Big 12 Basketball: Kansas, Baylor, WVU losses highlight insane day in league

By Carmine Carcieri | Feb 4, 2017

Feb 4, 2017; Lawrence, KS, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long (15), forward Solomon Young (33) and Kansas Jayhawks forward Landen Lucas (33) fight for a rebound during the second half at Allen Fieldhouse. Iowa State won 92-89. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Kansas, Baylor, and West Virginia all lost at home to unranked Big 12 basketball opponents.

It was a typical Saturday in college hoops — six AP poll top 10 teams lost yesterday, which is tied for the most ever in a single day in NCAA basketball history.

Related Story: WVU ends Kansas' 18-game win streak

Arizona was throttled by Oregon, Virginia was stunned by Syracuse after having a secure lead in the first half and Florida rolled through Kentucky. But nothing was more surprising than what happened in the Big 12.

Three of the top 10 teams that were downed on Saturday lie in the Big 12. Kansas’ 51-game home winning streak was snapped by an Iowa State Cyclones team that has been very inconsistent so far this season. Baylor was shockingly dominated by Kansas State in the first half before failing to complete their comeback with multiple misses at the rim in the final 10 seconds. And to cap off the day, West Virginia lost in Morgantown against a stingy Oklahoma State team.

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To start in Lawrence, the Jayhawks blew a double-digit first half lead and wasted a 32-point performance from National Player of the Year candidate Frank Mason III. Iowa State had a monstrous performance from beyond the arc (18-of-34) and had three players score more than 20 points (Deonte Burton, Monte Morris, and Naz Mitrou-Long).

In the Bill Self era, Kansas lost just nine games at Phog Allen Fieldhouse before Saturday’s loss. That’s what makes this one so shocking.

Down in Waco, Kansas State jumped on the Bears from the opening tip, building a 19-point lead in the first half. Kamau Stokes scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting (3-of-7 from three) and Dean Wade dropped 12 for the Wildcats.

This is a huge deal for the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament resume, but also for Bruce Weber, who entered this season on the hot seat. Beating a top three on the road is a way to ease the burden, even though Kansas State has shown flashes of Big Dance-potential this season.

Finally, in Morgantown, West Virginia was shocked by Oklahoma State. Despite turning the ball over 19 times to WVU’s nine times, Jeffery Carroll (20 points), Juwan Evans (18 points) and Phil Forte III (13 points) all scored in double figures to lead the Cowboys on the road.

Oklahoma State lost their first six Big 12 games, but they have followed that up with a four-game winning streak, including this most recent W over OSU.

Next: Three takeaways from Purdue's road victory over Maryland

So, who would’ve thought that the Cyclones would go into Phog Allen and pull out a victory in one of the more difficult venues to play in all of college hoops? Who would’ve thought that Baylor would drop a game to KSU after beating them by nine on the road just a few games ago? And would’ve thought that ‘Press Virginia’ would lose their second home game of conference play? In other words, that’s just the life of a highly ranked team in college basketball.