subject to change with a new RTC Top 25 coming out today.
Connecticut @ Louisville – 7:00 PM EST on ESPN (****)
Louisville has won four straight games and five of its past six since getting destroyed at Providence on January 10. Rick Pitino’s team is playing much better offensively, scoring at least 73 points in three of the four wins during the current streak. Against Connecticut, Louisville’s guards must set the tone. While Louisville isn’t forcing turnovers at the clip usually seen from Pitino teams, the Cardinals can pressure the Huskies into turnovers. UConn has struggled all year with this and the Cards will have the home crowd to help them out by creating energy in the building. Offensively it’s going to be tough for Louisville to score. This is not a great jump shooting team and the Huskies have a terrific interior defense. Russ Smith and Kyle Kuric are going to have to hit jumpers in order for Louisville to win this game. It’ll also be interesting to see how freshman Chane Behanandoes against UConn’s impressive front line. Behanan had 23 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Rutgers, making 11 of his 12 field goal attempts.
UConn's Ryan Boatright Will Be A Key Player To Watch In Tonight's Contest
With Jim Calhoun out, George Blaney will coach the Huskies again. Blaney used a three-guard starting lineup in Saturday’s win over Seton Hall, a first for Connecticut this season. It worked well as Ryan Boatright sparked the Huskies to a blowout win. Boatright will be important again tonight. He’s the only guy on UConn’s roster that can score quickly in transition and provide an instant offensive spark. With Boatright and Shabazz Napier feeding Andre Drummond in the post, Connecticut has a lot of weapons to throw at Louisville’s rock solid defense. If Boatright can get into the lane and draw Gorgui Dieng away from Drummond without turning it over, the Huskies will find a lot of success. That’s easier said than done but a quick guard with a lot of hops like Boatright can do it and Drummond is certainly capable of finishing around the tin. Jeremy Lamb also has to make shots for the Huskies. Lamb is a good spot up shooter and a terrific slasher but he may encounter some problems with Dieng and Behanan in the paint. Lamb is UConn’s best three point threat and has to knock down some triples in order to take the pressure off of Boatright to make things happen. Read the rest of this entry »
