Two games in the books for teams throughout the league and the results have confirmed many assumptions we had for the top half of this league. The top four teams in the league, Arizona, BYU, Houston and Iowa State, are undefeated, joined by the outlier Colorado, who had the benefit of starting with matchups against winless Arizona State and Utah.

The top of this league will be vying for 1-3 seeds by Selection Sunday, with each team having something extra in their tank that even the “really good” teams in this conference just don’t have. That was evident in last week’s set of games.

Kingston Flemings as Houston’s engine

We’ve written about Kingston Flemings’ impact for Houston in past round-ups, but somehow my comparisons to Jamal Shead weren’t bullish enough on the freshman point guard. Flemings hasn’t just taken on more and more on-ball opportunities as the season has gone on. He’s become the offense. Flemings is averaging 21 points and 5.5 assists over the first two games in conference play and was the relentless answer for the Coogs as they defeated Texas Tech at home on Tuesday.

It was Flemings who sealed the major win over the Red Raiders, making the final three field goal attempts in the closing three minutes of the second half. The 6-foot-5 guard is known for his speed and physicality as a rim runner, shooting 61.1% in the paint and 70.8% at the rim. But those final shots highlighted how deep Flemings bag is already as a scorer. 

Flemings makes a 25-foot pull-up three-pointer to take back the lead with 2 minutes and 11 seconds left. He then makes a pull-up 10-foot middie the next time down the floor to go up two. Then, with 30 seconds left in the game, up one, Flemings passes sideline to Cenac, who then gives it back to rotate the ball. But Flemings sees a coverage gap and drills a catch-and-shoot 32-foot three to go up two possessions. He’s 19 years old.

Flemings’ usage has increased from 24% on the season to 32% in conference play. He’s averaging just 1.5 turnovers to those 5.5 assists. While Flemings’ efficiency has taken a dip with the addition of these responsibilities, it’s also cemented that Houston will go as far as he takes them. Something that nobody would have likely expected going into the season. Once Milos Uzan and Emmanuel Sharp find more consistency in catch-and-shoot looks, this Houston offense has the potential to reach another level and this team becomes scary good. 

Bearcats’ backs against the wall

For the second consecutive season, Cincinnati and Wes Miller begin Big 12 league play 0-2, having lost the opening pair by a combined three possessions. The pressure is mounting on Miller and his team, with the program still looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance in his tenure, the longest drought for the school since 1992.

Miller’s program has left no stone unturned in getting them back to their tournament ways, pushing their chips in on the theoretical talent in the portal in Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam. After going 6-4 to start the season, Cincinnati even brought back Jizzle James after being dismissed from the team during the summer. James has started the last three games.

The frustrations eventually bubbled over into an awkward postgame show appearance where Miller acknowledged and adamantly accepted that it was Cincinnati’s locker room versus the world at this point.

However, perhaps this pressure cooker situation will actually help the Bearcats find a way to respond and turn this season around. Of their 7 losses this season, 5 of them were decided by less than 3 full possessions. And even as dire as the KenPom predicted results of 5-11 rest-of-season feels, 4 of those losses are predicted to be within a single possession.

And speaking of KenPom, Cincinnati is ranked 361st of 368 teams in terms of luck so far this season. Their defense is great. They’re holding opponents to a 46.4% effective field goal percentage this season, in the 91st percentile and have the seventh-lowest opponent offensive rebounding rate in the country. Don’t count out Miller’s team from winning some of these rock fights sooner or later.

Iowa State’s defense doesn’t bend, they just break (you)

This Cyclones team has been viewed differently than years past because of how good the offense looked the first two months of the season, with an absurd 59.5% effective field goal percentage that puts them alone with juggernaut Michigan and offensive powerhouses Vanderbilt, Iowa and Purdue for power conference offenses. The rate is 5% higher than any previous Otzelberger team in Ames.

But the Big 12 is a slog for offense, with plenty of teams willing and able to pull you down to a battle of rebounding and slowed-pacing that reduces open looks. And Iowa State just so happens to also be one of those teams. We know that Otzelberger’s defenses can be elite, and this season’s group is no different.

Look no further than the backbreaking defensive efforts the Cyclones demonstrated in their 70-60 win against Baylor on Wednesday. The Bears from Waco are one of the better offenses in the country, a near-constant truth for Scott Drew’s teams since he turned around the program. They entered conference play averaging 95.6 points per game and ranked in the 95th percentile nationally in points per possession, at 1.25. Then Iowa State came to town.

The Cyclones controlled the pace and the Baylor offense for major spells of this game. For 11 minutes and 19 seconds spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second half, Baylor didn’t make a field goal. That 1.25 points per possession offense sputtered to 0.91 in Wednesday night’s game. 

But it wasn’t just closing off the rim for the Bears; Iowa State also turned them over. Baylor averages a turnover rate of 12.9% for the season, but against the Cyclones, it increased to a 20.2% turnover rate. Iowa State scored 20 points off of turnovers in the win.

The way Iowa State turns over opponents feeds into their offense, which is already reaching unprecedented levels for the program. Forward Justin Jefferson and guards Tamin Lipsey and Killyan Toure are all averaging 1.7 steals or more per season. The team averages 23 points off turnovers per game, leading the country.

Games to watch

  • Houston at Baylor, Saturday, 1 pm ET, Peacock and NBCSN
  • Arizona at TCU, Saturday, 4 pm ET, ESPN/2
  • Texas Tech at Colorado, Saturday, 7 pm ET, CBSSN
  • Cincinnati at UCF, Sunday, 5 pm ET, ESPN2