Consider this post your open thread for the semifinals of the Big 12 tourney.
Game #7:
Date: Friday, March 11th
Time: 6:00 pm
Teams: #5 Baylor (22-10, 10-8) vs #1 Kansas (28-4, 15-3)
Location: Sprint Center | Kansas City
TV/Stream: ESPN2
First Regular Season Meeting: Kansas won at home 102-74
Second Regular Season Meeting: Kansas won on the road 66-60
About Baylor: From baylorbears.com –
- Friday will be the 31st series meeting. BU is 4-26 all-time vs. Kansas, including a 2-1 mark at neutral sites.
- Baylor’s 8 assists at Kansas were its fewest in any game this season.
- Baylor is 18-1 this season when leading at the half and 100-12 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
- Prince is the only player in the Big 12’s top-15 in scoring (4th), rebounding (10th), steals (14th) and blocks (14th). He has scored in double-digits in 15 straight games and is averaging 16.9 points per game in that span.
About Kansas: From kuathletics.com –
- Kansas was the only team in the Big 12 with an undefeated league record at home (9-0) in 2015-16.
- When guards Frank Mason III, Wayne Selden Jr. and Devonte’ Graham each score 10-plus points in the same game, KU is 13-0, including 7-0 in Big 12 league play.
- Kansas has won more Big 12 Championships than any other school with nine. Oklahoma and Iowa State are next with three each. KU won the first three events in 1997-98-99, then the 2006-07-08-10-11-13 titles. KU is 9-2 in tourney title games having only lost the 2002 title to Oklahoma and the 2015 title to Iowa State.
- Senior F Perry Ellis leads Kansas in scoring (16.6 ppg) and has scored 20 or more points in each of his last three games, including 21 points in the Big 12 quarterfinal against Kansas State (3/10). Ellis has 12 games of 20-plus points with nine of those against Big 12 competition. He is second on the team in rebounding at 6.0 rpg. Ellis averaged 17.7 points and 5.8 rebounds during Big 12 play.
Prediction: Kansas is on a roll winning 12 in a row. They cannot seem to be stopped, and I don’t think Baylor is going to be the one to get in their way to the finals of the Big 12 Championship. KU will beat Baylor tonight.
Game #8:
Date: Friday, March 11th
Time: 8:00 pm
Teams: #2 West Virginia (25-7, 13-5) vs #3 Oklahoma (25-6, 12-6)
Location: Sprint Center | Kansas City
TV/Stream: ESPN2
First Regular Season Meeting: Oklahoma won at home 70-68
Second Regular Season Meeting: Oklahoma won on the road 76-62
About West Virginia: From wvusports.com –
- Coach Bob Huggins improved to 8-7 in conference championship play at WVU.
- The Mountaineers have won 40 of their last 41 games when holding opponents to 69 points or less.
- WVU has made at least one 3-point field goal in 555 consecutive games.
About Oklahoma: From soonersports.com –
- No. 6 Oklahoma improved to 25-6 on the season with a 79-76 quarterfinals win over No. 21 Iowa State in the 2016 Phillips 66 Big 12
Championship Thursday night inside the Sprint Center.- OU improved to 22-16 (.579) all-time at the Big 12 Championship.
- OU improved to 8-4 on the season against teams ranked in the AP’s top 25 (second-most in the conference behind Kansas).
- Thursday gave Oklahoma its 25th win of the season. The Sooners have topped their previous year’s win total each of the last six seasons (had 24
a year ago).
Prediction: West Virginia can make your head spin with their aggressive defensive pressure. It is the cause for a lot of turnovers for most teams. Oklahoma has not fallen yet this year at the hands of the Mountaineers, so that leads me to believe they have WVU figured out. I pick OU to win and Buddy Hield to have another huge night.