No. 3 Baylor takes care of No. 17 Oklahoma State.
TJared Butler and No. 3 Baylor certainly seem to be getting their legs back after a three-week stretch when the Bears couldn’t play any games games because of COVID-19 issues in the program.
Two days after the Bears clinched their first Big 12 title with an overtime win at No. 6 West Virginia, Butler had two impressive dunks while scoring 22 points in an 81-70 victory over No. 17 Oklahoma State on Thursday night, ending the Cowboys’ five-game winning streak.
“We’re overcoming the COVID assault against us,“Butler said.
Host Baylor (20-1, 12-1 Big 12) played its fourth game in 10 days since returning to action and was home after securing its first league title since 1950 in the Southwest Conference.
“You want to be content with winning the Big 12, but at the same time you don’t want to lose a game,” Butler said.
Matthew Mayer and MaCio Teague both added 19 points for the Bears, and Davion Mitchell had 12. Mayer had two baskets in a 9-0 run midway through the first half that put them ahead to stay.
Freshman standout and Big 12 leading scorer Cade Cunningham had 20 of his 24 points after halftime for Oklahoma State (17-7, 10-7), whose winning streak was the longest active in the Big 12. The last three wins had been against Top 25 teams, including over Bedlam rival No. 16 Oklahoma twice in three days.
Cunningham, considered by most as the potential No. 1 overall NBA pick, was moving gingerly when he left the court with help in the final minute. Cunningham didn’t return but walked off the court afterward with no assistance.
No. 2 Michigan 69, Michigan State 50: Franz Wagner scored 19 points, and Hunter Dickinson added 14 as host Michigan (19-2, 14-2) wrapped up the Big Ten title with a victory over rival Michigan State (14-11, 8-11). The Spartans will finish with a losing conference record for the first time since 1993. It had never happened before under coach Tom Izzo, and the Spartans are struggling to extend Izzo’s streak of 22 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
No. 5 Iowa 102, Nebraska 64: Jordan Bohannon tied a career high with eight 3pointers and scored 26 points, and Iowa (19-7, 13-6 Big Ten) beat visiting Nebraska (7-18, 3-15).
No. 6 West Virginia76, TCU 67: Redshirt freshman Jalen Bridges set seasons highs with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead host West Virginia (18-7, 11-5 Big 12) past TCU (12-12, 5-10).
No. 13 Kansas 67, UTEP 62: Marcus Garrett scored on a driving layup with 22.4 seconds to go and Dajuan Harris added a pair of clinching free throws as Kansas (19-8) overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and beat visiting UTEP (12-11).
No. 15 Texas 69, No. 16 Oklahoma 65: Jericho Sims matched season highs with 16 points and 12 rebounds to help visiting Texas (16-7, 10-6 Big 12) beat Oklahoma (14-9, 9-8).
No. 18 Texas Tech 81, Iowa State 54: Mac McClung scored 20 points and host Texas Tech (17-8, 9-7 Big 12) beat Iowa State (2-20, 0-17) for its third consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak.
No. 24 Colorado 75, Arizona State 61: McKinley Wright IV scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and Colorado (20-7, 14-6 Pac-12) shook off a sluggish start to beat visiting Arizona State 75-61 (10-12, 7-9).
Mountain West
Utah State 72, Wyoming 59: Justin Bean scored 21 points and Neemias Queta added 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out as the host Aggies (17-7, 14-4) pulled away from the Cowboys (12-10, 6-9) in the second half.