The Kansas Jayhawks staked their claim to an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed on Saturday night, beating the West Virginia Mountaineers 81-70 in the Big 12 Tournament championship game at Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Kansas wins Big 12 championship, stakes claim for No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Malik Newman scored 18 points and grabbed six reounds in the win, and in the Big 12 Tournament averaged 23.3 points in three Jayhawks victories. Devonte’ Graham added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks.
West Virginia led by seven points in the second half but Kansas seized control with a 17-3 run. The Jayhawks shot the lights out in the second half, making 18 of 25 shots (.720), including 9-for-13 (.692) from three-point range.
Saturday marked the third win this season for Kansas over West Virginia, having also beaten the Mountaineers 71-66 on Jan. 15 in Morgantown and 77-69 on Feb. 17 in Lawrence.
This was a rematch of the 2016 Big 12 tournament final, also won by Kansas. The Jayhawks have owned the conference for the last two decades, winning half of the 22 Big 12 Tournaments. This was the 14th straight year Kansas has finished alone atop the conference or tied for first place in the regular season.
The tournament title run was even more impressive for the Jayhawks since they were without center Udoka Azubuike, the team’s leading rebounder and shot blocker.
This marks the 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth for Kansas, the longest streak in college basketball history.
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