Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Round One: UCF and Cincinnati Advance
The postseason is underway! The Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship tipped off in Kansas City on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament has a new format this year now that the league has 14 teams.
The top four teams in the league – Houston, Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas Tech – all got double byes, meaning they won’t play until the tournament’s third round on Thursday. The middle six teams – BYU, Kansas, Texas, TCU, Oklahoma, and Kansas State – all got one bye and begin play in Wednesday’s second round.
That left the bottom four teams – Cincinnati, UCF, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia – as the teams to start the tournament in Round One on Tuesday.
Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship – March 12 Results
Game One: No. 12 UCF vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State
UCF wins 77-62
This game got off to a very slow start. In fact, both teams only hit five total baskets after a combined 25 attempts. The first half remained a close game, and UCF had a slight edge at the half – 35-31. The Knights, though, came out strong and went on an 18-1 run to start the second half. UCF advanced and plays No. 5 BYU on Wednesday morning. Oklahoma State’s season comes to an end. The question now is what happens to coach Mike Boynton.
Game leaders:
- Ibrahima Diallo (UCF) 17 points; Javon Small (OSU) 21 points
- Ibrahima Diallo (UCF) 11 rebounds; Eric Dailey Jr. (OSU) 9 rebounds
- Darius Johnson (UCF) 5 assists; Quion Williams (OSU) 5 assists
Game Two: No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 West Virginia
Cincinnati wins 90-85
These two teams met in the finale of the regular season just three days earlier. In that game, Cincinnati dominated West Virginia and won 92-56. Three days later, on a neutral court in Kansas City, it was nowhere near a blowout. In fact, Cincinnati was down by as many as 16 points with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Bearcats found a way to chip away at that deficit, primarily thanks to 31 points by Simas Lukosius. The win marked the first time that Cincinnati earned back-to-back Big 12 wins.
Game leaders:
- Simas Lukosius (UC) 31 points; Jesse Edwards (WVU) 17 points
- Aziz Bandaogo (UC) 13 rebounds; Josiah Harris (WVU) 9 rebounds
- Simas Lukosius (UC) 4 assists; Kerr Kriisa (WVU) 7 assists
Upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Games:
(All times listed are Central Time; numbers next to teams are the tournament seed, not national ranking)
Wednesday, March 13
- #5 BYU vs. #12 UCF– 11:30 a.m.
- #8 TCU vs. #9 Oklahoma – 2 p.m.
- #7 Texas vs. #10 Kansas State - 6 p.m.
- #6 Kansas vs. #11 Cincinnati– 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 14 - Quarterfinals
- #4 Texas Tech vs. #5 BYU/#12 UCF – 11:30 a.m.
- #1 Houston vs. #8 TCU/#9 Oklahoma – 2 p.m.
- #2 Iowa State vs. #7 Texas/#10 Kansas State – 6 p.m.
- #3 Baylor vs. #6 Kansas/#11 Cincinnati – 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 15 - Semifinals
- Semifinal #1 – 6 p.m.
- Semifinal #2 – 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 16 - Final
- Championship Game – 5 p.m.
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