We are getting that much closer to March Madness season. In men's college basketball, teams are looking to improve in the standings, potentially make a run in the conference tournament to increase their chances of making it into the big 68-team NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, there was a huge Big 12 matchup between the No. 5 Houston Cougars and No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones. Entering the game, Iowa State was banged up, having their two best scorers in Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert sidelined. Jones was dealing with an illness, while Gilbert was dealing with a muscle strain.
Credit to head coach T.J. Otzelberger for having his team ready to play, as they kept it close against Houston. However, the Cyclones' lack of scoring late in the game was costly, leading to the Cougars picking up the 68-59 win.
Houston's L.J. Cryer shined in the win, scoring 28 points while shooting 11-for-17 from the field and 5-for-7 from the three-point line.
With this win, Houston is now 15-1 in conference play, while Iowa State falls to 11-5. So, what do the Big 12 standings look like following this game?
Updated Big 12 standings after Houston holds off Iowa State
Place | Team | Overall Record (Conference Record) |
|---|---|---|
1 | Houston | 23-4 (15-1) |
2 | Arizona | 18-8 (12-3) |
3 | Texas Tech | 21-6 (12-4) |
4 | Iowa State | 21-6 (11-5) |
5 | BYU | 18-8 (9-6) |
6 | Kansas | 17-9 (8-7) |
7 | Baylor | 16-10 (8-7) |
8 | TCU | 15-12 (8-8) |
9 | Utah | 15-11 |
10 | Kansas State | 13-13 (7-8) |
11 | West Virginia | 16-11 (7-9) |
12 | Cincinnati | 16-11 (6-10) |
13 | Oklahoma State | 13-13 (5-10) |
14 | UCF | 13-13 (4-11) |
15 | Arizona State | 12-14 (3-12) |
16 | Colorado | 10-16 (1-14) |
Houston has a pretty commanding lead for first place in the Big 12, but there are still four more games left on their schedule. Two of those games will be against ranked opponents No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 23 Kansas. It will be a revenge game against the Red Raiders, who handed the Cougars their only Big 12 loss on the season.
As for Iowa State, they are still in good shape heading into the final stretch of the season. They should bounce back once they get Jones and Gilbert back in the lineup. The Cyclones have a somewhat favorable schedule as they face the Kansas State and Oklahoma State. But they do face off against No. 19 Arizona, who is second in the Big 12 standings, and a BYU team who dominated Kansas not too long ago.
The clock is ticking on the regular season, and Houston still stands alone at the top of the conference standings.