Day Two Recap of the 2024 Big 12 Tournament

Kansas City, MO - The second round of the Big 23 tournament has lots of thrilling games going on throughout the day. The Knights of UCF (#12) will look to finally generate the upset over BYU (#5) as they have lost twice this year by single digits. Oklahoma (#9) will take on TCU (#8) in the second game of the afternoon in what is expected to be a very competitive game. The third game will take place between the Wildcats of Kansas State (#10) and the Longhorns of Texas (#7). The final game of the night will be between Cincinnati (#11) and Kansas (#6).

UCF (#12) VS BYU (#5)

BYU secured their first win of the Big 12 tournament with a win over UCF, 87-73. UCF was looking for some revenge against the Cougars as they have lost by single digits twice this year. They defeated Oklahoma St. in the first round in a convincing fashion which ultimately proved to be their demise. BYU was fresh and seemed to have more energy than UCF did. As a team, BYU made 14/30 (46.7%) of their three-pointers which was a huge difference maker as UCF could not get them to fall as easily. Even with a 32-point performance by the UCF guard, Darius Johnson, he couldn’t carry his team to victory. BYU will look to improve their NCAA tournament seeding by winning a couple more games as they look to face the fourth seed, Texas Tech in the third round of the Big 12 tournament. 

Oklahoma (#9) VS TCU (#8)

TCU sent Oklahoma back to Norman as the Horned Frogs got the win, 77-70. Both teams got off to hot starts as neither TCU nor Oklahoma could miss from the field. TCU eventually broke away and secured an early double-digit lead in the first half. With Oklahoma down two players, they were fighting an uphill battle from the start. The Sooners picked up their defense in the later stages of the first half by forcing turnovers and getting into transition opportunities. The fastbreak points scored by the Sooners kept it close in the first half until TCU found their stroke from three including hitting a buzzer-beater from the opposite three-point line as time expired in the first half. The Sooners went on a 17-6 run in the final stages of the second half and narrowed down the lead to single digits but in the end, it was not enough. TCU will look to continue their hot shooting as they face the number one seed and best defensive team in the country, Houston Cougars. 

Kansas State (#10) VS Texas (#7)

The Longhorns got off to a quick start, going up 6-0 within the first two minutes of the game. Kansas State quickly rebounded back and took the lead but cooled off the rest of the first half. Both Max Abmas and Dillon Mitchell excelled in the first 20 minutes of the game and could not be stopped offensively. Texas led at the break 39-29. 

Kansas State picked up the intensity to start the second half as they went on a 7-0 run before Texas could even get their first points of the half. This was very much so a back-and-forth, shot-for-shot type of game in the second half. Tylor Perry, the North Texas transfer, led his Wildcats as they built up a nine-point lead with less than five minutes left to play. Texas started a late comeback in the final minutes, narrowing down the lead to just two with 22 seconds left to play. Ultimately, it was too little too late as Jerome Tang and his Wildcats got the upset over the Longhorns, 78-74. They will now advance to the third round of the Big 12 where they will face the number two seed, Iowa State.

Cincinnati (#11) VS Kansas (#6)

This was the first time in a long time that the Jayhawks were not favored to win in the second round of the Big 12 tournament. Kansas officials announced that Kevin McCullar Jr (knee) and Hunter Dickson (shoulder) would both sit out of the Big 12 tournament to heal up before the start of the NCAA tournament. Cincinnati got going from the three-point line early and built up a few small leads. Kansas would then narrow down those leads to just one to two possessions to keep it within striking distance. It was very obvious that the Jayhawks needed their two-star players as their lack of depth has been their biggest issue all season. Cincinnati dominated the final minutes of the first half to secure a double-digit lead going into halftime. 

Bill Self must have lit some type of spark with his words during halftime. The Jayhawks came out for the second half with a higher intensity and quickly shrunk the lead to single digits. KJ Adams Jr. got injured at the 9:42 mark of the second half and that’s when the momentum started to swing back in favor of the Bearcats. Adams Jr checked back into the game a few minutes later but the lead was too great to come back from. Cincinnati won in commanding fashion, 72-52. They will face the Baylor Bears in round three of the Big 12 tournament.