Daily Briefing — Feb. 17, 2022: Horns up — Texas wallops Iowa State to stay in Big 12 title fight

It’s Thursday — the workweek’s almost passed! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W Roundup, daily Watch List, and Yesterday’s Recap! Day 100 of college basketball is here — we made it!! 100 days, and hoo boy has it really felt like 100. So many new things every day — like last night, when Texas destroyed Iowa State, or Dayton curb-stomped Rhode Island for a commanding lead in the A-10 regular-season championship race.

W Roundup

Free agency

• Nothing

Phoenix: Reigning WNBA scoring leader center Tina Charles told our Phoenix reporter, Alex Simon, that she plans to keep playing for several more years.

Visit our offseason trackers page to see all the free agent moves that didn’t happen yesterday, how they affect team’s caps, and more — in neat, colorful fashion!

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(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Thursday, Feb. 17

Must-watch

#18 Ohio State @ #13 Maryland, 8 p.m., BTN

#19 Notre Dame @ #16 Georgia Tech, 8 p.m., ACC Network

Good games

Northwestern @ #5 Indiana, 6 p.m., BTN

Arkansas @ #17 Florida, 6 p.m., SEC Network (if Makayla Daniels plays)

Also watchable

#3 Louisville @ #24 North Carolina, ACC Network Extra

Texas A&M @ Ole Miss, 9 p.m., SEC Network

Wednesday, Feb. 16 recap

#6 Iowa State, #14 Texas: The Longhorns beat the Cyclones, 73-48. Iowa State only trailed by five at the half, then lost the third quarter 22-9. Texas shot 50.0% from the field and from three — the first time it’s shot that well against a Power 5 team in three years; the Longhorns out-rebounded the Cyclones by eight, including just four Iowa State offensive boards; the Cyclones committed 19 turnovers. Point guard Rori Harmon led Texas with 20 points on 9-for-14 from the field (2-3 3pt.), six rebounds, nine assists, and a career-high six steals against two turnovers; off-ball guard Audrey Warren had 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting, four rebounds, and four steals against two turnovers.

Iowa State was led by wing Ashley Joens’ 18 points on 5-for-10 from the field (1-4 3pt.) and 7-for-7 from the line, five rebounds, and six turnovers; point guard Emily Ryan had 11 points on 5-for-6 FG, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals against eight turnovers.

#7 Baylor: 80-55 win over TCU. Shot 11.1% better than the Horned Frogs from the field; assisted on 26 of its 32 buckets; forced 17 turnovers. Center Queen Egbo led with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double on 9-for-13 FG with five offensive boards and three blocks against four fouls in 29 minutes; big NaLyssa Smith notched a double-double herself with 20 points on 10-for-18 from the field without a turnover; point guard Jordan Lewis had 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting (2-5 3pt.), six rebounds, six assists, and three steals; combo guard Sarah Andrews and Ja’Mee Asberry combined for 19 points on 7-for-22 from the field and 5-for-18 from three and no turnovers, with Andrews adding nine assists.

#10 UConn: Point guard Paige Bueckers returned to practice for the first time since her surgery last fall, though the Hartford Courant’s Alexa Philippou added that she’s likely not fully cleared yet — meaning a normal return-to-play schedule would have her returning in the Big East tournament at the earliest. Then again, at this point the Huskies might not be able to await a normal return-to-play schedule once she’s cleared.

#15 Oklahoma: 97-87 loss to Texas Tech. The Sooners led in the late third quarter before trailing for the entire fourth. They were out-shot by 2.1% from the field and 10.4% from three; were a -9 in rebounding margin; drew 22 fouls but committed 29. Backup combo forward/five-out center Skylar Vann led with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting (3-4 3pt.), six rebounds (four offensive), and two assists against four fouls in 17 minutes; point guard Nevaeh Tot had 16 points on 6-for-9 from the field (2-2 3pt.), six rebounds, four assists, and two steals against two turnovers; win Madi Williams notched 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting (1-5 3pt.), six rebounds, and two steals against five turnovers; combo guard Taylor Robertson tallied 14 points on 5-for-11 from the field and 1-for-7 from three and five rebounds.

Texas Tech big wing Vivian Gray led all scorers Wednesday with 35 points on 12-for-24 from the field (2-2 3pt.) and 9-for-12 from the line, plus seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals against three turnovers.

TDB Liz Scott foul watch: 8.9 fouls per 40 minutes, highest in Power 5 (per Her Hoop Stats)

RV* Oregon: 67-53 win over UCLA. Out-shot the Bruins by 15.8% from the field and 27.7% from three. Point guard Endyia Rogers led with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting (3-4 3pt.), three rebounds, and four assists against two turnovers; point guard Te-Hina Paopao had 15 points on 5-for-13 from the field and 3-for-7 from three, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals against two turnovers; big Nyara Sabally notched a double-double with 12 points on 6-for-12 FG and 10 rebounds, plus two assists against two turnovers.

UCLA big Angela Dugalić played her third game this season, finishing with four points and four rebounds against two turnovers on 2-for-4 FG (0-1 3pt.) while somehow managing to foul out in 15 minutes. The Oregon transfer has been one of the decimated Bruins’ biggest absences throughout the season, as they’ve been forced to play the sub-6-foot IImar’I Thomas at center for nearly 40 minutes a night.

RV DePaul: 77-66 win over Marquette. Only shot 39.4% from the field and 28.0% from three and were out-rebounded by five; the teams each committed 16 fouls. Big Aneesah Morrow continued her double-double streak with her 20th-straight, scoring 21 points on 9-for-14 FG (0-2 3pt.) and grabbing 17 rebounds (eight offensive), plus two assists and three blocks against two turnovers; off-ball guard Deja Church had 23 points on 7-for-15 from the field (2-5 3pt.) and 7-for-7 from the line and eight rebounds (five offensive).

Dayton: 47-37 win over Rhode Island. After leading 27-15 at the half, the Flyers are well on their way to their third-straight regular-season A10 championship and fifth in the past six years.

Cancellations

• Cal vs. Arizona State

This wasn’t a COVID cancellation, mind you; the Sun Devils made a business decision to not leave late last night for the Bay, and took a forfeit against a bad Bears team so that they could be rested for a half-decent Wazzu on Friday.

*Receiving Votes