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The Baylor Bears kept truckin' with wins over Kansas in Lawrence and Iowa State in Waco. In those wins, the Bears averaged only 8.5 turnovers per game. They also played outstanding defense in both games, and held every Iowa State player to less than double digits. Bench productivity, on the other hand, has been a chink in the armor. Baylor's bench scored only two points against Kansas and five points against the Cyclones. Something to keep an eye on. Iowa State has lost four of their last five heading into a road trip to Texas Tech. Rasir Bolton scored 23 points and the Clones outrebounded Oklahoma by 10 in their last victory. They were outrebounded by 12 against Baylor and Bolton scored nine points in their last loss. In their two most recent games, a loss to Baylor and a win over Oklahoma, Kansas forced a total of 10 turnovers. Iowa transfer Isaiah Moss, however is becoming slimy good. He scored 15 points against the Bears and 20 against the Sooners. That's what the Jayhawks must have as Devon Dotson deals with the hip pointer that has bedeviled him of late. One can understand why Bruce Weber is blowing gaskets, throwing rods and seizing up with practically every referee's call that goes against Kansas State. The Wildcats have lost eight of their last nine games and are 0-and-4 in Big 12 play. I imagine even Chris Beard would be springing a few leaks under the pressure of that sort of misery. In fairness to Weber, he's definitely fighting with a short stick. In the last two losses to Texas and Texas Tech, his team has averaged 19 turnovers—a consequence of David Sloan not being the answer at point guard—and they're not defending the 3-point line. Forfeiting scoring opportunities and surrendering treys is not a formula for victory in a city league in Butte, Montana, let alone the Big 12. The Oklahoma Sooners have lost two in a row, both by double digits, falling to Iowa State and Kansas. In both games, the Sooners got absolutely destroyed on the glass. And when you look at OU's roster, it's easy to see why —there is no true, big post presence on this team. Kristian Doolittle is an oversized small forward and Brady Manek is a stretch four. Kur Kuath has the body of a legitimate big, but he is hardly ready to play starter's minutes in the Big 12. Oklahoma State is in complete free-fall. The Cowboys have lost five of their last six and none of those losses was by less than 12 points. This team has regressed dramatically from last season, and the deterioration begins with Thomas Dziagwa, Lindy Waters and Yor Anei. In the most recent loss to TCU, Dziagwa and Waters went 0-for-13 and did not score! That is mindboggling. They were slightly better in a loss to Texas, but still nowhere close to where they were last season. Anei is a player who showed immense potential last year, especially on the defensive end, but has seemingly gone in the tank. TCU's Kevin Samuel, a similar big, has taken a nice step forward, yet Anei has gone retrograde. Something is rotten in Stillwater. People were getting excited about TCU basketball. Heck, the Frogs were even getting votes in the AP poll. Then TCU met West Virginia and got waxed by 32 points. The air was let out of a Horned Frog club whose best win came at home by two points over Iowa State. Now folks are thinking TCU is a house of cards. Are they? A trip to Oklahoma on Saturday may not tell the tale, but a home tilt with Texas Tech on Tuesday just might. If the Red Raiders school the Froggies, TCU may be thoroughly exposed. The Texas Longhorns actually had a halfway decent week with double-digit wins over Kansas State and Oklahoma State. But the big surprise here is the play of Kamaka Hepa, whom I always rated as the Great Alaskan Stiff. But Shaka Smart has inserted him in the starting lineup, and Hepa's responded by contributing 12 points per game in the last two outings. Given that cows are made of beef, we may have to dub him Hamburger Hepa. However, the competition is about to get a heck of a lot stiffer with Kansas coming to town. West Virginia, winners of seven of their last eight, is one of the hottest teams in the country. And the Mountaineers' formula is pretty simple, really—turn teams over, punish them on the glass, and shoot lots of free throws. It's a pretty good blueprint for victory, but is not easy to achieve. This team, however, has the depth to play high-energy defense, and the skilled post players to draw fouls and hammer the glass. WVU is back with a vengeance after last season's fall from grace. Comments (5)">247Sports
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