Welcome to the Feast Week Edition of the Big 12 Power Rankings. For anyone who is new here, and didn’t read last week’s Power Rankings, hello! First, here’s a link to those Power Rankings. There are some good nuggets in there looking back at the first week of college basketball action. Second, below is the intro I wrote in last week’s rankings. It includes what I guess I could call the mission statement for this weekly post. Give it a read before you dive into this week’s rankings.

“Two of my favorite basketball writers on the Internet are Zach Lowe and Luke Winn. I guess I should say “were” for one of those guys as Luke Winn was hired by the Toronto Raptors (!) in the summer of 2017 as Director of Prospect Strategy. Lowe covers the NBA and Winn did cover college basketball for Sports Illustrated. The best part about reading these guys is that you learn something new about basketball, whether it’s a team or a player, every time that you read their stuff. They inform you in intelligent ways without relying on the standard hot take-isms or journalistic tropes. They notice things about teams or players while watching games and then show it to their readers, whether through game clips or data-based analysis, and they do it in a way that is digestible and thought-provoking. I do not have the talent that these two guys have, but my goal is to provide you with a similar look at the Big 12 every week with my weekly Big 12 Power Rankings post. I will rank the teams 1 through 10, but that’s not really what matters here (but feel free to let me know if your team should obviously be ranked 5th instead of 6th). What I want to provide are statistics, analysis, game clips, or just random observations that I’ve made that help you to learn more about a team or a player on that team. And sometimes, I just might include a funny anecdote or item about a team if there’s a slow week. Some weeks, I’ll write more about some teams than other teams. The bigger the game or a week a school has, the more likely I am to go a little deeper on them. Everyone will get their fair share in the end. Just like Lowe and Winn, I want to inform you and give you thought-provoking and compelling analysis on the Big 12 that you’re not getting anywhere else on the Internet. Alright, let’s jump in.”

Four Big 12 teams have played in holiday tournaments so far this season, and three have come home with the trophy. Iowa State won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Baylor won the Hall of Fame Classic, and Texas Tech won the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. (I’m not sure who decides who has priority in calling their Hall of Fame holiday tournament Classic or Tip-Off, but one of you, maybe change your name?). Oklahoma State finished 3rd in the Legends Classic. Starting today, we’ll get to see five more Big 12 teams play in these tournaments, which should help us learn a lot more about those five squads. The teams and their tournaments are as follows:

• West Virginia: Advocare Invitational — Thursday, Friday, Sunday in Orlando, FL

• TCU: Emerald Coast Classic — Friday, Saturday in Destin, FL

• Oklahoma: PK80 Invitational — Thursday, Friday, Sunday in Portland, OR

• Texas: PK80 Invitational — Thursday, Friday, Sunday in Portland, OR

• Kansas State: Las Vegas Invitational — Thursday, Friday in Las Vegas, NV

As per usual, here’s a breakdown on the key Kenpom statistics and metrics that will be shown for each team every week. These will always be shown right below the header for each team. Ken Pomeroy’s blog post explaining these metrics can be read here.

• Ranking and AdjEM: The ranking signifies where a team ranks nationally in Kenpom’s AdjEM. AdjEM is Adjusted Efficiency Margin; it is the difference between a team’s offensive and defensive efficiency. The margin is “adjusted” to account for strength of competition, expected outcome, and recency. The idea of “adjusted” is explained in much clearer detail by Pomeroy here.

• Adj. Offense: Also known as Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. Adj. Offense is shown on a per 100 possessions basis, so a rating of 112.3 would represent 112.3 points scored per 100 possessions. This will include the team’s adjusted efficiency number, their rank nationally, and their rank in the Big 12.

• Adj. Defense: Also known as Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. This works the same as Adj. Offense, but is for a team’s defensive efficiency. Adj. Defense is shown on a per 100 possessions basis, so a rating of 98.7 would represent 98.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. This will include the team’s adjusted efficiency number, their rank nationally, and their rank in the Big 12.

• Adj. Tempo: This shows the number of possessions per 40 minutes. A data point of 71.8 would mean this team plays 71.8 possessions per 40 minutes. This will always include the team’s adjusted tempo, their rank nationally, and their rank in the Big 12.

All statistics used in this post are from Kenpom, Synergy Sports, College Basketball Reference, Hoop-Math, or T-Rank.

1. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 1st)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 4-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 1st, +26.45

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 117.1, 7th, 1st

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 90.6, 3rd, 1st

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 72.6, 89th, 3rd



In their Tuesday win against Texas Southern, Kansas made the most 3-pointers in a single game ever during the Bill Self era, as they went 19-36 from deep in their 114-point, 1.54 PPP performance. Kansas has been frequently launching (and making) threes in their first four games. This made me curious — has there ever been a 4-game stretch under Bill Self where Kansas has made as many threes? Check out this table.

This shows Kansas’ best 4-game shooting stretches from behind the arc over the last 5 seasons. Each season, I pulled the four games where Kansas made the most combined threes over those four games. The only season in which Kansas made more threes over a 4-game stretch was last season, when they made 54 over four games.

What’s most interesting to me is to examine the progression from the 2014 season to this season (and last season). You can see the evolution of Bill Self’s offensive philosophy in adjusting to the more modern game. From 2014 to 2018, the number of 3-pointers made over four games had this pattern: 27-37-43-54-52. That number doubled from 2014 to 2017. The number of 3-pointers attempted per total field goals attempted also increased drastically. It went from 27.7% in 2014 to 44.6% in these first four games on the 2018 season. This team now apparently cannot shoot ENOUGH threes. Their 3-point % was actually the 2nd lowest in these first four game out of the five years examined, but it didn’t matter, simply because Kansas was finally shooting so many threes. His entire offensive philosophy has seemingly changed, from a high-low post offense to a spread 4-out, 1-in offense that realizes the potential of spreading the court and having four shooters out there at once.

Coming Up: 11/24 vs. Oakland, 11/28 vs. Toledo

2. Baylor Bears (Last Week: 4th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 5-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 20th, +20.04

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 113.0, 26th, 4th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 93.0, 18th, 7th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 67.1, 339th, 10th



Baylor had the best week in the Big 12, defeating both Wisconsin and Creighton in Kansas City in the Hall of Fame Classic. They had a lot of guys step up, but the best player in those two games was Jo Lual-Acuil. He scored 19 points and recorded 10 rebounds in the win over Wisconsin and followed that performance up with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Creighton. Jo-Lual Acuil looks like he’s taken a major leap offensively since last year, which is needed after the loss of Johnathan Motley in the frontcourt.

Against Wisconsin, he had one of the best halves I’ve seen this season from any player. He scored 16 points, pulled down 8 rebounds, and was an overwhelming presence at the base of that zone in the first half. He affected multiple shots at the rim. Here’s a look at his offensive performance in that first half.

He was absolutely terrific. He controlled the game on that end, showing a widerepetoire of moves — hook shots, midrange, a running hook, 3-point range. Neither Andy Van Vliet or Ethan Happ could guard him at all, which is a major compliment to Lual-Acuil! Happ is a terrific college defender, and Van Vliet is a fellow 7-footer. Lual-Acuil ate them up a few times in that half.

His play combined with the below tweet is a true compliment to how good of a program Scott Drew has built in Waco. I don’t want to take any credit away from Lual-Acuil; the player deserves the credit from improving so much over one offseason. Guys continue to do that at Baylor, though. You saw it with King McClure in his terrific performance against Creighton on Tuesday night. These guys’ progression and growth is something Scott Drew and his staff should feel really good about.

General feeling from Big 12 coaches I talked to was Baylor would be good bc “They develop their guys.” Lual-Acuil a terrific example. Guy’s offensive game has gone from nil to the moon. — Kevin Flaherty (@KFlaherty247) November 21, 2017

Coming Up: 11/28 vs. Xavier

3. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 2nd)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 3-1, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 14th, +22.16

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 113.6, 21st, 2nd

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 91.4, 11th, 3rd

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 74.1, 38th, 2nd



West Virginia is not always the prettiest team to watch play offense, nor are they considered a good shooting team. In the previous three seasons (2015, 2016, and 2017), West Virginia has finished with an eFG% of 46.1%, 49.8%, and 51.3%. Those percentages ranked 292nd, 177th, and 139th nationally. But yet, they’ve been seeded in the NCAA Tournament as a 5-seed, 3-seed, and 4-seed over those three seasons. How is this possible? Well, what makes West Virginia effective enough on offense is their consistency in nearly always winning the Shot Margin battle vs. their opponents.

Shot Margin means exactly what you think it would mean. Do you take more shots than your opponent? How do you do this? You grab offensive rebounds and you force turnovers. If you do those two things well enough, you’ll end up taking enough shots to beat your opponent. West Virginia is a master at doing these two things. They’ve been in the top 6 nationally in Offensive Rebounding Rate and in the top 2 nationally in forcing turnovers in the last three seasons.

So how have they done at creating more shots than their opponents this season? Let’s check in.

For this statistic, remember that each free throw attempt counts as half a shot. That way, your standard two free throw attempts trip to the line represents one opportunity at getting two points. West Virginia was essentially even in Shot Margin against Texas A&M, recording 74.5 shots compared to 74 for Texas A&M. West Virginia is not efficient enough offensively to play against another very good team and take the same amount of shots as them. They don’t have the necessary shot-making to make that work. In that game against the Aggies, they were 24-70 from the field, a chilly 34%. That’s not a satisfactory percentage. They need to take more shots than their opponent, which means they need to grab their own misses and force turnovers, and they need to get to the foul line. In their other three games, they’ve outshot their opponents by around 20-25 shots per game, which resulted in blowout victories.

This is why you’ll see that West Virginia often just manhandles low and mid-major opponents. They can overwhelm these teams physically, which leads to more offensive rebounds and more turnovers forced. The Mountaineers have already recorded three 30-point plus victories this season. Last season, they recorded eight of these in the non-conference portion of their schedule. It’s like a big city HS team facing off against a rural town’s JV squad; it’s just unfair.

I’ll continue to update this Shot Margin table as the season progresses to see how the Mountaineers are faring. This statistic is often the surest way to know if West Virginia is winning a game or losing one. Keep an eye on it this weekend at the Advocare Invitational.

Coming Up: 11/23 vs. Marist, 11/24 vs. UCF or Nebraska in Game 2 of Advocare Invitational, 11/26 in Game 3 of Advocare Invitational

4. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 3rd)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 4-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 21st, +19.75

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 113.3, 24th, 3rd

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 93.5, 20th, 8th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 71.2, 174th, 6th



Desmond Bane has been a really pleasant surprise for TCU so far this season. I think everyone expected Bane to be a major contributor yet again, but he’s exceeded my expectations to this point.

Bane is currently 2nd on the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game. He’s currently shooting 79% from the field and 70% from 3-point range, shooting 12-17 from deep. Bane was a good shooter last season; he was a 38% 3-point shooter, but this is a crazy hot start for him. He’s currently averaging 1.75 PPP in spot-up situations, per Synergy Sports. It’s only been four games, but for the entire season last year, he averaged 0.99 PPP in spot-ups. He’s obviously not going to keep up the torrid pace that he has jumped out to; the law of averages will take effect. But even if he can jump that 0.99 PPP number up to 1.1 or 1.2, it would help TCU’s offense tremendously.

Before the season, I had just assumed Alex Robinson and Jaylen Fisher would start in the backcourt, just as they did last season. Bane has usurped both of them thus far. He started the first three games over Jaylen Fisher, and Fisher started in TCU’s latest game due to Alex Robinson not dressing. But Bane has been the consistent presence. Seeing him against better competition vs. New Mexico and then either Maryland or St. Bonaventure this weekend should give us a better status report of where’s he at as a player and scorer.

Coming Up: 11/24 vs. New Mexico in Game 1 of Emerald Coast Classic, 11/25 vs. Maryland or St. Bonaventure in Game 2 of Emerald Coast Classic, 11/29 vs. Belmont

5. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 7th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 5-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 18th, +20.84

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 112.0, 39th, 6th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 91.1, 7th, 2nd

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 69.7, 294th, 9th



Texas Tech is destroying teams defensively so far this season. Currently, they are ranked 7th nationally in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per Kenpom, at 91.7 points per 100 possessions. Teams cannot make shots against them. Like, at all. Thus far, they have the 5th best Defensive eFG% in the country, at 37.6%. Opponents are shooting 23.3% from 3-point range (13th nationally) and only 39.5% inside the arc (27th nationally). Texas Tech is also blocking 15.1% of their opponents’ 2-point shots (45th nationally) and recording steals on 14.2% of opponents’ possessions (5th nationally). Per Hoop-Math, they have blocked 21.1% of opponent shots at the rim, which is 22nd nationally.

Those are a lot of different numbers and statistics, but if we were to sum all of that up really quickly, a “holy shit!” would suffice. Those are a lot of top-50 numbers, and their Kenpom team profile page reflects it with a ton of green in the Defense column.

The obvious question this early in the season is, “Is this legit or is this smoke and mirrors due to competition?” I think it’s very legit. Too legit to quit, some might even say. (I apologize.) Two of their five games have been against top-80 ranked teams in Kenpom, Boston College and Northwestern. And Wofford is a middling low-major program. They haven’t played only awful teams.

More importantly, they have really good individual defenders. Zach Smith is one of the best frontcourt defenders in college basketball. He’s incredibly long and blocks shots with ease; he currently has a Block Rate of 8.5%, which is good for 80th nationally. He also might be the best big man at switching onto perimeter players. He doesn’t just hold his own; he’s very effective in those scenarios. Keenan Evans is an above-average PG defender. Freshmen Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver have shown some real potential as defenders. Both have noticeably long arms, and Zhaire Smith is a freakish athlete. He could become a lockdown defender in the Big 12 over the next four years. Justin Gray and Niem Stevenson are two more wings with long arms who can defend multiple positions. They just have a lot of defensive versatility, and Chris Beard has them playing with incredible intensity on that end.

Coming Up: 11/25 vs. Savannah State

6. Oklahoma Sooners (Last Week: 5th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 2-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 23rd, +19.57

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 112.3, 34th, 5th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 92.8, 16th, 6th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 74.4, 31st, 1st



Oklahoma hasn’t played since last week’s rankings, so not a lot to add from last week’s blurb. Last week, I did talk about the immediate impact Trae Young has had on Oklahoma’s offense. They’ve still only played two games, but I’m curious about the impact he’s having on Kameron McGusty.

McGusty was a surprise non-starter in Oklahoma’s first two games, as Christian James got the start in the backcourt over him. McGusty has played only the 6th most minutes of OU players, after playing the 3rd most last season. As their leading returning scorer, the assumption was that he would be one of their main guys this season. This isn’t exactly the case so far. McGusty is only averaging 8.5 points through two games after averaging 10.9 points last season. He’s currently 6th on the team in scoring.

Last season, McGusty had 57 isolation possessions and 40 possessions as a pick and roll ball handler, per Synergy Sports. This season, he only has one of each through two games. Meanwhile, Trae Young already has 20 pick and roll possessions and 5 isolation possessions through two games. Having Trae Young has essentially removed these potential plays from McGusty’s offensive profile. This isn’t overly alarming or anything; it’s only been two games, and it’s been two games against weaker competition. But it is something worth monitoring this week at the PK80 in Portland. How can Lon Kruger find McGusty some looks? He will need to be a productive offensive player for Oklahoma to reach their potential.

Coming Up: 11/23 vs. Arkansas in Game 1 of PK80, Games 2 and 3 will be 11/24 and 11/26

7. Texas Longhorns (Last Week: 6th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 3-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 30th, +17.34

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 109.5, 66th, 9th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 92.2, 13th, 4th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 71.8, 132nd, 4th

One of the major concerns I had about Texas headed into the season was their perimeter play and shooting. I wrote about it in my Texas season preview. I also talked about it a bit in last week’s Power Rankings post in regards to the playing time breakdown between Eric Davis and Jase Febres. So far this season, it looks like their lack of perimeter shooting is still a major concern!

The Longhorns have only played three games, but they are currently shooting 27.4% from 3-point range, which ranks 305th nationally. Last season, Texas shot 29.2% on threes, which was 345th in the country, or 6th worst. Yikes. The main guys we thought needed to provide perimeter shooting were returning guards Andrew Jones and Eric Davis, incoming freshman Jase Febres, and Tulane transfer Dylan Osetkowski. Thus far, none have been great.

The only Longhorn player with a reasonably good percentage thus far is Jacob Young, who you should have noticed I didn’t mention in the above paragraph. Young very well might play his way into more minutes in this Texas rotation if he can make shots, because I’m not sure many others can. He’s only played 35% of minutes thus far through three games, but that number could rise.

Texas plays in the PK80 Tournament in Portland starting today. Their first game is against Butler, and they could potentially face Duke in the 2nd round. The Longhorns need to find a way to make perimeter shots if they want to leave Portland with a couple quality wins. The offense of last season will not do the job; I don’t care how big of a presence Mohamed Bamba is on defense. It’s only been three games; we’ll see if they make shots out in Portland.

Coming Up: 11/23 vs. Butler in Game 1 of the PK80, 11/24 vs. Duke or Portland State in Game 2 of PK80, 11/26 in Game 3 of PK80

8. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 8th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 4-0, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 35th, +16.82

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 109.5, 67th, 10th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 92.7, 15th, 5th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 69.8, 263rd, 8th



Kansas State has still not played a team ranked in the top-175 of Kenpom in their first four games, so it’s tough to take too much out of their performances thus far. They play in the Las Vegas Invitational this weekend and will play Arizona State and then either Xavier or George Washington. We’re about to see them face some quality competition. For now, let’s look back on something I wrote about in my Kansas State preview.

I had concerns about Kansas State’s offense before the season based on Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown’s shooting statistics from last season. Stokes and Brown both shot often, but not well. Brown was 33rd out of 38 qualifying Big 12 players in eFG% at 47.5%. Stokes was even worse, ranking 35th at 45.1%. These two could not make shots inside the 3-point line. Stokes finished the season at 34.8% on 2-point shots, which was last in the Big 12. Brown was somewhat better, but still not great in the grand scheme of things, as he shot 46.6%, which was 44th out of 58 qualifying players in the Big 12 (per Kenpom).

These two have the ball in their hands so often in Bruce Weber’s offense, and they need to shoot it better consistently for the Wildcats to be successful. So far this season through four games, neither has been considerably better compared to last season.

The sample size is obviously small. I’m not going to say that there’s no chance of improvement after four games and with less than 80 shots combined between the two of them. But there’s not noticeable improvement from either of them so far. Stokes is currently shooting better on 2’s, but that’s only on 19 attempts. They’ve got to show some signs of life here eventually. There’s a real possibility that both of them will just never be great, or even good, shooters. This weekend will give us a look to see Stokes and Brown try to find their strokes against some better competition.

Coming Up: 11/23 vs. Arizona State in Game 1 of Las Vegas Invitational, 11/24 vs. Xavier or George Washington in Game 2 of Las Vegas Invitational, 11/29 vs. Oral Roberts

9. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 10th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 3-2, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 60th, +11.30

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 111.2, 47th, 7th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 99.9, 91st, 10th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 71.2, 173rd, 5th

Iowa State had a great (and probably necessary) weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Cyclones won three straight game in Myrtle Beach to win the relocated Puerto Rice Tip-Off. The Cyclones got right on offense. In their first two games against Missouri and Milwaukee, Iowa State recorded PPP of 0.87 and 0.83 respectively. Those performances would have ranked last and 3rd-to-last if you dropped them into their 2017 season schedule. In Myrtle Beach against Appalachian State, Tulsa, and Boise State, their PPP in each game was 1.29, 1.14, and 1.12. They looked loads better on offense.

After their defeat to Milwaukee, I saw this tweet pop up on my timeline and was rather confused by it.

Iowa State gets smoked 74-56 by Milwaukee. Their 0.84 PPP are their worst offensive performance in three seasons. Fred Hoiberg ain’t walking through that door. — Jeff (BPredict) (@BPredict) November 14, 2017

This tweet is so reactionary and short-sighted to me. Are people really still calling for Fred Hoiberg? Steve Prohm has been nothing short of terrific at Iowa State. This idea that Fred Hoiberg is this offensive mastermind that Steve Prohm isn’t is simply wrong and incorrect. I know the shadow of The Mayor hangs over Prohm in Ames, but it shouldn’t. In Prohm’s first two seasons in Ames, Iowa State’s Adjusted Offense finished at 119.7 points per 100 possessions (11th nationally) in 2017 and 121.2 points per 100 possessions (7th nationally) in 2016, per Kenpom. Those efficiency numbers are higher than any Adjusted Offensive Efficiency for Iowa State during Fred Hoiberg’s tenure; Hoiberg’s best season was 2015, when the Cyclones finished at 119.0 points/100 possessions. Iowa State did not take a dip at all under Prohm on offense, and you could argue they actually improved.

In Myrtle Beach, Prohm showed his offensive acumen and used a simple horns set over and over again in the 2nd half of their semifinal game against Tulsa to success. Let’s take a look.

First, for the layman, here is an introduction to the horns set. Iowa State ran this against Appalachian State in their first round game. It features two big men starting at the elbows with a perimeter player in each corner. An entry pass to a player on the elbow always starts the action. This particular play is the simplest version of this Iowa State set and resulted in a bucket off of the first action. Weiler-Babb enters the ball to a big man (Brase) on the elbow, and Weiler-Babb and the opposite big man (Lard) set a double-stagger for Donovan Jackson to get an open 3. Simple. Effective.

Let’s move to the semifinal against Tulsa. On this play, Lindell Wigginton initiates the offense and the double-stagger is set for Weiler-Babb. Solomon Young received the initial pass and then essentially hands if off to Weiler-Babb. Young rolls to the basket, posts up, and gets an easy bucket. The entry pass to Young is easier due to the fact that ISU’s best shooter, Donovan Jackson, is in the ballside corner and another good shooter, Lindell Wigginton, is in the weakside corner. Young has a lot of space to operate in the post because of that floor spacing.

On this iteration, Donovan Jackson comes off the double-stagger, receives the pass at the top of the key and immediately enters into a ballscreen action with Cameron Lard. Tulsa doesn’t know how they want to defend this ballscreen. Both defenders hesitate and focus on Lard on the hard roll to the rim. By the time the big man defending Lard realizes he needs to step out on Jackson, it’s too late. Jackson has plenty of space for a great look from 3.

Tulsa is now ready for this double-stagger action. They are tired of getting beat by letting the ball get to the man coming off that stagger with such ease. Tulsa started to ramp up their defensive pressure and intensity to disrupt this set; I’m pretty certain head coach Frank Haith demanded this in the under-12 timeout. Iowa State knows this and have a perfect action to counteract this. Weiler-Babb enters the ball to Lard on the left elbow, heads to set his screen in the double-stagger for Jackson in the right corner, feels his man is trailing him too tightly, and sneakily slips to the bucket for an easy lay-in. It’s a terrific pass from a big man in Lard on the slip. Perfect execution.

This next one was my favorite horns action Iowa State ran. I was watching this game live and noticed Donovan Jackson was bringing the ball up after a deadball. I knew Prohm had something cooked up; Jackson had not initiated a horns set the entire 2nd half. On this play, Jackson enters to Young on the left elbow. Sterling Taplin, #4 for Tulsa, is guarding him. Taplin was also guarding Weiler-Babb in the previous clip; on that play, he trailed Weiler-Babb after the initial pass and got beat for the slip. On this play, Taplin sags off Jackson after the entry. He does not want to get beat on that slip again. Iowa State has yet another action built into this horns set, and when Jackson starts making his move to the right corner to set his stagger screen, he fakes the screen, quickly turns back, and runs off a pindown screen from Hans Brase. Tulsa has no chance. They are beat immediately.

It’s a great play design by Prohm. He went to this set over and over again in that 2nd half, and he called this action at a crucial moment. Tulsa had cut the lead to 2 points with just under 5:00 to play. It was tremendous coaching. It’s insulting to say Prohm can’t coach at the same level offensively as Hoiberg. He’s proven himself over and over again in these last 2+ years in Ames. Iowa State struggled in their first two games, because they are a young team with a lot of new faces, and that’s what young teams with a lot of new faces do, they struggle at times. Iowa State fans should have no qualms about having Prohm on their bench this year or in the years to come.

Coming Up: 11/25 vs. Western Illinois

10. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 9th)

Current Record (Overall/Conference): 4-1, 0-0

Kenpom Ranking and AdjEM: 46th, +14.35

Adj. Offense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 110.8, 53rd, 8th

Adj. Defense (Efficiency, National Rank, Conference Rank): 96.5, 48th, 9th

Adj. Tempo (Possessions/Game, National Rank, Conference Rank): 71.2, 179th, 7th



We might need to start talking about Thomas Dziagwa a bit more. The 6’4″ guard, who is in his 2nd season at Oklahoma State, is getting playing time that he did not get last season, and he’s making the most of it right now. Dziagwa is currently 16-29 from 3-point range, for a 55% success rate behind the arc. He’s forcing Mike Boynton to give him more minutes.

Last year, Dziagwa only played 13% of minutes as a freshman for the Cowboys. That makes sense, considering the backcourt last year consisted of Jawun Evans and Phil Forte. In those very light minutes though, he did show potential as a shooter. He shot 23-50 from 3 (46%), but his playing time was mostly only in non-conference action. Once conference play started, the most minutes he saw in a game was 14 minutes on January 4th against Texas.

This year, Dziagwa is averaging 16.2 minutes per game and averaging 10 points per game in those 16 minutes. Dziagwa has a bit of a weird shooting stroke that looks oddly robotic. In the GIF below, you can see that his left hand flies off the ball pretty early in his stroke, leaving his shooting hand alone on the ball for an longer-than-expected period of time. But the release, ball flight, and rotation all look perfect. And they often results in clear swishes. He can really stroke it from deep. (You hold that follow through, Tommy.)

Dziagwa was 4-7 from 3 in Oklahoma State’s victory over Pittsburgh. He hit some really timely jumpers in that game. You can’t underestimate how valuable that is to a coach. Being able to reliably hit open jumpers will be needed for this Cowboys team, as they may struggle to generate offense at times. He’s going to continue to force his way onto the court.

(This is a major win for all of us who will watch Oklahoma State play, because we’ll get to continue to see this wonderful tattoo. Where did the other wing go?!? That one wing on his left arm looks so lonely and sad.)

Coming Up: 11/26 vs. Houston Baptist, 11/29 vs. Austin Peay