Oklahoma St. stuns Baylor in Big 12 semifinal
Confidence has never been a problem for Oklahoma State freshman Cade Cunningham. That came in handy Friday night.
With the No. 12 Cowboys trying to rally from a second-half hole against secondranked Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament, Cunningham calmly responded with backto-back 3-pointers to give his team the lead. Then, he stepped to the foul line and calmly made a series of free throws down the stretch that clinched an 83-74 victory in the semifinal round in Kansas City, Mo.
“I’m a confident player. I feel like every shot I shoot is supposed to go in,” said Cunningham, the projected No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
Avery Anderson III added 20 points, including the go-ahead three-point play with just more than two minutes to go, and Rondel Walker had 11 as the No. 5 seed Cowboys (20-7) advanced to play No. 13 Texas for the title tonight.
The third-seeded Longhorns advanced earlier Friday when their semifinal against No. 11 Kansas was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test that forced the Jayhawks to withdraw from the tournament. While the Cowboys have two Big 12 tourney titles to their credit, Texas has never won the event in six appearances in the finals.
The Bears (22-2) have never won a conference tournament title, either — and won’t this year. They’ll remain 0-3 in the Big 12 title game for at least another year after winning their first regular-season league championship since 1950.
NO. 9 OHIO STATE 87, NO. 21 PURDUE 78 (OT)>> Seth Towns scored six of his season-high 12 points in overtime, and the Buckeyes (208) beat the Boilermakers (18-9) in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in Indianapolis. Duane Washington Jr. scored 20 points for Ohio State, which led by 18 at halftime.
NO. 3 ILLINOIS 90, RUTGERS 68>> Ayo Dosunmu scored 23 points and the Illini (21-6) easily beat the Rutgers (15-11) in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 79, MARYLAND 66>>Michigan coach Juwan Howard was ejected midway through the second half after getting into a shouting match with the Maryland bench, and the Wolverines (20-3) beat the Terrapins 16-13) to reach the Big Ten semifinals. Mike Smith scored 18 points and set a Big Ten Tournament record with 15 assists for top-seeded Michigan. The Wolverines rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit and will face No. 9 Ohio State in today’s semifinals.
NO. 6 ALABAMA 85, MISSISSIPPI STATE 48>> Jahvon Quinerly scored 14 points off the bench, Jaden Shackelford had 13 points and the Crimson Tide (22-6) blew out the Bulldogs (15-14) in a Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal in Nashville, Tenn.
NO. 7 HOUSTON 77, TULANE 52>>DeJon Jarreau had his first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, helping the Cougars (22-3) past the Green Wave (10-13) in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
NO. 8 ARKANSAS 70, MISSOURI 64>> JD Notae scored a season-high 27 points and the Razorbacks (22-5) overcame a 10-point deficit to beat the Tigers (16-9) to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.
GEORGIA TECH VS. NO. 16 VIRGINIA, CANCELED>> The Atlantic Coast Conference canceled the league tournament’s semifinal game between the top-seeded Cavaliers and Georgia Tech due to a positive test, quarantining and contact tracing within the Cavaliers program.
SAN JOSE STATE COACH WON’T RETURN >> San Jose State athletic director Marie Tuite announced that basketball coach Jean Prioleau will be let go. Prioleau, hired on Aug. 4, 2017, will not be retained after his four years with the school. His head coaching record with the Spartans was 20-93. Prioleau had an 8-62 mark in the Mountain West.
COLORADO HOLDS OFF LATE CAL RUN >> Cal nearly recovered back from a 13-point deficit, but Colorado held on late Thursday for a 61-58 victory in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. Grant Anticevich led the Bears with 11 points and six rebounds, while Bradley had 10 points before fouling out with 3:28 left.
Colorado faced USC in Friday’s late semifinal.