The home team won every Big 12 game Saturday.
Missouri wasn’t the only Big 12 Conference team blessed with a large home crowd Saturday.
Kansas State students had cheers bouncing off the Bramlage Coliseum walls with 13,340 in attendance. Their reward was an historic 61-45 victory over Nebraska and the relief of getting out of Bob Huggins’ doghouse.
Just 10 days earlier, Huggins had given the kids a verbal spanking, calling them out for purchasing tickets but then not coming to games. Athletic director Tim Weiser had even hinted that maybe the students’ ticket allotment could be moved to less desirable sections of the arena.
But they got the message. The Wildcats won their fifth in a row and their fourth straight conference game, the first time that’s happened since 1989-90.
“They showed up. I thought they were terrific,” Huggins said. “Tonight was kind of how I thought it was going to be, when they stood in line and bought tickets. I thought they were great.”
Beating Nebraska also put Kansas State (15-6, 4-2 Big 12) in the mood to think about an NCAA tournament bid in Huggins’ first year. And it kept them only one game behind Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas for the conference lead. The No. 8 Jayhawks (18-3, 5-1) toyed with Colorado for a while before dispatching the outmanned Buffaloes 97-74 for the 35th time in 36 meetings.
Freshman Kevin Durant scored 34 points to help Texas (15-5, 5-1) take out pesky Baylor 84-79, and No. 6 Texas A&M (17-3, 5-1) overcame coach Billy Gillispie’s technical foul to beat Oklahoma 70-61.
Making it a sweep for the home teams was No. 13 Oklahoma State, rallying from an early deficit to beat Iowa State 62-50.
WILL YOU TAKE A CHECK: One would think that Texas, the Big 12’s richest institution, could afford a new shot clock and a marquee manager who knows how to spell.
Durant’s 34 points helped Longhorns coach Rick Barnes run his record against Baylor to 18-0, but the 35-second clock at the Erwin Center malfunctioned for the second time this year, causing a disruption of play and probably costing the home team some momentum. Durant, who could be the first player taken in the NBA draft, was asked if he might buy his school a new clock.
But the 6-9 freshman said he’d be willing to do even better than that, and pony up for “a whole new stadium” once he, and not the school, begins making money off his colossal talents.
He might also pay for spelling lessons for whoever maintains the marquee on the front of the Erwin Center which announced, “Texas vs. Balyor.”
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Colorado lost to Kansas for the 35th time in 36 games, but the biggest embarrassment belonged to the Jayhawks’ Julian Wright. The talented sophomore stole the ball at midcourt and dribbled toward the basket for an uncontested layup. Instead of simply finishing the play, however, and giving his team two points, Wright decided to show off with some sort of spectacular windmill dunk. But all at once, he lost control of ball, body and dignity and went sprawling to the floor beneath the basket. A disgusted coach Bill Self took him out of the game until the second half, and then made him off-limits to the media.
Even Wright’s teammates were laughing.
“I’ve never missed a dunk like that,” guard Brandon Rush said. “I don’t have the (courage) to try to windmill in front of 16,000 people and then fall. I’d be so embarrassed. I wouldn’t even show my face around town tonight.”