Monte Morris and Iowa State outlasted Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament on Saturday, the third tournament win in four years for Iowa State. The Cyclones thumped TCU to get here, while West Virginia held on for a frantic one-point win over Kansas State.
Big 12 Tournament 2017 live updates: Scores, results, and bracket
Iowa State topped West Virginia to win the Big 12 tournament.
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks were the popular pick at the beginning of the tournament. No one apparently told TCU that Kansas finished the 2017 college basketball season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25, because the Horned Frogs bounced the Jayhawks out of Big 12 tournament contention on Thursday afternoon, 85-82. That’s a truly shocking result for Bill Self’s club, who certainly have designs on a national championship bid this year.
The Big 12 proved once again to be arguably the toughest league in college basketball. Baylor had a veteran squad anchored by junior forward Johnathan Motley, West Virginia’s press had proven as dangerous as ever, and Iowa State had guard Monte Morris back to run the offense.
None of it mattered. Kansas clinched the conference on Feb. 22 by a comfortable three-game lead.
Led by Naismith Player of the Year candidate guard Frank Mason III, KU broke from its traditional high-low system and rolled with a four-guard lineup throughout league play, pushing the Jayhawks past both suffocating defenses and otherwise insurmountable deficits.
Yet as much as Kansas has dominated during the regular season, that success didn’t carry over to the conference tournament, which began Wednesday, March 8.
The Big 12 Tournament has crowned three different champions since 2012 — Missouri, Iowa State, and Kansas — and while the Jayhawks are surely the safe pick again this year, they are hardly a lock.
A strong tournament — plus a little outside help — could push Baylor back into the conversation for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while West Virginia would love another shot at Kansas after choking in Lawrence. And there are more than a few teams capable of playing spoiler in Kansas City.
Texas Tech under new head coach Chris Beard is improving rather rapidly (wins over Baylor, West Virginia, Kansas State, and Texas), and the same can be said for Oklahoma State under Brad Underwood. And Bruce Weber at Kansas State is fighting for his job with a roster more than capable of saving it.
The format
The Big 12 tournament is single elimination, featuring all 10 conference teams. The top two seeds receive a first-round bye and face the winners of the No. 7/No. 10 and No. 8/No. 9 matchups. From it’s just three wins to win the title.
The teams
- Kansas
- West Virginia
- Baylor
- Iowa State
- Oklahoma State
- Kansas State
- Texas Tech
- TCU
- Oklahoma
- Texas
The bracket
See a full tournament bracket here.
Source: Big 12
Schedule and Results (all times Eastern)
Wednesday, March 8 (first round)
Game 1: No. 8 TCU 82, No 9 Oklahoma 63
Game 2: No 10 Texas 61, No 7 Texas Tech 52
Thursday, March 9 (quarterfinals)
Game 3: No. 4 Iowa State 92, vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State 83
Game 4: No. 8 TCU 85, No. 1 Kansas 82
Game 5: No. 2 West Virginia 63, No 10 Texas 53
Game 6: No. 6 Kansas State 70, No. 3 Baylor 64
Friday, March 10 (semifinals)
Game 7: No. 4 Iowa State 84, No. 8 TCU 63
Game 8: No. 2 West Virginia 51, No. 6 Kansas State 50
Saturday, March 11 (championship)
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