Big 12 Notebook
Joshua Parrott, Big 12
The hype that followed Le’Bryan Nash to Oklahoma State was as huge as the list of accolades he earned while playing at Lincoln High School in Dallas.
McDonald’s and Parade All-American. Five-star recruit. Mr. Basketball in the state of Texas.
For all of his accomplishments, Nash struggled to put it all together on a consistent basis as a college freshman. He averaged barely 11 points on 35 percent shooting up until about a week ago.
Then everything clicked against second-ranked Missouri on Jan. 25. Nash scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting to lead Oklahoma State to a 79-72 upset of the Tigers.
“Le’Bryan Nash played at a very high level,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said about his 6-foot-7, 230-pound swingman. “All his moves were a little bit more explosive. Everyone is going to look at his 27 points, but his defense was better than his offense.”
Nash scored 13 of his 19 second-half points during a key stretch in the last four minutes to help the Cowboys hold on for the win.
“I just tried to get aggressive in the second half,” said Nash, who had scored 21 points four times this season. “ … My teammates got me the ball in good situations. Once it started rolling, the shots started falling, and we got better.”
Ford expected a breakout performance to eventually come from Nash, who is the league’s top freshman scorer this season at 13.3 points.
“It’s not a coincidence when you work hard and stay after shoot-around while everyone else is going to pre-game meal,” Ford said. “It’s not a coincidence that he told me yesterday he was going to be ready today.”
Missouri forward Ricardo Ratliffe was impressed with Nash’s career game.
“You can tell that he is in the gym, working on his game and versatility,” Ratliffe said. “I mean, he’s 6-7, 230 and he’s making 3-pointers. You can tell that he’s confident.”
Other Big 12 freshmen have stood out this season:
***Baylor is ranked in the top 10 nationally due in part to the play of forward Quincy Miller (12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds).
***Forward Jordan Tolbert (11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds) has been a bright spot for Texas Tech.
***Texas has several contributing freshmen, including guard Sheldon McClellan (10.6 points), guard Myck Kabongo (9.9 points, 5.3 assists), guard Julien Lewis (8.2 points) and forward Jonathan Holmes (5.4 rebounds).
***Kansas State is getting strong play from guard Angel Rodriguez (7.1 points, 2.5 assists) and forward Thomas Gipson (8.5 points, 5.6 rebounds).
Follow @JoshuaParrott
Required Reading
***A great story on Iowa State F Royce White and his struggles away from basketball.
***Missouri coach Frank Haith and how he handles his star G Marcus Denmon.
***Texas G J’Covan Brown is one of the nation’s most feared scorers, but he needs more help from his teammates.
Three Things I’ve Learned …
1. Kansas F Thomas Robinson is the front-runner for national player of the year honors, but Iowa State F Royce White will join him as a first-team All-American. They’re probably the top two players in the country. White, a Minnesota transfer, has been the catalyst for a Cyclones team that is capable of making a postseason run.
2. Baylor (20-2) is playing better in tight spots than
last season when it missed the postseason, and it’s largely
because of G Pierre Jackson. He can be a bit wild
but had five points in the final 17 seconds of Wednesday’s
63-60 win over Texas A&M. The Bears are now 6-1 this season in
games decided by 5 points or fewer.
3. Kansas (18-4) suffered its first Big 12 loss of the season against Iowa State on Saturday, but there’s no need to be overly concerned in Jayhawk Nation. The Cyclones will be in the NCAAs. KU’s other losses came to then-No. 2 Kentucky, then-No. 6 Duke and Davidson (which made 11 3s). KU will be fine and bounce back.
Stat of the Week
1: Iowa State F Royce White is the only
player in the nation to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists,
blocks and steals this season.
Who’s Hot
Oklahoma G Steven Pledger (23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds in two games) is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week … Oklahoma State F Le’Bryan Nash (20 points, 5.5 rebounds in two games) is the league’s reigning Rookie of the Week, and teammate Markel Brown has 49 points in his past two games … Kansas F Thomas Robinson had 20 points and 17 rebounds Wednesday vs. Oklahoma for his 15th double-double this season in 22 games … Baylor extended the best start in program history with Wednesday’s win over Texas A&M … Iowa State F Royce White had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in Saturday’s win over Kansas and hit the game-winning shot to go with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a win Tuesday against Kansas State.
Who’s Not
Texas Tech (7-14) remained winless in conference play after falling to Oklahoma State on Tuesday. It was the ninth straight loss for the Red Raiders … Texas (13-9) has lost five of its last six games, Oklahoma (13-8) has dropped three of four and Oklahoma State (11-11) is 2-4 in the past six contests … Texas A&M G Elston Turner shot 3-of-13 for 8 points in Wednesday’s loss to Baylor, snapping a streak of three straight 20-point games. He is shooting 36.5 percent (23-of-63) in his last four games … Missouri G Marcus Denmon had only six points in Monday’s win over Texas and hasn’t shot 50 percent from the floor in the past eight games.
Games to Watch
Kansas at Missouri, Saturday: This matchup between top-10 programs will feature plenty of talented guards, including Tyshawn Taylor and Phil Pressey.
Texas at Texas A&M, Monday: A&M, which lost to Texas earlier this season, wants revenge in what could be the final Big 12 meeting between the two schools.
Parrott’s Perspective
Oklahoma State G Markel Brown had two monster dunks in a Jan. 25 win over Missouri but got ejected for trash talking and taunting an opposing player. The sophomore was tossed because he received a technical foul for similar actions to start the game. Emotions are part of basketball, but Brown should know better and be more disciplined. The Cowboys need him on the court, not on the bench.
* * *
Pierre Jackson photo courtesy of
Baylor Marketing and Communications; Royce White photo courtesy of
Iowa State Athletics Communications
