Big 12 Blog

Player of the Week

Ben McLemore, Kansas

After three consecutive conference losses after staring 7-0 in Big 12 play it looked like Kansas was actually in danger of losing the top spot in the conference. Whoever won between them and #10 Kansas State would be in 1st place in the conference. McLemore decided that he had had enough losing and restored order dropping 30 points and 7 boards. He only took 13 shots and knocked down six 3’s in a blowout victory against their in-state rival.

Who’s Hot

Eron Harris, WVU

8thdeadlysin brought this guy up a few weeks ago in the forum and I’ve been paying extra attention to him since and he has not disappointed. The freshman has been an impressive shooter from the start but now he’s getting more minutes and really showing what he can do as an overall scorer right now. He’s been one of the few bright spots for this WVU team. Over his past four games he’s nearly doubled his scoring average (16 to 8.9) and doing from beyond the arc as well as attacking the paint and getting to the line.

HM: Markel Brown, Melvin Ejim

Who’s Not

Garlon Green, TCU

After being the driving force in the biggest upset of the Big 12 season, Green’s play simply collapsed. He scored 20 in their only conference win over then 7-0 Kansas, only to follow it up with 7 points, 7 rebounds and missing 18/21 shots over the next games. Green was supposed to be the leader of this TCU team as the leading returning scorer from last year, but his per 30 minutes are virtually all down from last season.

HM: Josh Gray, Julien Lewis

Top 5 NCAA Tournament Resumes

1. Kansas-Despite one really bad loss to TCU, it’s hard to ignore the success the Jayhawks have had. They are 6-2 against the top 25 and 9-3 against the top 50. The TCU loss is really the only blemish on their resume right now.

2. Kansas State-They win all the games that they should, evidenced by 13-0 record against teams outside of the top 50. They struggle with the very best teams (3-4 vs. top 25) and are only 5-5 against the top 50 teams, but the lack of bad losses help them out here.

3. Oklahoma State-Oklahoma State is a bit of a mix of Kansas State and Kansas. Their resume is nearly identical to that of K-State except for one bad loss to Virginia Tech. However, that was almost 3 months ago and they might be the hottest team in the conference right now. They are projected as a 6 seed at the moment but could end up closer to a 4 by the time the season is done.

4. Iowa State-They are cold right now, but their resume isn’t bad. They are only 6-6 against the top 100 teams, but five of those losses were by single digits and they have some impressive wins as well. They are a bit inconsistent but when they are on they can play with anybody.

5. Oklahoma-To put it simply they seem like an average team. They win the games that they should, but despite returning all 5 starters from last season they have not fared well against top 50 teams this year, and were blown in almost half of their 8 games against those types of opponents.

Conference Standings

1. Kansas 20-4 (8-3)

2. Kansas State 19-5 (8-3)

3. Oklahoma State 18-5 (8-3)

4. Oklahoma 16-7 (7-4)

5. Baylor 16-8 (7-4)

6. Iowa State 16-8 (6-5)

7. West Virginia 12-12 (5-6)

8. Texas 11-13 (3-8)

9. Texas Tech 9-13 (2-9)

10. TCU 10-14 (1-10)