Big 12 Basketball Update & Power Rankings

January 9th Big 12 Basketball update

When the Big 12’s top two teams played in Fayetteville, Ark. in a span of nine days, Oklahoma and Texas each came away with a big dose of humility.

The up-and-coming Razorbacks disposed of both in the Ozarks. Oklahoma suffered its first loss, 96-88, on Dec. 30 because the Razorbacks shot 43 free throws. Texas lost, 67-61, this past Tuesday because senior guard A.J. Abrams had his worst game of the year with 7 points.

But winning in Fayetteville is never easy anyway. The Razorbacks have won their last 7 games against Top 25 teams at Bud Walton Arena.

Results like these can offer perspective. For the Sooners, they probably knew they weren’t going to go undefeated. But they learned about how hard they have to play for 40 minutes. The Razorbacks were just a little hungrier.

For the Longhorns, it was their first trip to their old Southwest Conference rival’s home since 1991. And like a lot of those trips back then, this one didn’t go well either. The Razorobacks used an 11-0 run late in the second half to gain control of the game.

And perhaps the Longhorns were just a little gassed by the brutal non-conference schedule they played.

Rock Chalk

Since a humbling 17-point loss at Arizona on Dec. 26, Kansas coach Bill Self never lost hope about his team or its grit.

The defending national champions rallied from the loss with a potential season changing 92-85 win against Tennessee. Of course, the younger Jayhawks don’t have to apologize to anyone. But the win over Tennessee did help ease some early season tensions.

For Kansas to contend, the Jayhawks are going to need consistent play from guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Adrich. The two were 17-of-28 from the field against the Volunteers.

Kansas gets another major test Saturday at Michigan St. Kansas and Michigan St. fans can recall one of the better meetings between the two teams in the 1988 NCAA tournament. At Kansas City’s Kemper Arena, the Jayhawks rallied to win.

But this group of Jayhawks better be ready to bang with Michigan St.’s tenacious rebounding group led by Raymar Morgan and Goran Suton.

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Notable

Oklahoma St. senior point guard Byron Eaton continues to grow as a scorer for the Cowboys. In each of his four years, the Eaton’s scoring average has risen. This season, he is a career best 12.9 points per game. However, he has struggled from 3-point range at 28 percent…in a very random move Texas Tech coach Pat Knight summoned 12-year-old boy from the stands during the Red Raiders Jan. 2 game against Stephen F. Austin. Knight asked the young man to join the huddle at a timeout and also asked if he could make layups. The boy answered yes. Knight used the psychological move to get his team’s attention because they were missing way too many. Tech responded to win the game by 14 points. But it didn’t last. TCU went to Lubbock and beat the Red Raiders, 85-80, on Jan. 6.

Power Rankings

1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Baylor
4. Kansas
5. Texas A&M
6. Missouri
7. Oklahoma St.
8. Kansas St.
9. Texas Tech
10. Nebraska
11. Iowa St.
12. Colorado

By Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Fans Correspondant

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