KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MaCio Teague scored 24 points, Davion Mitchell added 23 and second-ranked Baylor held on to beat Kansas State 74-68 on Thursday and avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Big 12 Tournament.
The top-seeded Bears (22-1) rolled into T-Mobile Arena after their first regular-season conference title since 1950 and with a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament nearly locked up.
Yet the Wildcats (9-20), who lost their two regular-season games to Baylor by an average of 40 points, never allowed the high-powered Bears to slip away. They trailed by four points with just over a minute to go, but Jared Butler made a couple free throws to seal the win.
It sent Baylor into a semifinal matchup with No. 12 Oklahoma State on Friday night.
NO. 9 OHIO STATE 79, MINNESOTA 75
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Duane Washington Jr. and Justice Sueing each scored 16 points and No. 9 Ohio State fended off Minnesota’s late charge to win in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes (19-8) snapped a four-game losing streak and advanced to face No. 21 Purdue in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Marcus Carr scored 24 points and Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 18 to lead Minnesota (14-15), which lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Ohio State struggled to put this one away late — despite having a seemingly safe 70-56 lead with 3:24 to go. The Gophers cut the deficit to 75-74 on Carr’s 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds to go before Ohio State finally sealed it at the free-throw line.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA STATE 72, NO. 10 WEST VIRGINIA 69
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Avery Johnson III hit the go-ahead bucket for Oklahoma State with less than a minute to go, and Sean McNeil’s tying 3-pointer came a split-second after the final buzzer, allowing the Cowboys to escape West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Anderson and Big 12 player of the year Cade Cunningham had 17 points apiece for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (19-7), who have won seven of their last eight games — including two against the Mountaineers — with the only loss to No. 2 Baylor.
Isaac Likekele and Bryce Williams each added 10 points to help the Cowboys reach the semifinal round.
Miles McBride and Taz Sherman finished with 19 points apiece for West Virginia (19-8). Derek Culver added 11 points and nine boards.
NO. 11 KANSAS 69, NO. 25 OKLAHOMA 62
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 26 points, Marcus Garrett added 17, and Kansas held on after blowing most of a 20-point halftime lead to beat Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Mitch Lightfoot added 11 points for the No. 2 seed Jayhawks (20-8), who played without big man David McCormack and backup forward Tristan Enaruna, both of whom were caught up in COVID-19 protocols leading up to the tournament.
The seventh-seeded Sooners (15-10) trailed 35-15 at halftime, but they managed to close within 62-59 with 3 1/2 minutes to go when Elijah Harkless followed a miss by Austin Reaves with a bucket of his own. But the Sooners didn’t get another field goal to go until the final minute.
Kansas will play No. 13 Texas in the semifinals Friday night.
NO. 13 TEXAS 67, NO. 20 TEXAS TECH 66
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Coleman scored 19 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1.8 seconds left, and Texas rallied in the closing minutes to beat Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Jase Febres finished with 15 points, Andrew Jones added 11, and Jericho Sims and Kai Jones had 10 apiece for the Longhorns (18-7).
The sixth-seeded Red Raiders led 66-61 before baskets by Kai Jones and Coleman got third-seeded Texas within a point with less than a minute to go. In the final seconds, coach Shaka Smart drew up a play for Coleman, who drove to the basket, was fouled and calmly hit both free throws.
Terrence Shannon Jr. finished with 18 points to lead the Red Raiders (17-10).
GEORGETOWN 72, NO. 14 VILLANOVA 71
NEW YORK (AP) — Dante Harris made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to cap a perfect game from the line for Georgetown, and the Hoyas upset Villanova to reach the Big East Tournament semifinals.
The eighth-seeded Hoyas (11-12) will play fifth-seeded Seton Hall on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Georgetown is in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Harris led the way with 18 points and drew a foul on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl driving to the basket with 4.7 seconds to go and the Hoyas down one.
Harris rattled in the first and swished the second to make Georgetown 23 of 23 from the line, the first time a team has shot 100% on at least 20 attempts in the Big East Tournament.
The top-seeded Wildcats (16-6), playing without injured star Collin Gillespie, had won three straight Big East Tournament titles. Robinson-Earl led the Wildcats with 26 points and Jermaine Samuels added 20.
NO. 16 VIRGINIA 72, SYRACUSE 69
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Reece Beekman hit a 3-pointer as time expired to help Virginia edge Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Beekman hadn’t hit a shot all day but buried a 3 from the right wing off a feed from Kihei Clark as the horn sounded. That allowed the top-seeded Cavaliers (18-6) to grind out a win after trailing by 11 in the first half while struggling to slow Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim.
Sam Hauser scored 21 points to lead Virginia, which will face Georgia Tech in Friday’s semifinals.
Boeheim finished with a career-high 31 points for the eighth-seeded Orange (16-9), a day after he scored 27 points in Syracuse’s tournament opener.
NO. 17 CREIGHTON 87, BUTLER 56
NEW YORK (AP) — With coach Greg McDermott back on the bench after a one-game suspension, Creighton cruised past Butler and into the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.
The second-seeded Bluejays (19-7) advanced to face Connecticut or DePaul on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Creighton is in the semifinals for the third time since joining the conference in 2013 and first time since 2017.
Damien Jefferson scored 11 points in the first eight minutes and Marcus Zegarowski led the Bluejays with 18.
Bryce Nze had 21 points to lead No. 10 seed Butler (10-15).
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 69, WYOMING 66
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Terrell Gomez scored 20 points and San Diego State beat Wyoming to advance to the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Cowboys had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Marcus Williams’ long 3-pointer missed badly.
Jordan Schakel and Trey Pulliam each scored 15 points for the Aztecs (21-4), who will play Nevada on Friday.
Xavier DuSell led Wyoming (14-11) with 21 points. Williams and Hunter Maldonado each scored 12.
NORTH CAROLINA 81, NO. 22 VIRGINIA TECH 73
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Armando Bacot had 17 points and 13 rebounds while sparking a second-half surge that helped North Carolina beat Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Freshman RJ Davis added 14 of his season-high 19 points after halftime for the sixth-seeded Tar Heels, including three of his four 3-pointers to set up a matchup with No. 15 Florida State.
Bacot scored 13 of his points after halftime, including a run of 10 in a row as UNC (18-9) used a 11-2 run to break a 49-all tie.
Justyn Mutts scored a season-high 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting for the third-seeded Hokies (15-6), whose last two regular-season games were canceled due to contact tracing.
No. 23 COLORADO 61, CALIFORNIA 58
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Evan Battey scored 15 points and Colorado shook off a sluggish start to beat California in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
The Buffaloes and Bears had a long wait after the two previous games went through three overtimes, setting up a true Pac-12 after dark game. They played like it was Pac-12 shooting after dark once the game started, combining to miss 36 shots in the first half.
Colorado (25-7) finally got a few to fall, using a 15-3 run to go up 11, and withstood a late Cal run to close out a surprisingly difficult win over the tournament’s No. 11 seed.
Cal (9-20) went on an 8-0 run keyed by Matt Bradley to get back in it and pulled within 61-58 on Jalen Celestine’s three-point play with 41 seconds left. Makale Foreman had a good look to tie it, but his 3-pointer rimmed out with 2 seconds left.
NO. 24 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 91, UTAH 85, 2OT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Evan Mobley scored 13 of his 26 points in the two overtimes and Southern California outlasted scrappy Utah in the Pac-12 quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Trojans (22-6) had a hard time shaking the seventh-seeded Utes in a game filled with methodical possessions.
Utah (12-13) hung around after trailing by 10 midway through the second half and rallied to tie the game on Ian Martinez’s two free throws with 2.3 seconds left in regulation. The Utes tied it again in the first overtime on Alfonzo Plummer’s 3-pointer with 24 seconds left.
Mobley had five points in the first overtime and eight more in the second to send the Trojans in to Friday’s semifinals.
Timmy Allen had 20 points and Martinez 16 to lead the Utes.
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