Day two of the Big 12 Championship came and went in the blink of an eye. The busiest day of the tournament had a lot of heads turning, so here are all four of the games in 200 words or less.
No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats, 66 vs. No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs, 64
During an overtime thrill, the K-State Wildcats pulled ahead 66-64. K-State has now advanced to the semifinals and will play Kansas tonight at 6 p.m..
Makol Mawien led the Wildcats with a total of 16 points and helped contain the Horned Frogs under 70 points for the entire game. Kenrich Williams led TCU with a total of 20 points, giving them a huge lift, but just wouldn’t be enough in the end. This will be the Wildcats sixth time in the Big 12 semifinals. TCU is now eliminated from the tournament.
No. 8 Oklahoma State Cowboys, 68 vs. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, 82
After a knockout win in the finale of regular season, the Cowboys and Jayhawks met yet again for another matchup. This time, the Cowboys wouldn’t get so lucky, as they fell to the Jayhawks, 82-68.
Malik Newman led the Jayhawks with a total of 30 points, helping them achieve a major lead. Jeffrey Carroll led the Cowboys with 17 points. This game was a complete flip from their last matchup, as the Cowboys won 82-64 down in Stillwater on March 3. After five days of rest, the Jayhawks still managed to get ahead of the Cowboys. Oklahoma State is now eliminated from the tournament.
The winner of the K-State and KU matchup will advance to the finals on Saturday. They will play the winner of the Texas Tech and West Virginia game and will tip at 6 p.m.. and can be viewed on ESPN2.
No. 2 Texas Tech 73, No. 7 Texas 69
The first game of the night session featured Texas Tech and Texas. Texas Tech got off to a hot start and controlled the game for most of the first half. Their largest lead of the game was 14 points at the 10-minute mark of the first half.
Texas would not go down without a fight, though.
When the halftime buzzer rang, they found themselves trailing 35-28. The Longhorns used hot shooting from guard Jacob Young to sneak back in the game and narrow the gap at halftime.The sophomore finished with 29 points on 11-for-17 shooting, including six-for-seven on three pointers.He had help from freshman guard Matt Coleman, who poured in 20 points, but their efforts were still not enough.
The Red Raiders were deadly from behind the arc, connecting on a blazing 56 percent of their three-pointers.Senior guard Keenan Evans led the way for Texas Tech with 25 points. Evans was seven-of-10 from the field and connected on nine-of-14 free throws. Jarrett Culver played sidekick to Evans, posting a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win, Texas Tech advances to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2005. Current head coach Chris Beard was an assistant with the team that year.
No. 3 West Virginia 78, No. 6 Baylor 65
In the second matchup of the night session, West Virginia faced off with Baylor. Baylor was the better team for much of the first half. By the 8:46 mark, the Bears held an 18-9 lead.At that point, the Mountaineers had enough and went on a tear, taking its first lead of the game since the 19:06 mark, 21-20.
With three seconds remaining in the half, the Bears drew within three, but senior point guard Jevon Carter swished a half court buzzer beater to send West Virginia into the locker room with a 29-23 lead.Baylor started the second half on a 4-0 spurt to get back within two, but West Virginia did not flinch. The team had no trouble regaining control of the game, racing out to 40-27 lead, due in part to three three-point makes in a row from senior guard Daxter Miles Jr.
From that point on, there was no looking back for the Mountaineers as they would not trail again for the rest of the game. Baylor tried to make it interesting by hitting some shots down the stretch, but forward Esa Ahmad put that to rest by slamming home a steal with 30 seconds remaining and put an exclamation point on the win. A large part of West Virginia’s second half success came from its defensive pressure. It is known for its press defense and it spelled trouble for Baylor tonight.
The Mountaineers forced the Bears into 21 total turnovers, and racked up 20 points off those turnovers.The high point man for Baylor was point guard Manu Lecomte, who did what he could to help his team win, finishing with 27 points.
West Virginia came with a balanced attack led by Miles Jr. He scored 19 points on the night and all five of his field goals were threes. Ahmad registered 21 points, and Carter had a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists.
The Red Raiders will take on the Mountaineers in the second semifinal game tomorrow, scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.