THE BIG 12 BASKETBALL WHIP-AROUND…
Last week, I mentioned that the teams “gasping for air” in the Big 12 will have to prove why they deserve it. Those teams were Texas and TCU, and both failed to prove much of anything. The Longhorns had some good moments this week, as they led at half in both games against stiff competition (Jayhawks and Red Raiders). However, on both occasions, Texas squandered the lead and took another tally in the loss column. Chris Beard and Texas Tech trailed by as much as 16, but once again the Longhorns found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And then there are the Horned Frogs. My goodness. TCU was blown out by Oklahoma State, who was previously winless in conference. That’s 5 losses in a row for Jamie Dixon’s Frogs. Are we looking at NIT contenders?
Elsewhere across the conference:
--Baylor, unlike TCU, avoided losing to the worst team in the Big 12. They’ve now won 20 in a row. Tonight, The no. 1 Bears travel 100 miles south to face the Longhorns.
--Up and down week for West Virginia, who took care of Iowa State at home, but fell to the Sooners in Norman. That was quite the bounce back win for OU after they were defeated in Lubbock earlier in the week.
--Iowa State found a way to end their four game losing streak as they beat (2-8, 9-14) Kansas State.
--Kansas continues to stay just a step behind Baylor, they’ve now won 8 in a row. The gap just below them in the standings (from second to third) has grown to three games.
Baylor and Kansas, then what? The Big 12, as it currently stands, has two serious contenders and then three teams who will have to find an extra gear to have great success in march (WVU, TTU, OU). Of course, beyond that you have those teams still trying to latch on to any sort of forward momentum…
BIG 12 CONFERENCE STANDINGS:
1. Baylor Bears (10-0, 21-1)
2. Kansas Jayhawks (9-1, 20-3)
3. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-4, 18-5)
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-4, 15-8)
5. Oklahoma Sooners (5-5, 15-8)
6. Texas Longhorns (4-6, 14-9)
7. TCU Horned Frogs (4-6, 13-10)
8. Iowa State Cyclones (3-7, 10-13)
9. Kansas State Wildcats (2-8, 9-14)
10. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-9, 11-12)
Blake’s Big 12 Basketball Player of the Week:
For the second time this season, the player of the week is Udoka Azabuike of the Kansas Jayhawks. In his two games this week, Azabuike recorded 37 total points, 27 rebounds, and 7 blocks.
Statistic of the Week:
This week I bring you two stats, both related to my player of the week. Since the start of conference play, Azabuike is averaging 3.4 blocked shots per game. In addition, he has made 52 shots on 74 attempts which is a field goal percentage of over 70. Next highest in the conference is Brady Manek of Oklahoma with 46.7%.
Big 12 Games to look forward to this week:
--Kansas @ West Virginia (2/12/2020, 6:00 p.m., ESPN+)
--Oklahoma @ Kansas (2/15/2020, 11:00 a.m., ESPN)
--West Virginia @ Baylor (2/15/2020, 3:00 p.m., ESPN+)
BURNT ORANGE BEYOND THE BRIGHT LIGHTS…
A weekly drive down the road less traveled, beyond the three major men’s sports.
--No. 25 Texas Men’s Golf teed off the spring season this week at the Amer Ari Invitational. I want to start this by saying, Texas had a fantastic week. There was never a moment where the Longhorns weren’t contending for the lead. They finished second overall in the team standings falling two strokes short of Pepperdine. A runner-up result in a field stocked full of quality teams is absolutely an impressive result. All of that said, when you take a moment to consider how good the Longhorns were all week and where the contending teams finished, you will see that Texas should have won this tournament. I hate to boil a three-day tournament down to one hole, but Texas Junior Christoffer Bring’s triple bogey with only a few holes remaining was as costly as it gets. The Longhorns hadn’t suffered even a double bogey all day. It certainly didn’t help that Cole Hammer’s 4-over on the day provided very little wiggle room for the rest of team, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled. Going forward, there is a lot to like about this team. Pierceson Coody and Travis Vick both had excellent top-10 Individual finishes. No doubt losing last years’ national championship left a bad taste in their mouth. Who am I to say that they won’t compete for one in 2020…
--No. 1 ranked Ladies golf is currently competing at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. I’ll have more updates on them later in this thread as the tournament continues on through Tuesday.
UPDATE: No. 1 Women’s golf finishes third at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. That’s a very solid week for the girls. Similar week and result as the men. This was a tournament full of top teams, including the top 7 ranked teams (golfstat.com) in h the nation. Top two finishers for Texas were Sophie Guo (T7) and Kaitlyn Papp (11th).
--No. 6 ranked Longhorn Softball hosted a field of teams for the Texas Classic, and they obliterated each and every one of them. Texas run-ruled the opposing team in every game they played this week. Feel free to read that again. No game lasted the full seven innings, with the Longhorns winning by a combined 70 runs (spread out over 6 contests).
--Exciting contest over at the Texas Tennis Center on Saturday as the no. 4 Longhorns (Men) took on the 18th ranked Georgia Bulldogs. This was a fantastic match between heavyweights. Texas snatched the all-important doubles point and forced the Bulldogs to beat the Longhorns best in singles. Georgia did not back down at the challenge defeating Longhorn Yuya Ito, the 2nd ranked singles player in the country. Texas freshman Eliot Spizzirri impressed once again as he dominated his match and gave Siem Woldeab and Christian Sigsgaard a chance to close it out. Texas now heads to the ITA Indoor Championships with a 5-1 record (That only loss coming at Top-10 Ohio State last week).
--Speaking of the ITA Indoor Championships, 7th ranked Longhorn Ladies Tennis claimed two victories (Over Illinois and no. 12 Ohio State) after falling into the consolation bracket of the Women’s ITA Indoors. It cannot be overstated how important to get that doubles point to start the match. That was difference in the Ladies win over the Buckeyes.
--Women’s basketball picked up another win this week, this time against Texas Tech. That makes six victories out of the last seven games for the Longhorns. That loss last week at the hands of the Big 12 leading Baylor Bears, of course. Texas has an important match against Iowa State (who sits one spot back of them in the conference standings) this Wednesday.
--No. 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving along with no. 10 Women’s Swimming and Diving competed at SMU on Friday, both winning by quite a bit. In fact, the men almost doubled SMU final point total (194 to 101). Next, both the Men and Women will head to West Virginia who will be hosting the Big 12 Championships later this month.
Events upcoming, and featuring in the next edition of Beyond the Bright Lights:
Women’s Golf:
--Continuation of Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (2/9-11/2020)
Women’s Basketball:
--vs. Iowa State (2/12/2020, 7:00 p.m., LHN)
--@ Kansas (2/15/2020, 6:00 p.m., ESPN+)
Softball:
--Puerto Vallarta College Challenge (2/13-15/2020)
Track & Field:
--Individuals spread out over multiple events including the Tiger Paw Invitational, Howie Ryan Invitational, Husky Classic and Fastrak Conference Tuneup.
Men’s Tennis:
--ITA Indoor Championships (2/14-16/2020)
Women’s Tennis:
--vs. Air Force (2/13/2020, 3:00 p.m.)
--vs. Brown (2/16/2020, 1:00 p.m., LHN)
Last week, I mentioned that the teams “gasping for air” in the Big 12 will have to prove why they deserve it. Those teams were Texas and TCU, and both failed to prove much of anything. The Longhorns had some good moments this week, as they led at half in both games against stiff competition (Jayhawks and Red Raiders). However, on both occasions, Texas squandered the lead and took another tally in the loss column. Chris Beard and Texas Tech trailed by as much as 16, but once again the Longhorns found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And then there are the Horned Frogs. My goodness. TCU was blown out by Oklahoma State, who was previously winless in conference. That’s 5 losses in a row for Jamie Dixon’s Frogs. Are we looking at NIT contenders?
Elsewhere across the conference:
--Baylor, unlike TCU, avoided losing to the worst team in the Big 12. They’ve now won 20 in a row. Tonight, The no. 1 Bears travel 100 miles south to face the Longhorns.
--Up and down week for West Virginia, who took care of Iowa State at home, but fell to the Sooners in Norman. That was quite the bounce back win for OU after they were defeated in Lubbock earlier in the week.
--Iowa State found a way to end their four game losing streak as they beat (2-8, 9-14) Kansas State.
--Kansas continues to stay just a step behind Baylor, they’ve now won 8 in a row. The gap just below them in the standings (from second to third) has grown to three games.
Baylor and Kansas, then what? The Big 12, as it currently stands, has two serious contenders and then three teams who will have to find an extra gear to have great success in march (WVU, TTU, OU). Of course, beyond that you have those teams still trying to latch on to any sort of forward momentum…
BIG 12 CONFERENCE STANDINGS:
1. Baylor Bears (10-0, 21-1)
2. Kansas Jayhawks (9-1, 20-3)
3. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-4, 18-5)
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-4, 15-8)
5. Oklahoma Sooners (5-5, 15-8)
6. Texas Longhorns (4-6, 14-9)
7. TCU Horned Frogs (4-6, 13-10)
8. Iowa State Cyclones (3-7, 10-13)
9. Kansas State Wildcats (2-8, 9-14)
10. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-9, 11-12)
Blake’s Big 12 Basketball Player of the Week:
For the second time this season, the player of the week is Udoka Azabuike of the Kansas Jayhawks. In his two games this week, Azabuike recorded 37 total points, 27 rebounds, and 7 blocks.
Statistic of the Week:
This week I bring you two stats, both related to my player of the week. Since the start of conference play, Azabuike is averaging 3.4 blocked shots per game. In addition, he has made 52 shots on 74 attempts which is a field goal percentage of over 70. Next highest in the conference is Brady Manek of Oklahoma with 46.7%.
Big 12 Games to look forward to this week:
--Kansas @ West Virginia (2/12/2020, 6:00 p.m., ESPN+)
--Oklahoma @ Kansas (2/15/2020, 11:00 a.m., ESPN)
--West Virginia @ Baylor (2/15/2020, 3:00 p.m., ESPN+)
BURNT ORANGE BEYOND THE BRIGHT LIGHTS…
A weekly drive down the road less traveled, beyond the three major men’s sports.
--No. 25 Texas Men’s Golf teed off the spring season this week at the Amer Ari Invitational. I want to start this by saying, Texas had a fantastic week. There was never a moment where the Longhorns weren’t contending for the lead. They finished second overall in the team standings falling two strokes short of Pepperdine. A runner-up result in a field stocked full of quality teams is absolutely an impressive result. All of that said, when you take a moment to consider how good the Longhorns were all week and where the contending teams finished, you will see that Texas should have won this tournament. I hate to boil a three-day tournament down to one hole, but Texas Junior Christoffer Bring’s triple bogey with only a few holes remaining was as costly as it gets. The Longhorns hadn’t suffered even a double bogey all day. It certainly didn’t help that Cole Hammer’s 4-over on the day provided very little wiggle room for the rest of team, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled. Going forward, there is a lot to like about this team. Pierceson Coody and Travis Vick both had excellent top-10 Individual finishes. No doubt losing last years’ national championship left a bad taste in their mouth. Who am I to say that they won’t compete for one in 2020…
--No. 1 ranked Ladies golf is currently competing at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. I’ll have more updates on them later in this thread as the tournament continues on through Tuesday.
UPDATE: No. 1 Women’s golf finishes third at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. That’s a very solid week for the girls. Similar week and result as the men. This was a tournament full of top teams, including the top 7 ranked teams (golfstat.com) in h the nation. Top two finishers for Texas were Sophie Guo (T7) and Kaitlyn Papp (11th).
--No. 6 ranked Longhorn Softball hosted a field of teams for the Texas Classic, and they obliterated each and every one of them. Texas run-ruled the opposing team in every game they played this week. Feel free to read that again. No game lasted the full seven innings, with the Longhorns winning by a combined 70 runs (spread out over 6 contests).
--Exciting contest over at the Texas Tennis Center on Saturday as the no. 4 Longhorns (Men) took on the 18th ranked Georgia Bulldogs. This was a fantastic match between heavyweights. Texas snatched the all-important doubles point and forced the Bulldogs to beat the Longhorns best in singles. Georgia did not back down at the challenge defeating Longhorn Yuya Ito, the 2nd ranked singles player in the country. Texas freshman Eliot Spizzirri impressed once again as he dominated his match and gave Siem Woldeab and Christian Sigsgaard a chance to close it out. Texas now heads to the ITA Indoor Championships with a 5-1 record (That only loss coming at Top-10 Ohio State last week).
--Speaking of the ITA Indoor Championships, 7th ranked Longhorn Ladies Tennis claimed two victories (Over Illinois and no. 12 Ohio State) after falling into the consolation bracket of the Women’s ITA Indoors. It cannot be overstated how important to get that doubles point to start the match. That was difference in the Ladies win over the Buckeyes.
--Women’s basketball picked up another win this week, this time against Texas Tech. That makes six victories out of the last seven games for the Longhorns. That loss last week at the hands of the Big 12 leading Baylor Bears, of course. Texas has an important match against Iowa State (who sits one spot back of them in the conference standings) this Wednesday.
--No. 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving along with no. 10 Women’s Swimming and Diving competed at SMU on Friday, both winning by quite a bit. In fact, the men almost doubled SMU final point total (194 to 101). Next, both the Men and Women will head to West Virginia who will be hosting the Big 12 Championships later this month.
Events upcoming, and featuring in the next edition of Beyond the Bright Lights:
Women’s Golf:
--Continuation of Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (2/9-11/2020)
Women’s Basketball:
--vs. Iowa State (2/12/2020, 7:00 p.m., LHN)
--@ Kansas (2/15/2020, 6:00 p.m., ESPN+)
Softball:
--Puerto Vallarta College Challenge (2/13-15/2020)
Track & Field:
--Individuals spread out over multiple events including the Tiger Paw Invitational, Howie Ryan Invitational, Husky Classic and Fastrak Conference Tuneup.
Men’s Tennis:
--ITA Indoor Championships (2/14-16/2020)
Women’s Tennis:
--vs. Air Force (2/13/2020, 3:00 p.m.)
--vs. Brown (2/16/2020, 1:00 p.m., LHN)
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