No conference was busier than Big 12 Basketball to open the season last night, with 15 of 16 teams playing. The conference went 13-2, with the two losses coming to ranked opponents. There was plenty to take away from the league, both good and bad from everything that occurred.
Here’s a look at the five biggest takeaways overall.
1. Ivan Kharchenkov’s 38 not enough to complete comeback for Arizona
After a slow start that saw the Wildcats down double figures, Arizona nearly came all the way back to beat UCLA. Sophomore forward Kharchenkov went for a career-high 38 points and 10 rebounds to keep them in the game. Derek Dixon had 18 but went 5/17 from the field, while both Caleb Holt and Motiejus Krivas made just two field goals each on the night. With no production coming from the rest of the group, the Wildcats need more from those two to beat top-25 caliber opponents.
2. Iowa State’s stunning loss to Memphis
With Memphis starting big man Nemanja Popovic set to miss the first six games, that made the Tigers even more of an underdog against top-20 Iowa State. And still, the Cyclones lost 80-78, despite 34 points combined off the bench from Dominykas Pleta and Ryan Prather Jr. The backcourt mightily struggled, with Jaquon Johnson and Jamarion Batemon going 0/11 from the field combined. Memphis does have the chance to be good so it won’t be viewed as a bad loss but it’s still a setback for Iowa State.
3. Rob Wright makes sure that BYU beats Ohio State
There were a number of big individual outings, including junior guard Wright going for 33 points on 9/15 shooting from the field. He led Baylor’s 60-point outing in the final 20 minutes to win 94-83, with all five starters in double figures. Shoutout to Syracuse transfer Tyler Betsey, who scored 15 points and seven rebounds in the win after a rough preseason campaign.
4. UCF needed all 41 points from Dior Johnson to survive Florida Gulf Coast
The top scorer on the night in the sport was Johnson, who dropped 41 points on an incredible 13/15 FG and 11/15 FT shooting on the night. The Knights were able to survive 96-95 in overtime against FGCU to avoid the Quad 4 defeat. It’s a major concern for the Big 12 program to need that performance from Johnson to win but after producing just a couple of points a game two years ago in his first go-around with the program, it looks as if the Knights have a clear lead guard this season.
5. Utah completes comeback to avoid Quad 4 loss to Long Beach
Another team picked to finish in the bottom of the Big 12 is Utah, who trailed Long Beach by 12 at the half. Led by 5th-year guard Trey Cambpell going for 20 points, six rebounds and eight assists to comeback to win 66-63. It’s certainly not a good sign that the Utes nearly lost this Quad 4 battle but at least they have something to work with in Campbell.
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