Lions get back to work
Lincoln football team excited for start of season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MaCio Teague scored 24 points, Davion Mitchell added 23 and second-ranked Baylor held on to beat Kansas State 74-68 on Thursday and avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Big 12 Tournament.
The top-seeded Bears (22-1) rolled into T-Mobile Arena after their first regular-season conference title since 1950 and with a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament nearly locked up.
Yet the Wildcats (9-20), who lost their two regular-season games to Baylor by an average of 40 points, never allowed the high-powered Bears to slip away. They trailed by four points with just over a minute to go, but Jared Butler made a couple free throws to seal the win.
It sent Baylor into a semifinal matchup with No. 12 Oklahoma State on Friday night.
NO. 9 OHIO STATE 79,
MINNESOTA 75
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Duane Washington Jr. and Justice Sueing each scored 16 points and No. 9 Ohio State fended off Minnesota’s late charge to win in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes (19-8) snapped a fourgame losing streak and advanced to face No. 21 Purdue in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Marcus Carr scored 24 points and Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 18 to lead Minnesota (14-15), which lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Ohio State struggled to put this one away late — despite having a seemingly safe 7056 lead with 3:24 to go. The Gophers cut the deficit to 75-74 on Carr’s 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds to go before Ohio State finally sealed it at the free-throw line.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA STATE 72,
NO. 10 WEST VIRGINIA 69
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Avery Johnson III hit the go-ahead bucket for Oklahoma State with less than a minute to go, and Sean McNeil’s tying 3-pointer came a split-second after the final buzzer, allowing the Cowboys to escape West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Anderson and Big 12 player of the year
Cade Cunningham had 17 points apiece for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (19-7), who have won seven of their last eight games — including two against the Mountaineers — with the only loss to No. 2 Baylor.
GEORGETOWN 72, NO. 14
VILLANOVA 71
NEW YORK (AP) — Dante Harris made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to cap a perfect game from the line for Georgetown, and the Hoyas upset Villanova to reach the Big East Tournament semifinals.
The eighth-seeded Hoyas (11-12) will play fifth-seeded Seton Hall on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Georgetown is in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2015.