West Virginia beats Baylor; Kansas State holds off TCU
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Esa Ahmad had 21 points, Daxter Miles Jr. added 19, and No. 18 West Virginia cruised to a 78-65 victory over Baylor on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Jevon Carter had 18 points and 11 assists for the thirdseeded Mountaineers (23-9), who swept the Bears (18-14) during the regular season and have won six of the last seven in the series.
West Virginia will play No. 14 Texas Tech, the tournament’s second seed, on Friday night for a spot in the championship game. The Mountaineers have been to the last two finals but still have not won a conference tournament since capturing the Big East crown in 2010.
Manu Lecomte led the No. 6 seed Bears with 27 points, but he didn’t get much help from a lineup that had a miserable night dealing with West Virginia’s stingy defense. Baylor shot 42 percent from the field but just 6 of 20 from beyond the arc, and committed 22 turnovers.
KANSAS ST. 66, TCU 64 (OT)
Kansas State could have crumbled when TCU’s Desmond Bane knocked down a desperation 3-pointer to force overtime in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Or when Vlad Brodziansky gave the Horned Frogs the lead in the extra session.
Instead, the Wildcats kept their poise, turned to their stingy and consistent defense, and leaned on star guard Barry Brown to convert the go-ahead lay-up with 11.2 seconds to go. And when the Horned Frogs’ Alex Robinson missed two free throws at the other end, Kansas State had a victory that not only meant a semifinal berth but also may have locked up an NCAA Tournament bid.
“It was tough for us, but it was nothing we’ve ever been through before,” Brown said of Bane’s clutch 3. “We play overtime all the time in practice. It was something we were prepared for.”
Brown’s driving layup gave the Wildcats the lead, and Robinson tried to answer with his own layup with 1.3 seconds to go. The TCU guard missed the first of two free throws, forcing him to also miss the second.
“Hopefully that solidifies our chance to be in the NCAA Tournament. Now they’ve got to want more,” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said.
Makol Mawien finished with 16 points for the Wildcats (22-10), who advanced to play Kansas in Friday night’s semis.
KANSAS 82, OKLAHOMA ST. 68
Malik Newman scored a career-high 30 points and the No. 9 Jayhawks pulled away in the second half for a victory over the Cowboys.
“This team is easy to nitpick with because when we’re good, it’s magnified in ways because we can shoot and move the ball, and when we’re bad it’s magnified because we don’t do the things in grind-it-out games that a lot of teams do,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Sometimes I think we get a little spoiled on what our expectations are, but I’m real proud of them.”
Devonte Graham had 10 points, four rebounds and nine assists for the No. 1 seed Jayhawks (25-7), who were swept by the Cowboys (19-14) in the regular season.
Jeffrey Carroll scored 17 points for the No. 8 seed Cowboys, who can only hope their opening-round win over Oklahoma solidified their spot in the NCAA Tournament.