Big 12 Men’s Basketball Saturday Rundown: Regular Season Concludes

The Houston Cougars, in their first year in the league, won the regular-season championship.

Saturday’s games across the conference brought the regular season to an end. No. 1 Houston won the conference title after going 15-3 in league play in their first year in the Big 12. The Cougars had earned a share of the title earlier in the week, but a loss earlier in the day by Iowa State gave them the outright title.

The Houston Cougars are the 2023-24 Big 12 men's basketball regular season champions.  / © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Houston’s win over No. 14 Kansas was a 30-point blowout, with Houston winning 76-46. It was the biggest loss in a Big 12 game in the Bill Self era. Kansas ended the season having lost six of seven road games.

The biggest upset of the day came in Manhattan, with Kansas State handing No. 6 Iowa State its fifth conference loss. The Cats won 65-58.

The only other underdog to win on Saturday was UCF. TCU was an 8.5-point favorite in that game in Fort Worth. It was a game that went back and forth all game, and the Knights pulled out a 2-point win, 79-77.

The other four games were all decided by ten or more points by the home teams. Texas defeated Oklahoma 94-80. Cincinnati dominated West Virginia to win 92-56. Texas Tech beat No. 11 Baylor 78-68. And No. 20 BYU defeated Oklahoma State 85-71.

After Saturday’s games, the Big 12 finished the regular season with the lowest NET ranking of all the leagues at 45.8. The next lowest are the Big Ten at 60.3 and the SEC at 68.6.

The Big 12 is the only conference with five teams in the top 18 and 10 in the top 45 of the NET rankings: 1. Houston, 9. Iowa State, 12. BYU, 14. Baylor, 18. Kansas, 24. Texas, 30. Texas Tech, 40. TCU, 41. Cincinnati and 43. Oklahoma.

At least six Big 12 teams have recorded 20-plus wins in every complete season since 2006-07 (16 seasons). The 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were reduced due to COVID. Nine teams have currently reached the 20-win plateau.

At this moment, the Big 12 is projected to field a nation-high nine teams for the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Big 12 Men’s Basketball – March 9 Results

Texas (20-11, 9-9) vs. Oklahoma (20-11, 8-10)

Texas wins 94-80

Game leaders:

• Tyrese Hunter (UT) 30 points; Rivaldo Soares (OU) 21 points
• Dylan Disu (UT) 6 rebounds; Jalon Moore (OU) 9 rebounds
• Tyrese Hunter (UT) 7 assists; Milos Uzan (OU) 7 assists

Cincinnati (18-13, 7-11) vs. West Virginia (9-22, 4-14)

Cincinnati wins 92-56

Game leaders:

• Dan Skillings Jr. (UC) 17 points; Noah Farrakhan (WVU) 12 points
• Aziz Bandogo (UC) 7 rebounds; Raequan Battle (WVU) 4 rebounds
• Day Day Thomas (UC) 7 assists; Quinn Slazinski (WVU) 4 assists

Kansas State (18-13, 8-10) vs. #6 Iowa State (24-7, 13-5)

Kansas State wins 65-58

Game leaders:

• Arthur Kaluma (KSU) 23 points; Curtis Jones (ISU) 16 points
• David N’Guessan (KSU) 16 rebounds; Tre King (ISU) 6 rebounds
• Tylor Perry (KSU) 5 assists; Keshon Gilbert (ISU) 3 assists

#1 Houston (28-3, 15-3) vs. #7 Kansas (22-9, 10-8)

Houston wins 76-46

Game leaders:

• Jamal Shead (UH) 13 points; Hunter Dickinson (KU) 11 points
• J’wan Roberts (UH) 8 rebounds; Hunter Dickinson (KU) 6 rebounds
• Jamal Shead (UH) 8 assists; Johnny Furphy (KU) 4 assists

TCU (20-11, 9-9) vs. UCF (16-14, 7-11)

UCF wins 79-77

Game leaders:

• Darius Johnson (UCF) 33 points; Jameer Nelson Jr. (TCU) 15 points
• Darius Johnson (UCF) 9 rebounds; Ernest Udeh Jr. (TCU) 9 rebounds
• Shemarri Allen (UCF) 6 assists; Jameer Nelson Jr. (TCU) 4 assists

Texas Tech (22-9, 11-7) vs. #11 Baylor (22-9, 11-7)

Texas Tech wins 76-46

Game leaders:

• Pop Isaacs (TTU) 20 points; Ja’Kobe Walter (BU) 15 points
• Darrion Williams (TTU) 11 rebounds; Jalen Bridges (BU) 6 rebounds
• Joe Toussaint (TTU) 4 assists; RayJ Dennis (BU) 5 assists

BYU (22-9, 10-8) vs. Oklahoma State (12-19, 4-14)

BYU wins 85-71

Game leaders:

• Fousseyni Traore (BYU) 19 points; Javon Small (OSU) 34 points
• Spencer Johnson (BYU) 10 rebounds; Jamyron Keller (OSU) 6 rebounds
• Dallin Hall (BYU) 6 assists; Brandon Garrison (OSU) 2 assists

Upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Games:

(All times listed are Central Time; numbers next to teams are the tournament seed, not national ranking)

Tuesday, March 12

• #12 UCF vs. #13 Oklahoma State – 11:30 a.m.
• #11 Cincinnati vs. #14 West Virginia – 2 p.m.

Wednesday, March 13

• #5 BYU vs. #12 UCF/#13 Oklahoma State – 11:30 a.m.
• #8 TCU vs. #9 Oklahoma – 2 p.m.
• #7 Texas vs. #10 Kansas State - 6 p.m.
• #6 Kansas vs. #11 Cincinnati/#14 West Virginia – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 14 - Quarterfinals

• #4 Texas Tech vs. TBD – 11:30 a.m.
• #1 Houston vs. TBD – 2 p.m.
• #2 Iowa State vs. TBD – 6 p.m.
• #3 Baylor vs. TBD – 8:30 p.m.

Friday, March 15 - Semifinals

• Semifinal #1 – 6 p.m.
• Semifinal #2 – 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16 - Final

• Championship Game – 5 p.m.

In the meantime... we have an OFFICIAL bracket for the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship. pic.twitter.com/xzXcBrhe6Y

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 10, 2024

TCU Men's Basketball: Three Frogs Get All-Conference Honors

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