It’s the first time those two teams will meet at the Big 12 tournament since 2007. We didn’t have much emotion.
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Texas Tech spent a good portion of the regular season leading the Big 12 standings, only to watch Kansas rally down the stretch and claim its unprecedented 14th consecutive conference crown.
First team – u-Devonte’ Graham, Kansas, sr.; u-Trae Young, Oklahoma, fr.; Mohamed Bamba, Texas, fr.; Jevon Carter, West Virginia, sr.; Keenan Evans, Texas Tech, sr. Should Oklahoma not qualify for the field, one of the game’s biggest stars would be absent. Best of all the Mounties play a full court game. The Sooners must wait until Sunday to learn if they will make the NCAA Tournament after losing eight of their last 10 games.
“We tried to make a conscious effort to attack them in there”, Boynton said.
Honorable mention – Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU; Jeffrey Carroll, Oklahoma State; Sagaba Konate, West Virginia; Manu Lecomte, Baylor; Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Baylor; Malik Newman, Kansas; Zhaire Smith, Texas Tech; Mitchell Solomon, Oklahoma State; Lindell Wigginton, Iowa State.
Kansas State certainly knows how to put on a show. As for Oklahoma State, their fate is now in the hands of the selection committee. Depending on which site you fancy, the opinions are different. That’s more than any of the teams ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed as his “last four in” – Oklahoma, UCLA, Arizona State, Louisville. Yahoo! Sports has both in. As a classic beaten favorite OU ranks as a team that could bring enhanced wagering value.
“We’re a tournament team”. This team wanted to play Oklahoma State and they wanted to beat Oklahoma State.
“I just have to move on and continue to work to get better and learn from the situation”, he said talking about his struggles from the line.
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils open play in Thursday’s quarterfinals while sitting at No. 3 in KenPom and No. 4 in the RPI. On Jan. 20, K-State beat the Frogs, 73-68, at Bramlage Coliseum. Syracuse entered Wednesday 37th in the RPI.
But the fact Oklahoma State is even in the discussion is a testament to the league. Kansas will likely get one of the two pods in Wichita, Kansas, so K-State will have to hope it is a one seed and that the two seed in K-State’s pod is a team close to Wichita.
It has a top and a middle. Over the total cleared in West Virginia’s final three games.
“This league doesn’t have a bottom”, he said. The Wildcats will face the Arizona State-Colorado victor in Thursday’s quarterfinals as the only AP Top 25 team in the field.
The Cowboys, under first-year coach Mike Boyton, became the first Big 12 rival to sweep Kansas in a home-and-home series with Self as the Jayhawks coach.
The same can be said for Texas.
The situation was much like the January 20 Bedlam game in Stillwater when Oklahoma had a chance to win in regulation and could’ve benefitted from a committing a foul late to make it more hard for the Cowboys to have enough time to get up a potential game-tying shot.
Kansas is the top seed and the Red Raiders are second for the Big 12 Tournament, which starts with a pair of games Wednesday night but truly gets going with a quadruple-header on Thursday.
Marcus Garrett’s shot fell short, but no one was boxing out.
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“I never thought it would be possible to get nine teams in the NCAA tournament, but we’re giving it as good of a shot as you possibly can”, said Dixon. “That’s what you have this year”.
