Hey guys, this is the first article of the new series I’m starting up. Friends Cody Goggin and Frank Fanelli already do weekly articles about ACC and Big Ten basketball, respectively, so I now am starting my own about Big 12 basketball. I will be recapping the previous week, as well as looking forward into the upcoming week. Look out for these on a weekly basis if you like Big 12 basketball, as well as listening to me and Frank’s national basketball podcast, Quadruple Double, coming out every Wednesday.
Misery of the Week: Usually I will put someone in here, near the end of the year if they lose a game that they needed to win to make tourney. Otherwise it might be someone who gets blown out in a huge game (Baylor and Kansas vs WVU) or someone who loses a game they were supposed to dominate (WVU at home vs Oklahoma). For this week it was just too easy. Texas Tech had a duo of heartbreakers. Last Tuesday, Texas Tech was in a tough game with TCU when TCU hit a free throw with 1.4 seconds left to take down the Red Raiders 62-61. Later in the week, Texas Tech hosted a tough Kansas squad, playing them tight, but with 2.8 seconds left, Josh Jackson hit a free throw again to take down Tech by a score of 80-79. So to recap, last week Texas Tech lost 2 tough games by a combined score of 2 points and by 2 free throws in the last 3 seconds. Moral of the story here Texas Tech… don’t foul the other team on their last shot.
Performance of the Week: Weekly this will go out to the player who had an outstanding single game performance while willing his team to victory. This week was pretty easy: Josh Jackson of Kansas. He had 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists on 12/15 shooting from the field in Kansas’ game against Texas Tech. Frank Mason spent most of the week with the flu, so he had an off game, which almost cost the Jayhawks sole possession of first place in the Big 12, but the freshman Jackson stepped up in a big way. He played hard and kept them close till the end, then went and hit the game winning free throw as icing on the cake.
Game of the Week: This will be the best game of the week for last week. Sorry to overload the whole Kansas-Texas Tech game but there were no really amazing games in the Big 12 this week. Texas Tech had 2 tough games and Baylor-Oklahoma State had a pretty good game but I have to go with Kansas-Tech because of all that was on the line. Texas Tech was in need of a win to bolster their tournament resume and had former coach Bob Knight in attendance. Throw in that they have not beaten Kansas since 2009 and this would’ve been a monumental win, but they could not pull it off. I hope the game of the week every week is as good as the end of this game was.
Game to Look Forward To: I’ll be looking forward to the biggest game of the upcoming week. I hope most of y’all read this on Monday because the game to look forward to is Monday night. Kansas hosts the West Virginia Mountaineers. Last time these folks played, in Morgantown, the Mountaineers beat Kansas by 16, I assume this game will be much closer. Kansas is coming back home to the Phog where Bill Self is 217-10, but Kansas’ last game there was a loss. West Virginia is the best team in the country at forcing turnovers and they are up against a point guard that is up for National Player of the Year. In my Quadruple Double podcast I had my “lock of the week” as Kansas over WVU in this game, but regardless, this is sure to be a huge game. Tune in to ESPN tonight at 9:00 and don’t miss it. Let’s Go Mountaineers?
Shoutout: This will usually go to one person who had a fantastic week of game or outplayed their usual best, but this week I couldn’t narrow it to 1, so I’m going to do both. First, Baylor’s Jonathan Motley, who is also up for National Player of the Year had a huge week last week. He had a double double with 24 points with 11 rebounds on Wednesday and followed that up with a 25 point 7 rebound performance on Saturday. Consistent statistical games like this are why Motley is getting national recognition. Secondly, I have to throw a shoutout to WVU’s very own Beetle Bolden. Wednesday, a guy who usually doesn’t play many minutes, Bolden, led the team in scoring. In only 10 minutes Bolden had 17 points and helped a WVU team that was struggling shooting to a win that night. He had a less outstanding game Saturday but nonetheless had 9 points in only 8 minutes to help WVU close out their win. If Bolden keeps this up he will get more and more minutes in no time.
Sorry for the bit of Kansas overload, but that is usually how it happens in the Big 12. As we approach the conference tourney these games become increasingly important so make sure you tune back in every week to see how the games shook out.