Note: Laken Litman is sharing takeaways on the action throughout the Big 12 Tournament.
Game 3: Texas 60, Oklahoma State 47
With every win, the story of Texas‘ season becomes even more remarkable.
In December, former head coach Chris Beard – who is a UT alum and was supposed to be the one to finally restore a winning culture in Austin – was suspended following a domestic violence arrest. Beard was subsequently fired in January and the case was later dropped.
Assistant coach Rodney Terry was elevated to interim head coach and under his leadership, the Longhorns have not skipped a beat. They’ve gone 17-7 since he took over, been ranked in the top 10 most of the year, earned a No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament and could still get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, especially if they end up winning a conference title.
They’re one step closer to the latter after cruising past Oklahoma State 60-47 in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday.
Why has Texas been able to impressively withstand the drama surrounding Beard’s departure? It’s twofold.
One is credit to Terry and his staff. Terry has been around the sport for nearly three decades and more importantly knows the UT program as he was an assistant under Rick Barnes for nine seasons from 2002-11. He was in his second year as associate head coach at Texas before being named interim head coach. He’s been nominated for national awards – last week he became the first UT coach to be named the Sporting News Men’s College Basketball National Coach of the Year. At this point, it only feels like a matter of time before athletic director Chris Del Conte removes the interim tag and promotes him to head coach.
The other reason for the team’s success is roster experience. Texas, which made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year in Beard’s first season, is one of the oldest teams in the country. The Longhorns are led by seniors like Timmy Allen and Dillon Disu as well as graduate students like Sir’Jabari Rice and Marcus Carr. They bring maturity and leadership that allows the team to overcome adversity.
In Thursday’s game against the Cowboys, the Horns had to figure out how to replace the production of Allen, who was ruled out with a lower leg injury. His status is day-to-day. Allen is the team’s leading rebounder (171 boards this season, averaging 5.5 per game), second in assists (109) and third-leading scorer (10.5 points). Rice, who scored 23 points in the Longhorns’ regular-season finale win over Kansas last Saturday, stepped into the starting lineup and scored 15 points and grabbed eight boards.
Other guys stepped up in Allen’s absence, too. Disu had 11 points and 11 rebounds, recording his 14th career double-double. Sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter also had 11 points and Carr and freshman Arterio Morris, who is proving to be an explosive scorer, both put up 10 points.
Oklahoma State, a team that’s on the bubble, made it a nine-point game with a minute to go. Ultimately, they couldn’t overcome 27% shooting from the floor and going 3-of-20 from three.
Texas didn’t have Allen, but showed once again that a big part of its identity is being able to conquer whatever is thrown at them. And that’s a skill that could take the Longhorns deep into March.
Game 2: Kansas 78, West Virginia 61
No. 3 Kansas beat West Virginia 78-61 and it was no surprise that Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson led the way for the Jayhawks. Wilson tabbed his eleventh double-double of the year with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Grady Dick, one of the best shooters in the league, added 18 points and Dajuan Harris had 13 points and eight assists.
Kansas won without head coach Bill Self, who missed the game due to illness, according to school officials, and will be out the remainder of the tournament. Assistant Norm Roberts took over seamlessly. But it almost didn’t even matter who was coaching – the defending national champions are clinical, have a strong culture and know exactly what to do. They also have veteran and experienced leaders on the floor like Harris, whom Wilson calls “a floor general.”
It probably did help, though, that Roberts coached the team to start the season when Kansas placed a self-imposed four-game suspension on Self for his possible role in an NCAA infractions case. He missed four games and KU went 4-0 anyway.
“No matter what adversity we go through, we can come together as a team in the toughest moments,” Wilson told the broadcast after the game.
Kansas, the Big 12 regular-season champion and No. 1 seed, will play Iowa State in the semifinal on Friday.
[Bill Self out for rest of Big 12 Tournament]
Game 1: Iowa State 78, Baylor 72
Every available Iowa State player saw minutes in the team’s 78-72 win over No. 10 Baylor in the quarterfinal of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday. Coach T.J. Otzelberger showed off his depth by using an 11-player rotation as the fifth-seeded Cyclones beat the fourth-seeded Bears for the third straight time this season and the second time in five days. (ISU beat Baylor in Waco last Saturday to close out the regular season, 73-58.)
Gabe Kalscheur led his team with 24 points and Tamin Lipsey had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tre King, who made just his third start of the year, had 10 points and six boards.
Baylor was up 41-38 at halftime thanks to Jalen Bridges, who scored the bulk of his career-high 28 points in the first half. Bridges, who had scoring issues earlier this season, went 7-of-8 from 3-point range.
Iowa State took its biggest lead of the game – and for good – after a 9-0 run late in the second half. Jaren Holmes, who only scored four points in the first half, made a layup to put the Cyclones up 68-59 with 4:37 remaining. Holmes finished with 17 points.
Baylor tried but struggled to make a comeback. And it didn’t help that Scott Drew’s team couldn’t grab a rebound, finishing with 17 (only five offensive) compared to Iowa State’s 44.
Iowa State will play Kansas in the first semifinal match on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
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