No. 10 seed W. Virginia knocks off Texas Tech
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Emmitt Matthews scored a career-high 28 points as West Virginia upset seventhranked Texas Tech 79-74 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night.
The 10th-seeded Mountaineers (14-19) advance to the semifinals, where they will face No. 17 Kansas, which beat Texas 65-57, on Friday night.
Jarrett Culver scored 26 points, Tariq Owens added 14 and Matt Mooney had 12 for the second-seeded Red Raiders (26-6).
Matthews hit a corner 3 to give West Virginia a 16point lead with nine minutes to go, but Texas Tech scored 16 of the next 18 to get within four.
The Red Raiders took a 69-68 lead on a basket by Culver — their first lead since it was 7-5. But the Mountaineers scored seven of the next nine to regain the lead at 75-71.
Culver missed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and Tech trailing 77-74, and Matthews then sealed the victory with two free throws.
KANSAS ST. 70, TCU 61
Xavier Snead scored 19 points — none bigger than a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded in the final minute — as the No. 15 Wildcats rallied to beat the Horned Frogs 70-61.
Barry Brown added 12 points, Kamau Stokes scored 11 and Makol Mawien had 10 for top-seeded Kansas State, which advanced to play No. 5 seed Iowa State in the semifinals Friday night.
The Wildcats (25-7) played without forward Dean Wade, who is sidelined once again with a foot injury. The senior watched the game from the sideline with a boot on his right foot. Desmond Bane had 16 points to lead eighth-seeded TCU (20-13), which split with Kansas State in the regular season. Alex Robinson added 12 points, and Kevin Samuel had 11.
Now, coach Jamie Dixon’s team must wait until Sunday to find out whether it has done enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs held on to beat Oklahoma State in the tournament’s opening round, but they went just 711 against the league during the regular season.
IOWA ST. 83, BAYLOR 66
Talen Horton-Tucker hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to lead the Cyclones past the Bears.
Iowa State (21-11) also had key contributions from Marial Shayok, who had 18 points with four 3-pointers, Lindell Wigginton added 16 points, and Tyrese Haliburton had 13.
Fifth-seeded Iowa State will face top-seeded Kansas State in the semifinals Friday night.
“Just being a freshman and my teammates having confidence to keep giving me the ball says a lot,” Horton-Tucker said. “I just felt good today and knocked down some shots.”
Mario Kegler led fourthseeded Baylor (19-13) with 16 points, and Makai Mason had 14.
The Cyclones made 13 3pointers and shot over 50 percent from the field in their first victory since Feb. 25. The Bears made nine shots from distance and shot just 43 percent.