A look at the upcoming weekend around the Big 12:
GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 24 TCU at Kansas State. That the Horned Frogs were still ranked on Monday despite starting 1-4 in league play was a testament to the respect the rest of the country has for the Big 12. But K-State has been a bit of a surprise, moving to 3-3 in conference games after throttling fourth-ranked Oklahoma on Tuesday, and TCU has lost starting guard Jaylen Fisher indefinitely to a right knee injury. Fisher is averaging 5.4 assists - and the Horned Frogs led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.6 with Fisher running the offense.
LOOKING AHEAD: No. 6 West Virginia, which lost to No. 10 Kansas 71-66 at home on Monday night, hosts Texas on Saturday. No. 8 Texas Tech plays at Iowa State - which broke through with its first Big 12 win on Saturday over Baylor - while the Bears play at league-leading Kansas. Oklahoma’s Trae Young, who shot just 8 of 21 from the floor against the Wildcats, will get a crack at quick redemption when the Sooners travel to Stillwater.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Kansas State junior guard Barry Brown. He had 24 points in Tuesday’s 87-69 win over the Sooners and is up to 17 points a game, tops for the Wildcats. Brown has averaged 24.5 points over his last four games, and he had 38 in a home win over Oklahoma State last week. Brown’s 3-point percentage is just 30.5, but he makes up for that by attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line, where he’s a 78.8 percent shooter. “He’s taken his game to another level,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said on Tuesday.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Iowa State freshman Lindell Wigginton scored 57 points in two games last week; a narrow loss at Kansas and that win over Baylor. … Udoka Azubuike of Kansas is shooting a staggering 78.1 percent from the floor, by far the best in the Big 12. And despite all the talk that the Jayhawks might be vulnerable in 2018, they’re outscoring opponents by 15.1 points a game. That’s the third-highest total among Big 12 teams. …West Virginia is averaging 9.7 steals a game.
ON THE WOMEN’S SIDE: Baylor moved up to fourth in the Top 25 this week and is the highest ranked team with a loss. The Lady Bears fell to UCLA 82-68 on Nov. 18. Ariel Atkins of ninth-ranked Texas was named the player of the week on Monday after averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 steals in games against TCU and Kansas. The Longhorns lost to No. 1 UConn 75-71 on Monday.
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Compiled by AP Sports Writer Luke Meredith.
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