Cade Cunningham’s twenty-five second half points kept Oklahoma State within reach of their first Big 12 title since Eddie Sutton, but in the end it was too of much of Matt Coleman and Jericho Simms as the Longhorns won their first ever Big 12 basketball championship.
Coleman had a career night with thirty points, but Simms…. a tough agile big had a career game as well with a 21 point, 14 rebound double double.
From the midway point of the first half the Longhorns controlled the game and led by ten points at half. But never once did Mike Boynton’s Cowboys wrest the lead from the Longhorn despite Cunningham’s second half heroics.
In fairness to Oklahoma State it was the third tough game in three straight days while Texas got a day off due to Kansas pulling its team due to Covid ramifications.. Clearly…an advantage for Texas as they looked the fresher and quicker team the entire game.
The NCAA Tournament people are going to have implement some changes in their tourny in the name of competitive equity as the sixty-eight teams move onto Indiana. I know they will have four extra teams in a reserve pool if teams have to drop out, but you can’t have a situation like the one in Kansas City where the hotter team O State beats Baylor…while Texas literally got a bye. But Texas is a quality team and I would not at all be shocked to see the Longhorns in a regional final.
I’m sure Mike Boynton and his team felt as if an oppportunity to create some history of their own was missed yesterday.
But here’s the real story of the game…O State didn’t have one made three point basket in the first half. That can’t happen again moving forward. Avery Anderson, Rondel Walker, and Bryce Williams have to score the ball and make some three point shots to give Cade some scoring balance punch.
I hope the comiittee takes into the account the scheduling disadvantage yesterday and moves O State no lower than a No. 2 seed.
Depending on the outcome of Illinois-Ohio State Big Ten Title game… I would think two Big Ten teams plus Gonzaga are in the Final Four. If Illinois beats Ohio State…then if I were on the commitee I might bump Baylor to No. 5 and have three Big Ten teams in the Final Four.
I’d have Baylor, O State, and Texas as No. 2 seeds. I’m not sure who I’d give the other No. 2 seed to just right now. But I would go very heavy on seeding with the Big Ten and Big 12.
OU… I would guess–will be either a No. 5 or No. 6 seed.
I can’t wait to see the bracket this evening.