2015 Big 12 basketball tournament schedule and bracket: TCU puts down K-State, Texas cruises

The Big 12 was, without a doubt, the most exciting and intense conference in the country this season. With as many as eight teams headed to the NCAA Tournament, the regular season was a thrilling back-and-forth in the standings. It seemed like every night had a heavyweight matchup between two top-20 teams, and the games almost never disappointed.

That excitement should carry over to the Big 12 Tournament this weekend, but first we had two first-round games to get through. Here's a brief recap of Wednesday's action with a look ahead to Thursday.

Kansas State's luck finally ran out on Wednesday at the hands of TCU, who held off a late rally after leading by 10 points with six minutes to go. Chris Washburn keyed the Horned Frogs with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting, adding eight rebounds and two steals. Kyan Anderson also had 16 points and Trey Zeigler chipped in 15. K-State shot just 39.7 percent from the floor despite solid efforts from Thomas Gipson (16 points) and Nino Williams (13 points, 10 rebounds). TCU's reward for the win is a Thursday date with top seed Kansas.

Cameron Ridley recorded 14 points and eight rebounds, while Isaiah Taylor added 12 points and dished out seven assists in a workmanlike effort for the Longhorns. They're still firmly on the bubble and beating the last-place Red Raiders won't move the needle, but Texas did what it had to and avoided the bad loss. Rick Barnes' squad will have a great chance to build their resume when they face Iowa State Thursday.