A wild second day of the Big 12 tournament has officially wrapped up. Lets take a look at how the bracket has shaken out so far going into the quarterfinal games tomorrow.
To start the day in Kansas City, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 13 Cincinnati tipped off at 12:30 pm. The Cyclones defeated the Bearcats by a score of 76-56. Iowa State was led by junior forward Joshua Jefferson, who scored 19 points in the game and grabbed eight rebounds while dishing five assists. Iowa State dominated in this game, never allowing Cincinnati to get a lead. The Cyclones advanced in the tournament and have a matchup with No. 4 BYU in the quarterfinal round today at 12:30 pm EST.
The second game of the day from Kansas City was No. 8 WVU and No. 16 Colorado, who tipped off at 3 pm. West Virginia got off to a fast start early in this one on the back of Javon Small, who had 13 of the team’s 29 first-half points and went into the locker room at half with a 29-23 lead. Colorado’s defense was the story of the second half, forcing 11 WVU turnovers and holding WVU to a five-minute scoreless drought that changed the entire course of the game. During that stretch, Colorado senior big man Elijah Malone had 10 points to help flip the game into a six-point lead for the Buffaloes. Colorado ultimately would go on to win the game 67-60, upsetting No. 9 TCU and No. 8 WVU in consecutive days. They have themselves a matchup with No. 1 Houston today at 3 pm EST.
No. 7 Baylor and No. 10 Kansas State was the third game of the day as they tipped off at 7 pm EST. Baylor was able to cruise to a 70-56 win over Kansas State in a game in which they held the lead for almost 35 minutes. Baylor was led by V.J. Edgecomb, who had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Jayden Nunn for Baylor had 18 points of his own. Baylor will matchup with No. 2 Texas Tech in the quarterfinal round of the tournament today at 7 pm EST.
In the final game of the second round of games, the night was capped by an electric overtime matchup between No. 14 UCF and No. 6 Kansas, who tipped off at 9:30 pm EST. Kansas ultimately walked away with a 98-94 victory in a thrilling overtime game. UCF was the heavy underdog in this game and almost walked away with a signature win for their program after a dominant 25-point 11-rebound game from guard Keyshawn Hall, but Kansas was too much for the Knights as Hunter Dickinson took over with a 23-point 13-rebound double-double, and Zeke Mayo led all Jayhawk scorers with 24. The Jayhawks have themselves a matchup today at 9:30 pm EST with No. 3 Arizona.
