The ball dropped in Times Square just three days ago, and if we learned anything since then, it’s that the weekend college basketball games set the tone for the New Year–particularly with regards to the major conference races that are underway.
Big 12 Headlines Weekend College Basketball Games
Things got heavy in Big 12 country, with Oklahoma hosting Iowa State and Kansas welcoming Baylor into Phog Allen. But, as is so often the case, neither home school was necessarily hospitable.
It all got kicked off in Norman, as the Sooners weathered an inefficient night from Buddy Hield to hang on 87-83 to position themselves as a candidate for the new No. 1 ranking made available by Michigan State’s loss to Iowa. For the Cyclones, it was Georges Niang who put up the most fight, dropping 29 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.
Jayhawks junior Wayne Selden Jr. had the kind of night that many thought he was capable of when he first arrived in Lawrence, but it’s not like KU fans are complaining that it sparked a 102-74 win over the Bears.
Big Ten Brings Biggest Upset
Expect to see Iowa in the next AP Top 25 poll that comes out, given their two recent wins over Michigan State and, now, Purdue.
The Boilermakers were made to be entirely ineffective from every spot on the floor in the second half, as Jarrod Uthoff spurred the Hawkeyes to rally from 17 points down at the half, outscoring Purdue 50-26 in the second.
The question is, are we ready to deal with Iowa being a factor in the Big Ten?
Butler Drops Another
Starting off your conference slate against the likes of Providence and Xavier is no cake walk, to be sure. But those are the games that Butler is going to need to win if they are to compete for the Big East title. Especially with one of those being at home. Kellen Dunham is still in a hellacious shooting slump and without him, the Bulldogs simply lack the offensive explosion that earned them a dominating win over Purdue earlier in the year.
