Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Round One: UCF and Cincinnati Advance

The bottom four teams played the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Tuesday.

The postseason is underway! The Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship tipped off in Kansas City on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament has a new format this year now that the league has 14 teams.

© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The top four teams in the league – Houston, Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas Tech – all got double byes, meaning they won’t play until the tournament’s third round on Thursday. The middle six teams – BYU, Kansas, Texas, TCU, Oklahoma, and Kansas State – all got one bye and begin play in Wednesday’s second round.

That left the bottom four teams – Cincinnati, UCF, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia – as the teams to start the tournament in Round One on Tuesday.

Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship – March 12 Results

Game One: No. 12 UCF vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State

UCF wins 77-62

This game got off to a very slow start. In fact, both teams only hit five total baskets after a combined 25 attempts. The first half remained a close game, and UCF had a slight edge at the half – 35-31. The Knights, though, came out strong and went on an 18-1 run to start the second half. UCF advanced and plays No. 5 BYU on Wednesday morning. Oklahoma State’s season comes to an end. The question now is what happens to coach Mike Boynton.

Game leaders:

• Ibrahima Diallo (UCF) 17 points; Javon Small (OSU) 21 points
• Ibrahima Diallo (UCF) 11 rebounds; Eric Dailey Jr. (OSU) 9 rebounds
• Darius Johnson (UCF) 5 assists; Quion Williams (OSU) 5 assists

Game Two: No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 West Virginia

Cincinnati wins 90-85

These two teams met in the finale of the regular season just three days earlier. In that game, Cincinnati dominated West Virginia and won 92-56. Three days later, on a neutral court in Kansas City, it was nowhere near a blowout. In fact, Cincinnati was down by as many as 16 points with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Bearcats found a way to chip away at that deficit, primarily thanks to 31 points by Simas Lukosius. The win marked the first time that Cincinnati earned back-to-back Big 12 wins.

Game leaders:

• Simas Lukosius (UC) 31 points; Jesse Edwards (WVU) 17 points
• Aziz Bandaogo (UC) 13 rebounds; Josiah Harris (WVU) 9 rebounds
• Simas Lukosius (UC) 4 assists; Kerr Kriisa (WVU) 7 assists

Upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Games:

(All times listed are Central Time; numbers next to teams are the tournament seed, not national ranking)

Wednesday, March 13

• #5 BYU vs. #12 UCF– 11:30 a.m.
• #8 TCU vs. #9 Oklahoma – 2 p.m.
• #7 Texas vs. #10 Kansas State - 6 p.m.
• #6 Kansas vs. #11 Cincinnati– 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 14 - Quarterfinals

• #4 Texas Tech vs. #5 BYU/#12 UCF – 11:30 a.m.
• #1 Houston vs. #8 TCU/#9 Oklahoma – 2 p.m.
• #2 Iowa State vs. #7 Texas/#10 Kansas State – 6 p.m.
• #3 Baylor vs. #6 Kansas/#11 Cincinnati – 8:30 p.m.

Friday, March 15 - Semifinals

• Semifinal #1 – 6 p.m.
• Semifinal #2 – 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16 - Final

• Championship Game – 5 p.m.

TCU Basketball: Know Your Foe - Oklahoma's Javian McCollum

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