Big 12 Basketball: Oklahoma climbs, Kansas falls in latest power rankings

After a week of game cancellations, the Longhorns will stay home to face Oklahoma on Tuesday. They will then travel to Lexington to play Kentucky in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

The Longhorns have the better overall record and might have the better resume. However, Texas Tech has the head to head victory. For that alone, Texas slightly trails the Red Raiders.

Due to head-to-head wins and cancellations of basketball games between both teams, Texas Tech stays ahead. The Red Raiders will play a Monday night game against West Virginia in Morgantown.

They will then travel again to play LSU on Saturday.

The Bears not only kept their place atop the Big 12, but also gave some room for error in the process.  After a dominant defensive performance against Texas Tech, the Bears returned back home for a Big Monday showdown with  No. 9 Kansas.

For the most part, Baylor dominated the Jayhawks in route to a 77-69 win. The final score does not indicate how well the Bears dominated for majority of the game. The offense and defense went through lapses at times, letting the Jayhawks back in the game. There was never a sense of worry that the Bears were going to lose that game.

On offense, the Bears were headlined by Jared Butler. After shooting just 2-11 and having seven turnovers against Texas Tech, Butler put on an All-American type performance.

Butler went for 30 points and eight assists on 7-9 shooting from beyond the arc. The ball-handling that Butler possesses alongside his ability to score near the rim is near impossible to defend. Butler is not the defender that Davion Mitchell is, but is well-respected in his own category.

The top defensive performance came from Mark Vital. After being called “out of shape” by Fran Fraschilla, Vital had quite possibly, his most impactful game of the season. Although it was only four points, Vital had ten rebounds and a Lebron James-esque run-down block.

Baylor would travel to play Oklahoma State on Saturday. After trailing by as much as nine, Baylor would throttle the Cowboys over the last 12 minutes, in route to a 15 point win. Jared Butler and Mark Vital would lead the way, scoring 22 and 19 points in the game.

Baylor will play their second game of the season against Kansas State on Wednesday. They will stay home once again on Saturday, as they face 9-7 Auburn in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.