Game Capsules: Road Teams Rule in Season’s First Big 12 Men’s Conference Match-ups

We may have thought Kansas State accomplished something unusual by winning a conference road contest in Ames last night. But maybe not. Road victories may ultimately prove scarce, but for one weekend, at least, visitors had the upper hand in the Big 12, with only Texas Tech proving to be master of its own domain.

Here are quick capsules of last night’s and today’s results.

West Virginia 85, Oklahoma State 79

The Cowboys led the Mountaineers for much of the evening in Stillwater, only to get sloppy with shot selection and ball-handling late in the game and, ultimately, succumb to the relentless pressure of Huggyball.

Freshman Teddy Allen scored 15 points off the bench, leading six Mountaineers who reached double figures. West Virginia won despite Jevon Carter having an off night. The veteran point guard scored 12 on 2-of-10 shooting, and he committed 8 of his team’s 18 turnovers.

Jeffrey Carroll and Tavarius Shine each scored 17 in the losing effort for Oklahoma State.

Kansas 92, Texas 86

Kansas played zone defense through much of the second half of its league opener at Texas in an effort to slow Mo Bamba. It worked. The freshman phenom, who finished with a career high 22 points, 15 rebounds and 8 blocks did most of his damage before Bill Self employed the 2-3 zone.

Texas entered the game holding opponents to 28 percent shooting beyond the arc. KU did better than that, hitting 17 of 35 outside attempts. Texas guard Matt Coleman summarized: “It’s like playing the Warriors, almost.”

KU never trailed after tying the game at the 2:31 mark of the first half, and built an 83-69 lead before settling for the final margin. Devonte Graham scored 23, while Sviatoslav Mikhailiuk and LaGerald Vick contributed 20 and 21, respectively. Only seven Jayhawks played in the game.Five Longhorns reached double figures in the loss.

Texas Tech 77, Baylor 53

Keenan Evans scored 18, and freshman Zhaire Smith added 15 as the No. 22 Red Raiders beat No. 18 Baylor in Lubbock.

Mark Vital led the Bears with 12. Manu Lecomte struggled, scoring 8 points on 3-for-12 shooting. Jo Lual-Acuil, a key player in the Bears’ starting line-up, sat out with a left foot sprain.

The Red Raiders are second nationally in points allowed, and they held Baylor to a season low in scoring, limiting them to 37 percent shooting from the field.

Oklahoma 90, TCU 89

Saturday’s only league contest pitted the league’s most ballyhooed newcomer against one of only three undefeated teams remaining in Division One. Oklahoma ran out to an 11-0 lead, only to have the Horned Frogs answer with a 10-0 run of their own.

TCU grabbed the lead at 39-36 with 2:59 to play in the first, extended the lead to as many as 11, and led until OU tied the game at 83-83 with 2:26 remaining. Kenrich Williams put the Horned Frogs back in front, 89-88, with a jumper at 0:21, but a foul was called on Desmond Bane with seven seconds left. Trae Young buried both free throws for the final margin.

TCU was physical with Young, and Oklahoma’s bench received a first-half technical foul for protesting what it saw as unpoliced shoving and grabbing. Twelve seconds later, Jamie Dixon was T’d up for complaining about what he perceived as a bogus make-up call.

The defensive strategy was ineffective. Young scored 39 points, including several shots from well outside the arc, and 15 made free throws on 18 attempts. He also distributed the ball for 14 assists. Kameron McGusty added 22 points for OU.

TCU got 22 points from Kenrich Williams, and had four other players in double figures.

Upcoming Games

No. 7 West Virginia (12-1, 1-0) at Kansas State (11-2, 1-0), Jan. 1 @ 4:00 p.m. CST

Texas (9-4, 0-1) at Iowa State (9-3, 0-1), Jan. 1 @ 6:00 p.m. CST

No. 10 TCU (12-1, 0-1) at No. 18 Baylor (10-3, 0-1), Jan. 2 @ 6:00 p.m. CST

No. 22 Texas Tech (12-1, 1-0) at No. 11 Kansas (11-2, 1-0), Jan. 2 @ 8:00 p.m. CST

Oklahoma State (10-3, 0-1) at No. 12 Oklahoma (11-1, 1-0), Jan. 3 @ 8:00 p.m. CST