2013 Big 12 Tournament: Kansas reigns supreme

Kansas going against Kansas State was supposed to be an epic matchup in the Big 12 title game. Two big rivals, both ranked in the top 15, each tied for the regular season title, vying to stake their claim and seize a piece of hardware they wouldn’t have to split with the team from across the state.

Suffice it to say, it was an enjoyable watching experience for Kansas fans, as you can tell from the recap by Rock Chalk Talk:

Following a sluggish first half, Kansas held a 24-16 lead on the Wildcats. As the scoring picked up over the final 20 minutes, it would be Kansas’ offense that carried the day. Kansas State pulled to within three points early in the second half, but from there the Jayhawks began to find their groove and put some distance between themselves and the Wildcats.

Kansas needed a little more than 15 minutes to put up 40 points in the final half, and that was a level of efficiency that KSU could not match; the Jayhawks led by double-digits for a significant portion of the final 10 minutes.

NCAA seeding is on the line for both teams Saturday. Kansas could move itself up to two-seed territory with their third win of the season over the Wildcats. The Jayhawks won the first meeting, 59-55, on Kansas State’s home floor on Jan. 22. When the rivalry went to Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks rolled to a 83-62 win on Feb. 11.

The Wildcats are 8-1 since that 21-point loss last month, with the one loss coming on the road against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 76-70, to end the regular season. Kansas State topped the Cowboys, 68-57, on Friday to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

The Big 12 tournament wraps up Saturday, and it features two teams with nothing much to gain or lose.

Saturday will be the third meeting this season between the two rivals, and the Jayhawks won both previous match-ups: first, a 59-55 win on the road on Jan. 22, then a 83-62 beatdown at home on Feb. 11. The two teams tied for the Big 12 regular-season championship, but the tournament’s top seed was given to Kansas on the basis of its head-to-head record with the Wildcats.

The Kansas State Wildcats wore down the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning, 68-57, to advance to the Big 12 championship round.

Neither team had a hot start to this game, and Kansas State took the halftime lead almost by default. They shot just 32.1 percent from the field, but it was slightly better than the Cowboys’ 31.3 percent. The Wildcats went into the locker room up. 28-23.

The Big 12 tournament finished up its semifinal round on Friday. While all four teams are expected to be dancing next week, there was still a lot of exciting basketball to be played, with teams looking to lock up high seeds. The automatic bid is still up for grabs on Saturday, so we have one more good NCAA tournament preview to watch over the weekend. Let’s recap Friday’s action.

Kansas will be playing Kansas State for the conference crown on Saturday.

Iowa State managed to make this a game early. They jumped out to a 12-4 lead off the bat, and though the Jayhawks gained the lead and went into halftime up, 35-31, the Cyclones had a lot of positives to feel good about.

The wheels came off in the second half, however. Kansas started off with a 13-4 run and never looked back. Iowa State spent the rest of the game in desperate comeback mode and never found its rhythm again.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Kansas State Wildcats meet in the Big 12 semifinals on Friday in what promises to be an entertaining game. The winner will face either Kansas or Iowa State in the championship round.

Both teams are locks for next week’s NCAA Tournament, but they would love to improve their seeding positions. SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean currently projects the Cowboys as a No. 5 seed and the Wildcats at No. 4.

An updated bracket can be found here.

• Bracketology: Selection Sunday week is here

Forte responded by drawing a foul while driving to the hoop just before the buzzer, calmly sinking both free throws to put the Cowboys back up by two points. Jackson got a good look at a game-winning three-pointer shortly thereafter but couldn’t get it to go down.

Smart led Oklahoma State with 21 points, while Jackson finished with 31 for Baylor. The Cowboys will face Kansas State in the semifinals on Friday.

The Wildcats actually had a somewhat slow start, as Texas started the game on a 7-1 run. KSU quickly woke up, however, and went into halftime leading 34-28. The Longhorns only managed to shoot 2 of 8 three-pointers in the first half.

Kansas State poured it on in the second half, racking up a 17-4 run go to up 56-38 with 8:49 left in the game. Texas was never able to recover from that onslaught, being outscored 32-21 in the second half. The Longhorns shot only 34 percent from the field, compared to 41.5 percent for Kansas State.

The Big 12 tournament continued on Thursday, and two games are already in the books. The final two quarterfinal games will be played this evening, but first let’s look at the afternoon action.

No. 1 Kansas 91, No. 9 Texas Tech 63

With both teams currently on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the victory is huge for Iowa State. Improving to 22-10 overall and 12-7 against conference foes, the Cyclones’ resume is definitely bolstered going into the semifinals. One has to imagine that reaching the conference title game would make ISU a lock.

The Sooners dominated the first 30-plus minutes of Thursday’s game, racing out to a 6-0 lead that would eventually balloon to 14 points with roughly three minutes to play before halftime. The Cyclones battled back to trim the deficit to six points early in the second half before Oklahoma expanded the lead back to double-digits.

After a pair of play-in games, the Big 12 Tournament starts in earnest Thursday, with quarterfinals featuring the team’s best -- and some squads looking to score upsets.

Kansas and Kansas State are the favorites, and will try to move on with ease, but perhaps the most interesting game of the day features Iowa State and Oklahoma, teams both battling to push further onto the bubble.