Steve Walentik’s Big 12 basketball notes

Published Monday, January 12, 2009

Big 12 heavyweights meet in Norman

The schedule makers in the Big 12 Conference didn’t waste any time giving fans the marquee matchup of the league season.

Oklahoma and Texas, two teams that topped that conference’s preseason coaches’ poll and have spent most of the season ranked in the top 10, will meet at 8 p.m. tonight in Norman, Okla., in a game televised on ESPN.

The Longhorns, coming off a home victory over Iowa State, will have to contend with Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Blake Griffin, who today his received his fourth conference player-of-the-week honor of the season after averaging 24.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore and Kansas State. Griffin, a sophomore forward, scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Wildcats.

“I really like the way the pieces come together,” Texas Coach Rick Barnes said of Oklahoma. “They obviously have a guy that they think can go get them a basket any time they need one. I think they made 13 or so 3s in the Arkansas game, so they’ve got an inside-outside threat. You’ve got to deal with not just one guy.”

The Longhorns, too, are loaded with weapons. Senior guard A.J. Abrams paces his team in scoring, averaging 17.5 points, but three other players — Damion James, Gary Johnson and slimmed-down junior center Dexter Pittman — are each contributing at least 9.3 points per game.

“They’re really, really good. They play so hard, well-coached, have really good players,” Oklahoma Coach Jeff Capel said. “It’s going to be a really tough challenge for us, but our guys are ready to go.”

The winner of tonight’s game will grab the upper hand in the battle for the regular-season conference title. Oklahoma is already ahead of the rest of the conference because it was the only road team to win on Saturday. Texas could join the Sooners on that list tonight.

But Barnes warned that the title chase will take much longer to sort out.

“We’re going to have a great race this year in our league,” Barnes said. “I think the teams are very evenly matched. Right now, unless somebody just takes it and goes with it, I don’t see a real dominant team. I think every game is going to be real competitive. Teams are going to have to win at home, and the team that wins the league will go on the road and get more on the road. That’s what will determine it.”

Missouri update

Missouri Coach Mike Anderson acknowledged his disappointment in his team’s 56-51 loss at Nebraska on Saturday in the Big 12 opener.

“You always say you want to have an opportunity to contend for the conference championship, you want to take care of the home court and hopefully steal some games on the road,” he said. “It was one, obviously, we felt we had a chance to go in and steal.

“It was the first game of conference play, so it’s kind of like the first game of a tournament. You never know how your team is going to come out. Our team, I thought we didn’t come out and match the intensity that Nebraska had.”

But Anderson isn’t ready to panic with 15 games remaining on the Big 12 schedule.

“We’ve played 16 games, and I think for the most part I thought we really came out and matched the energy that teams have had,” he said.

The loss might put a little more pressure on the Tigers (13-3, 0-1 Big 12) to play well against Colorado in the Buffaloes’ Big 12 opener, which will tip off at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena. Missouri has not lost to Colorado since Anderson took over in 2006.

Big decision on Little

Kansas Coach Bill Self and his staff have until tomorrow night’s Big 12 Conference opener against Kansas State to decide if junior college transfer Mario Little will play the rest of the season.

Little, a 6-foot-5 guard who was voted the preseason Big 12 newcomer of the year, has been dealing with a stress fracture in his lower left leg that has kept him from playing all but the last three games, and he’s only been able to contribute three points in 22 total minutes. If Little plays in the second half of the season, which starts tomorrow, he would not be eligible for a medical redshirt and would lose a year of eligibility for what could turn out to be a lost year.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported that Kansas planned to have Little practice today then have his lower left leg X-rayed. A decision on whether he will redshirt or continue to play would then be made sometime before tomorrow’s 7 p.m. tip-off in Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas, with a young roster that includes five recruited freshman, had been hoping Little could take some of the offensive load off junior guard Sherron Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich. The Jayhawks have struggled to find a consistent third scoring option to complement Collins and Aldrich.

Tribune power poll

1. Oklahoma (15-1, 1-0)

2. Texas (12-3, 1-0)

3. Baylor (13-2, 1-0)

4. Okla. St. (12-3, 1-0)

5. Tex. A&M (14-2, 1-0)

6. Kansas (11-4, 0-0)

7. Missouri (13-3, 0-1)

8. Nebraska (11-3, 1-0)

9. Kansas St. (11-4, 0-1)

10. Iowa St. (11-5, 0-1)

11. Tex. Tech (10-6, 0-1)

12. Colorado (8-6, 0-0)

Game of the week

Texas at Oklahoma,

Tonight

8 p.m. (ESPN)