The Big 12 has become a basketball conference that is stronger than just perennial power Kansas. Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State, and Iowa State have all proven in the last few years that they can play basketball too. With teams like that rising to the top of the college ranks, it makes for important and hard-fought basketball games week in and week out during the conference season. With scheduling being a round robin in the Big 12 teams are given two chances at each other during the regular season, both home and away.
This week we’ll get a version of the Red River Rivalry in hoops, when the Oklahoma heads down to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns in a battle of top 20 teams in the nation. According to Totally Tickets, the average price for tickets on the secondary market is $54, while the get in price is a very low price of $5. That is about as great a ticket deal for Oklahoma Sooners fans as you can find considering the play of both teams this season.
Longhorns sophomore point guard Isaiah Taylor will be in his second game back after suffering a broken wrist. Taylor came back against Texas Tech where he showed signs of rust going 2-10 from the floor. He will be doing battle against fellow point guard Buddy Hield from Oklahoma, who’s averaging 16 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Myles Turner, five-star recruit and Texas freshman forward, comes into this game averaging 11.4 points and 7 rebounds per game. He’ll be doing battle with junior forward Ryan Spangler of the Sooners, who averages 8.3 rebounds per game.
Oklahoma is coming off of a 10-point victory over a ranked Baylor team on Saturday, and their third straight win overall. They’ve also defeated a ranked UCLA squad but dropped games to ranked out of conference opponents Wisconsin and Washington.
Texas will be looking to make amends for last season, when they lost both games to their hated rival. Texas lost the matchups by an average of 7.5 points per game. This will be an early conference test for both teams but it can go a long way towards deciding who wins the conference come March.
