There are givens on this planet.
The sun will rise and set. The Rolling Stones will go on tour for what might be the final time. Hallmark holiday movies will somehow feature a twist, yet arrive at a happy ending.
And since 2004, Kansas has secured at least a share of the Big 12 men’s basketball regular season championship. That’s 14 straight titles … and whether the Jayhawks win the national title or get upset in the first weekend of the NCAA’s, they annually hang a banner marking their conference dominance.
It’s been somewhat of a perfect storm for the Jayhawks in that time; the Big 12 has been decidedly lacking when looking at how conferences have fared come Final Four time. Just four appearances in the National Semifinals, with Kansas (2008, 2012 and 2018) nabbing three of them (the 2016 Oklahoma team led by Buddy Hield is the other).
Meanwhile, three leagues (Big East, Big Ten and SEC) have sent 10 schools to the Final Four, while the ACC has had eight schools reach the final weekend. Disclosure: The league the school was in that year gets the credit, so Conference USA gets credit for Louisville in 2005 while the Big East gets Louisville’s 2012 and 2013 trips.
Simply put, Kansas hasn’t had a ton of heavyweights to punch past during this stretch … even to the point that the Big 12 now has only ten schools — meaning they only have to be better than nine others, as opposed to the ACC’s 15 (Duke hasn’t shared a conference title since 2010).
But this year, it finally appeared as if the Jayhawks would wind up looking up somebody in the standings for the first time since 2004 … I mean, they were barbecued by Texas Tech 91-62 last Saturday in Lubbock. All we needed was for a Kansas State team that has been ranked all season to go into Allen Fieldhouse and finish the job.
Only they didn’t.
The Jayhawks 64-49 win sets coach Bill Self’s team up perfectly: They’re now 10-5 in the conference — just one game off the pace set by the Wildcats and Red Raiders, while their three remaining Big 12 foes are a combined 18-27 in league play, easily the worst in the four teams that are in the mix for first place (Baylor is also 10-5 in the league).
Are you kidding me? Prepare yourself for another year under Pax Jayhawka. The Big 12 sun refuses once again to set on the Kansas basketball empire.
Saturday’s Games:
Navy (10-18, 7-10 Patriot League) at Boston University (14-16, 7-10), 12 p.m. The Midshipmen are coming off an upset of first place Bucknell, thanks to 17 points and 8 assists from senior Hassan Abdullah; they also held the Bison to under 30 percent shooting at Alumni Hall. Unfortunately, the Mids have not been the same team away from Annapolis: They’re currently 1-7 on the road in league play. BU won the previous meeting this winter 75-69 behind 22 points from Max Mahoney. There’s plenty on the line as the loser is assured of playing in the Patriot League Tournament’s first round, while the winner has a shot at fourth place and a home quarterfinal game.
American (14-14, 8-9 Patriot League) at Holy Cross (15-15, 6-11), 12:05 p.m. Speaking of Patriot League positioning, the Eagles can wrap up home court for the quarterfinals with a win or losses by Army, Lafayette and Navy. That’s the good news; the bad news is that AU has lost four of five. They did defeat the Crusaders in D.C. Feb. 2 on their best defensive day of the season (49 points allowed). Jacob Boonyasith led AU in scoring that afternoon, an aberration this winter as Sa’eed Nelson has been the Eagles’ top scorer in 12 of 17 Patriot League games.
#2 Virginia (25-2, 13-2 ACC) vs. Pitt (12-16, 2-13), 2 p.m., ACC Network. Will there be thank you notes sent to Blacksburg? Virginia Tech’s win over Duke means the Cavaliers control their path to the ACC Regular Season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament (as UVA owns the head to head tiebreaker with North Carolina). Speaking of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Cavaliers conclude their league schedule with Pitt, Syracuse and Louisville. I know — still feels kind of weird. Can’t wait for next winter’s 20-game schedule. Pitt has lost eleven straight and is 0-9 on the road this season. One of the bright spots in Jeff Capel’s first season has been Arlington, Virginia native Xavier Johnson: The freshman from Bishop O’Connell is averaging 17 points with 5 assists. By comparison, UVA has three players on its roster from the Commonwealth — and the trio of Austin Katstra, Jayden Nixon, and manager Grant Kersey (who suits up for home games) have played a total of 13 minutes in ACC action. The way this year has been going for both teams; don’t be surprised to see Kersey take to the floor late in the second half.
George Mason (16-12, 10-5 Atlantic 10) at Saint Louis (17-11, 8-7), 3 p.m., NBCSN. The Patriots are coming off a 77-63 win over Richmond that clinches a winning conference record for the first time since Mason joined the A-10. For comparison, it took three seasons for the program to record its first ten victories in league play. The Billikens were the preseason favorites, but have fallen on tough times since starting 5-0 in the conference — although there’s nothing to be ashamed about losing consecutive road games at Dayton and VCU. SLU is the best rebounding team in the Atlantic 10, with Hasahn French (8.5 boards per game) the main culprit. Cause for Patriots confidence? Coach Dave Paulsen’s team is 4-3 on the road in A-10 play this winter.
George Washington (8-20, 4-11 Atlantic 10) vs. St. Bonaventure (14-14, 10-5), 4 p.m., ESPN+. It’s been one rough winter for the Colonials who have lost six of seven — with all of their losses coming by double digits. Tuesday’s defeat at Rhode Island saw GW begin with a bang (54 percent shooting in the first half) and end with a whimper (24 percent after intermission) while missing all 11 of their three-point attempts. While the Colonials are likely ticketed to the dreaded first round of the A-10 Tournament, the Bonnies have won five straight to move into contention for a double-bye. They also have a big man named Osum Osunniyi who leads the conference in blocked shots. GW has enough trouble generating offense without this ominous obstacle planted in the paint.
VCU (22-6, 13-2 Atlantic 10) at Richmond (12-16, 6-9), 4 p.m., CBSSN. The Rams can wrap up their first regular season title since joining the Atlantic 10 with a victory plus a loss by Davidson. The hottest team in the conference (nine straight wins) is piling up W’s thanks to their coach. Mike Rhoades’ bunch leads the A-10 in scoring defense, field goal defense and defending the 3-pointer. Richmond ranks last in the conference in rebounding, and the Spiders are also looking to rebound from a double digit loss at George Mason. They led 37-35 before the Patriots went on a 15-4 run to take the lead for good. VCU took the February 13th matchup thanks to a 21-5 first half run at the Siegel Center.
Howard (14-15, 8-6 MEAC) at Savannah State (10-18, 7-7), 6 p.m. Can the Bison somehow post their first winning record since 2002? That may be a tough task with first place Norfolk State on the slate Monday, but coach Kevin Nickelberry’s team does have a legitimate shot at a double-bye in the upcoming conference tournament. The Bison and Tigers rank first and second in the MEAC in scoring … while also ranking 11th and 12th in scoring defense. Howard has the stars — with RJ Coles (21.1 points per game) and Charles Williams (18.2) holding down the top two spots in the league. Savannah State has the depth- six Tigers average between eight and 13 points per game.
Georgetown (17-11, 7-8 Big East) vs. Seton Hall (16-11, 7-8), 6:30 p.m., CBSSN. Senior Night may have arrived a couple of evenings early, as Jessie Govan scored 26 points in the Hoyas’ 82-73 win over lowly DePaul (yes, after the Blue Demons flirted with as high as third place in the Big East they currently are back residing in the conference basement). Can the Hoyas win consecutive league games for just the second time this winter? “Our problem is, we’ll have a great game today, and then exhale and take a step back for the next one-and we can’t do that,” coach Patrick Ewing said, “Especially going down the stretch — everyone is fighting for seeding right now.” Case in point — the Hoyas and Pirates are tied with Xavier for fourth place in the conference, one game behind third place St. John’s and one game ahead of the Butler-Creighton seventh place duo. Back to Govan — the senior scored 20 points the last time these two teams played, but the Pirates Myles Powell poured in 30 as the Hall led by 20 in the first half of an 80-75 triumph.
Sunday’s Game:
#17 Maryland (21-8, 12-6 Big Ten) vs. #9 Michigan (25-4, 14-4), 3:45 p.m., CBS. The Terps return home after their annual February foul-up: if it feels like every year they have a confounding road loss around this time, it’s probably because this is the third straight February they’ve lost to the Nittany Lions on the road. While this winter’s team is probably not headed to the NIT (Penn State beat Utah at MSG in the finals last year), they have won five of seven after a 0-10 Big Ten start (and with Illinois and Rutgers coming up they could go 7-3 over the second half of league play). The last time the Terps faced the Wolverines it was Michigan that was trying to bounce back from a loss in Happy Valley. One expects that one of the keys Sunday will be ball security: Maryland turned the ball over 16 times in their February 9 loss at Ann Arbor. It was so bad in the first half they had issues simply getting the ball to mid-court.
