Big 12 Tournament: Quarterfinals

To start the third day was Iowa State matching up against the 4 seed BYU fresh off the double bye. The Cougars came out strong from three and garnered a nice lead to start the game. ISU countered in the paint with the likes of Joshua Jefferson. Right as the Cougars gained a double digit lead, the Cyclones decided they could shoot the ball as well. Curtis Jones went on a run by himself firing on all cylinders from deep to put them back into the game. Trevin Knell continued the three point onslaught for BYU in the first half. Jones started the first half where he left off helping the Cyclones with a lead of their own. The Cougars would not go away though, as Saunders and company kept the efficient perimeter shooting going. Down the stretch one of the difference makers was fouls, and BYU had their way getting to the line and giving themselves a cushion. This ultimately put the Cougars over in a huge win to send them to the Semifinals on Friday.

• Curtis Jones 31 points not enough

• 18 threes and 41 bench points from BYU

• Teams combined for a record breaking three point barrage

The next game featured the top dog in the conference with Houston facing against the bottom of the conference, Colorado. The Cougars proved their defensive prowess to start the game and controlled the beginning of the game handily, holding Colorado to seven points in the first nine minutes. The Buffaloes eventually found some offense with the help of Andrej Jakimovski, but were followed up with Emanuel Sharp threes in response. With Hammond as a non factor for Colorado, it was difficult for them to find rhythm against the Cougar defense. Contested shots and poor shooting forced Jakimovski to be the only offensive asset for them. On the other side Houston found their way to the basket in a physical game with multiple pieces, finishing with four platyers in double figures. 25 from Jakimovski was not enough in the Colorado loss to Houston to send the top dogs to the Semifinals.

Texas Tech faced off in their first game against Baylor. Similarly to BYU, the Red Raiders got off to a scorching start from three. Fueled by JT Toppin and Kerwin Walton the offense kept rolling, while Darrion Williams added to the flames as well. The only offense working for Baylor was inside with Norchad Omier. The talented big man finished with 18 in the first half and looked unstoppable. Toppin and Williams fueled Tech to a first half lead, combining for 28 themselves. To start the second half, the Bears looked to their guards to finally spark offense and take the load off Omier. VJ Edgecombe began to get downhill and help the Bears back into the game. While the Red Raiders shot 63% from three in the first half, they struggled to find offense in the second. In the end the big time players stepped up for Tech to fend off the Baylor comeback and send them to the Semifinals.

The final game of the day had Kansas face off against Arizona. The Wildcats leaned on contributions from everyone to start the game, while the Jayhawks relied on Hunter Dickinson on offense. Arizona got into foul trouble in the first half to help Kansas stay within after the Wildcat shooting put them up throughout the first half. Zeke Mayo sparked the Kansas offense into a double digit comeback to start the second. Trey Townsend and Henri Veesaar were huge in the second half for the Wildcats in the paint. With big defense stops and bench contribution, Arizona was able to fend off the Jayhawks in the end with a huge finish from KJ Lewis on both sides. They now play Texas Tech in the Semifinals.

Team of the Day: Texas Tech

Player(s) of the Day: Curtis Jones & JT Toppin