Big 12 Tournament: Round One

To start out the tournament was 13 seed Cincinnati and 12 seed Oklahoma State. A battle of two struggling teams, as the Bearcats are looking for a miracle tournament birth.

The hungry Bearcats came out strong on defense creating turnovers consistently against the struggling Cowboys’ offense. The two teams combined for 20 turnovers in the first half. While Cincinnati was creating turnovers, they were struggling on the offensive end themselves. Settling for a plethora of perimeter shots did not help their case. Their success surely came from driving in the paint with Dillon Mitchell and Josh Reed. Fast forward to the second half, Oklahoma State could not hold the slight pressure they did in the first, and the Bearcats dominated. Cincinnati now advances to face Iowa State on Wednesday following a 87-68 victory.

The second game found 16 seed Colorado and 9 seed TCU. The Buffaloes got off to a strong start in a physical game. Julian Hammond was the spark on offense for the Buffs. TCU started to gain traction after a big rebounding half as Ernest Udeh Jr. and David Punch continually gave the Horned Frogs second chances. Heading into the second half, Colorado came out on all cylinders as three point shooting and sparks from Andrej Jakimovski gave them a cushion. A furious comeback led by Noah Reynolds put TCU back in at the end of the game, but ultimately came short as the upset of Colorado came to fruition. The Buffaloes now face West Virginia on Wednesday.

The streaky 10 seed Kansas State went up against 15 seed Arizona State. The Wildcats came out firing in a 15-4 run to start the game, mostly sparked by nine from Coleman Hawkins. The slow ASU start put them behind, but eventually climbed back with Alston Mason threes. By halftime, Hawkins had 19 to put the Wildcats ahead in a crucial game. As both offenses were clicking, it was a battle of who can do more. In the second half, it was Dug McDaniel driving to the paint for Kansas State to help give them a push. While ASU resorted to paint touches over shooting, it wasn't enough for a red hot Kansas State offense. The Wildcats play Baylor on Wednesday.

To round out the day was two struggling teams of 14 seed UCF and 11 seed Utah. Both teams came out stagnant on offense as both couldn't find a rhythm. Utah was heavily relying on their size to gather any offense as Lawson Lovering dominated the paint and glass in the early going. A big story in the first was no Keyshawn Hall for the Knights, and no Gabe Madsen for the Utes. Heading into the second, UCF started to find it, especially from deep. Darius Johnson and Keyshawn Hall showed why they're the leaders of the team and finally put UCF into a big lead. Utah was shooting 1-18 at one point in the second half, which is another reason as to why the Knights continued their run. Johnson and Hall combined for 43 in the big UCF win. They will play Kansas Wednesday night.

Team of the Day: Cincinnati

Player of the Day: Coleman Hawkins