McCormack, Agbaji power Jayhawks to Big 12 Title over Red Raiders, 74-65

Huge performances by the two Kansas seniors pushed the Jayhawks past multiple 2nd half challenges to win their 12th Big 12 Tournament title.

Author:
Andy Mitts
Publish date:
Mar 12, 2022 9:57 PM EST

Whoever coined the phrase "Defense Wins Championships" obviously never envisioned the possibility of this Big 12 Championship game. Of course, those who followed the Big 12 all year probably didn't either. For a league that prided itself on numerous fantastic defenses all season, it was really hard to find any shred of defensive excellence in the T-Mobile center on Saturday.

For large stretches of the game, it seemed like defense was considered optional, but ultimately the defenses showed up. When it was all said and done, the Kansas Jayhawks pulled out the victory to win their 12th Big 12 Tournament Championship 74-65 over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Game Flow

The game started with a frenetic pace, as both teams raced up and down the court, as if to outrun any semblance of defense. The game was 20-20 before the first 8 minutes of the game had elapsed.

The scoring slowed down over the rest of the half, but not because the defense stepped up. Instead, the quick pace led to both teams making poor decisions and committing unforced errors, and the shots stopped falling. The rest of the half was a mix of good and bad plays by both teams, and the Jayhawks went into the break with a one point advantage.

The second half was a seesaw, as every time that Kansas tried to pull away, the Red Raiders would make a run back to make it a close game again. But Texas Tech took their final lead as part of a 7-0 run to go up 54-51 just after the under 12 media timeout.

But from there, it was basically all Kansas. An Ochai Agbaji layup with 10:34 to go put the Jayhawks up for good, and a combination of good pressure defense and a Jalen Wilson offensive explosion let Kansas extend the lead to 8 before Texas Tech started fouling with 2:27 remaining.

Top Performers

Looking over the box score, there were a LOT of guys who could have deserved honors here, but I had to limit it to only three.

David McCormack

Stat Line: 18 points, 11 rebounds

David was an absolute monster, battling on the inside and refusing to let any of the Texas Tech big men get comfortable the entire evening. While he initially put to rest any fears about an injury, he did hit his knee in the first half and also come down on another player's ankle. He managed to play through the pain and finish strong, which just made the performance all that more impressive.

Remy Martin

Stat Line: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

Probably the most impressive stat was the 26 minutes he played. It's clear after this performance that he has settled in to the offense, and Bill Self trusts him to not be a huge defensive liability. He singlehandedly kept Kansas in the game at the end of the first half, scoring the final 10 points of the half for the Jayhawks.

Ochai Agbaji

Stat Line: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

While the Martin spot easily could have gone to Christian Braun or Jalen Wilson, there's no doubt that Ochai had to be included. His 16 points were the second most by the Jayhawks, and he made multiple big plays down the stretch. He scored 10 of his points in the second half to help put the game away.

Up Next

Kansas awaits official word on what their seeding and destination will be in the NCAA Tournament. They are expected to be announced as a #1 seed, and most indications are that they will be placed in the Midwest Regional in Chicago. The NCAA Selection Show starts at 5pm Central on Sunday March 13th and will be broadcast on CBS.