Big 12 teams hard on each other
West Virginia looks at Lubbock incident
The Big 12 can stake a claim as the nation’s best conference. It has the top RPI rating, five teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and eight teams in the top 50 of the KenPom.com rankings.
The only problem: The teams have been beating up on each other since conference play started.
Big 12 teams have bounced around the poll since the first conference games were played just after Christmas, and Monday’s AP Top 25 should be no different after more teams went down this week.
No. 2 West Virginia (15-2, 4-1 Big 12) had its highest ranking since 1959 in last week’s poll and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 15 games by edging Baylor 57-54 on Tuesday. The Mountaineers will likely drop in Monday’s poll after losing 72-71 to No. 8 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (15-2, 4-1) erased an 11-point second-half lead to win their first top-10 matchup at home, sending their fans rushing the court when it was over.
But Texas Tech lost to No. 9 Oklahoma 75-65 on Tuesday, creating a four-way tie atop the Big 12 with West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas.
“I’ve got a great friend who this week told me, ‘Prince today, frog tomorrow,’” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “I know we’re going to be a frog again at some point — it’s the Big 12 — But I want to be a prince one more day.”
TCU reached No. 10 in the AP Top 25 after winning its first 12 games. Now that the conference season has started and the losses are piling up, the 16th-ranked Horned Frogs could find themselves out of the poll.
TCU (13-4, 1-4) lost to Texas by one in double overtime Wednesday and by five to No. 9 Oklahoma in overtime on Saturday. The Horned Frogs’ lone Big 12 victory was over Baylor. Its four losses have come by a combined 11 points.
“I expressed that to them wholeheartedly in the locker room afterward that I am positive without a shadow of a doubt that we are as good as anybody, and I think we are going to show it down the road,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.
No. 12 Kansas (14-3, 4-1) beat Iowa State 83-78 and held off Kansas State 73-72 last week.
WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia’s athletic department said Sunday it is reviewing an incident in which a player is seen striking a Texas Tech fan who had joined thousands of others in a postgame celebration.
Video posted on social media by fans at the game in Lubbock, Texas, show forward Wes Harris and other West Virginia players trying to reach the sideline as fans swarmed the court Saturday in celebration of No. 8 Texas Tech’s 72-71 win over No. 2 West Virginia.
Men
No. 3 VIRGINIA 68, N.C. STATE 61: In Charlottesville, Va., Devon Hall scored a career-best 25 points and the Cavaliers(16-1, 5-0 ACC) pushed their winning streak to eight with a victory over the Wolfpack (12-6, 2-3) on Sunday.
Women
No. 2 NOTRE DAME 89, BOSTON COLLEGE 60: In South Bend, Ind., Jessica Shepard scored 24 points in 22 minutes as the Fighting Irish (16-2, 5-1 ACC) routed the Eagles (6-11, 1-3). No. 5 BAYLOR 74, OKLAHOMA 52: In Norman, Okla., Dekeiya Cohen scored 16 points, and the Lady Bears (15-1, 5-0 Big 12) defeated the Sooners (8-9, 3-3). No. 6 TENNESSEE 86, No. 9 SOUTH CAROLINA 70: In Columbia, S.C., Jaime Nared scored 19 points as the Lady Vols (16-1, 4-1 SEC) beat the Gamecocks (14-3, 3-2), who played without injured All-American A’ja Wilson. No. 13 FLORIDA STATE 107, VIRGINIA TECH 62: In Tallahassee, Fla., Shakayla Thomas scored 21 points, Ama Degbeon had a double-double and the Seminoles (16-2, 4-1 ACC) recorded their fifth 100-point game of the season with a win over the Hokies (13-5, 2-3).