THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5,2012
PAGE 7
(BBALL BIG 12 PREVIEW)
HOME: 1 P.M.
SATURDAY, MAR. 2
AWAY: 8 P.M. MONDAY,
JAN.28
WEST VIRGINIA
KANSAS
Coach Bob Huggins returns to the Big 12 after leaving his head coaching position at Kansas State for West Virginia after the 2007 season. West Virginia, who finished last season with a 19-14 record, will try to replace the team's two leading scorers, Jones and Bryant, with transfers Murray and Staten.
While finding scorers may prove elusive in the backcourt, the Mountaineers have a solid frontcourt. Defense and rebounding have always been the forte of a Huggins-led team and this season is no different. Murray, a 6-foot-10 center, and returning big man Deniz Kilicli will help control the paint and make West Virginia tough to beat.
The Mountaineer backcourt is full of young players, with sophomore Jabarie Hinds, who averaged 7.4 points and 3.3 assists per game last season, and the sophomore transfer Staten projected as the starters. Both are able to handle the ball but could find it difficult to score against the tough defenses in the Big 12.
KEY DEPARTURES:
Kevin Jones
Darryl Bryant
West Virginia was picked to finish 6th by coaches in the preseason poll. The long trips to the Big 12's Midwestern schools could be tiring for the Mountaineers, but a trip to Morgantown is always difficult for opposing teams. This team will have a chance to make the tournament. Expect West Virginia to get better as the season progresses.
KEY NEWCOMERS:
Aaric Murray
Terry Henderson
Juwan Staten
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Andrew Morris
Overview of No.25 Jayhawks
TREVOR GRAFF
tgraff@kansan.com
RANKED
The Jayhawks enter the 2012 season ranked 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They were also picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 in a vote among conference head coaches. Kansas appears to be in a four-team group that will compete for conference honors.
RETURN TRIP TO THE
TOURNAMENT
Kansas hopes to build on the momentum of the Sweet Sixteen run of last year by returning to the NCAA tournament this season. A return trip to the tournament would mark the first back-to-back appearances in coach Henrickson's Kansas career.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE COMPETITION
Kansas appears to be part of a four-team group that will compete for conference honors. In the Big 12 Coaches Poll, Baylor collected 81 votes, behind nine firstplace votes. Oklahoma and West Virginia each received 65 tallies, while KU earned 58.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Carolyn Davis: The Jayhawks are depending on the return of Carolyn Davis, who suffered a knee injury during the Kansas State game last season. Davis averaged 16.9 points per game in 23 games last year, leading the Jayhawks in scoring average.
Angel Goodrich: Kansas will also depend on Angel Goodrich's work at guard this year. Last year Goodrich earned WBCA All-America Honorable Mention honors. She racked up 250 assists to accompany her 14-point per game scoring average.
GAMES TO WATCH
Dec. 6 at Arkansas
The Golden Bears are also receiving votes in the coaches poll. They finished last year 24-9 with the help of Layshia Clarendon, the leading scorer from last year's team, who averaged 18.2 per game.
Arkansas finished last season 23-8 overall and 10-6 in SEC play. The Razorbacks are receiving votes in the coaches poll.
Dec. 21 at California
Jan. 5 at West Virginia
The Jayhawks' first trip to Morgantown could be difficult as the Mountaineers are receiving votes. This game marks the start of the toughest stretch of the season for the Jayhawks.
Jan. 13 vs. Baylor
Allen Fieldhouse could provide the best opportunity for Kansas to unseat a top-ranked Baylor squad. Senior center Brittney Griner will provide a challenge as always.
The second-to-last regular season game of the year could have major ramifications for Kansas' Big 12 run. Oklahoma is on the bubble of the Top 25. A late season match up on the Sooners' home court will prove entertaining.
March 2 at Oklahoma
Edited by Allison Kohn
Last season marked the first time the Iowa State Cyclones made the NCAA tournament since 2005. Led by "The Mayor of Ames", coach Fred Hoiberg, the Cyclones have resurrected their basketball program, going 39-27 in the past two seasons, 23-11 last year, beating Connecticut in the first round of the last year's NCAs before falling to the eventual champion, the Kentucky Wildcats, 87-71.
Iowa State will look to make consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since Larry Eustachy in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
KEY DEPARTURES:
Royce White
Scott Christopherson
KEY NEWCOMERS
Korie Lucious
Will Clyburn
Georges Niang
But it won't come easy. Iowa State loses first team All-Big 12 forward Royce White and third team All-Big 12 guard Scott Christopher. White gave the Cyclones an imposing presence inside the lane, and Christopherson added a dimension with his three-point shooting. Those are big shoes to fill in Ames, Iowa.
The team returns Chris Baab, who made 64 three-pointers last year, junior All-Big 12 honorable mention Melvin Eijm and senior Tyrus McGee, from a team that won 12 conference games. Iowa State will have some veterans, but it will likely be the new faces that need to carry the team.
Iowa State is an diverse collection of players from about every corner of the United States. It will be interesting to see how they learn to gel with one another.
The Cyclones are predicted to finish eighth in the Big 12, and while they may not match their third place finish from last year, they should be playing their best basketball in March, and it is always tough to win in Ames. Kansas fell victim to "Hilton Magic" last year, losing 72-64 in late January. It was one of just two losses Kansas had in conference play.
Daniel Harmsen
Trent Johnson is entering his first season as coach of The TCU Horned Frogs, the fourth team in his 21-year coaching career. Johnson holds a winning record at all three of his previous jobs—Louisiana State, Stanford and Nevada. He has also been awarded Coach of the Year honors in each of the conferences he's coached in.
TCU is selected to finish last in the Big 12 this season after finishing last season with a 7-7 conference record in the Mountain West. TCU will start the season after losing Hank Thorns and J.R. Cadot, the team's top two scores from last season.
That being said, TCU does have three returning key players and the addition of Devonta Abron, a transfer from Arkansas He averaged 5.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a true freshman at Arkansas, but played his best game against Connecticut with an eight-point, 16-rebound game.
KEY DEPARTURES:
Hank Thorns
J.R. Cadot
KEY NEWCOMERS:
IOC's three key returning players are Garon Green, Kyan Anderson and Amric Fields. Green is the teeam's ton returning scorer and the Horned Frogs' all-time leading scorer.
KEY NEWCOMERS
Devonta Abron
Charles Hill Jr.
Aaron Durley
Clyde Smith
Jen is the team's top returning scorer and the first frog in the Boston Celtics in 2005. Green is also blessed with good bloodlines—his older brother Gerald was a first-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2005. Anderson was named Freshman of the Year in the Mountain West conference last season and is expected to take over the point guard duties this season. Fields enters the season after being chosen as the Mountain West conference's Sixth Man of the Year. Fields led TCU in blocked shots and field goal percentage last season while ranked third in scoring, fourth in 3-pointers and seventh in rebounding.
If nothing else, TCU should have the size to match up with most teams in the Big 12, with six players on the Horned Frog roster over 6-foot-7.
— Joseph Daugherty
HOME: 3 P.M. SATURDAY, FEB. 2
AWAY: 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20
OKLAHOMA STATE
KANSAS
Although the Cowboys finished 15-18 last season, coach Travis Ford returns all but one major contributor, guard Keaton Page, from last year's team. Six players with starting experience remain on the roster. Recognizing this, the Big 12 coaches picked Oklahoma State third in its presseason poll.
While Oklahoma State will miss Page, who led the Cowboys with 17.1 points per game last season, the team still has sophomore guard Le Bryan Nash, who averaged 13.3 points per game for the Cowboys last season. Nash was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
KEY DEPARTURES:
Keiton Page
KEY NEWCOMERS:
KEY NEWCOMERS
Marcus Smart
Phil Forte
Kamari Murphy
The coaches also selected freshman guard Marc Smart as the conference's Pre-season Freshman of the Year. He is the fifth McDonald's All-American in the program's
Season Freshman in the Rangers' first-round history, Smart arrives in St. Louis with freshman three-point specialist Phil Forte, one of his St. Louis high school teammates.
He will play in the NBA for his first two seasons with the program, but the Cowboys hope he will be a
Ford led the team to the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons with the program, but the Cowboys haven't been back since 2010. If Nash can fill Page's role as the team's go-to scorer and share leadership duties with junior guard Markel Brown, and if Smart encovers a fresh learning curve, Oklahoma State should have no trouble making it back to the tournament.
— Geoffrey Calvert
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7:30 p.m.
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MARCH 8
7:30 p.m.
MUMMENSCHANZ
40 Years
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