The Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament began on Tuesday with the first-round games at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
The first-round results included:
Game 1: No. 13 Cincinnati 87, No. 12 Oklahoma State 66
Game 2: No. 16 Colorado 69, No. 9 TCU 67
Game 3: No. 10 Kansas State 71, No. 15 Arizona State 66
Game 4: No. 14 UCF 87, No. 11 Utah 72
The second-round schedule includes:
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati, 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 6: No. 8 West Virginia vs. No. 16 Colorado, 2 p.m. CT
Game 7: No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 10 Kansas State, 6 p.m. CT
Game 8: No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 14 UCF, 8:30 p.m. CT
Here are three takeaways from the latest day of women’s basketball action.
AN UPSETTING DAY
One was mild and one was history-making, but each early game was an upset by seed. Plus, it was a rematch from Saturday’s final day of the regular season.
No. 13 Cincinnati played like it should have been playing all season in its 87-66 win over Oklahoma State. I mean more games like that and the Bearcats are heading to the NCAA Tournament.
No. 16 Colorado beat No. 9 TCU for the second time in four days, winning, 69-67. In doing so, Colorado became the first No. 16 seed to win a Big 12 Tournament game. The Buffs have the benefit of being the first to play as a No. 16 seed, but hey, a win’s a win, right?
But Cincinnati? Where has that been? Dillon Mitchell with a double-double (18 points, 15 rebounds), Day Day Thomas with 21 points and Josh Reed with 19 points. Dan Skillings off the bench with 13 points.
The only thing that wasn’t really there was the 3-point shooting. Everything else was what we had been hoping to see consistently all season.
When we did our pre-tournament podcast, I told our Pete Mundo that Cincinnati was the team that could get hot and make a run. You saw why on Tuesday. Now, Iowa State is a much different animal. But, if the Bearcats play like that again on Wednesday, well we have a super-interesting session opener in the morning.
A FEISTY NIGHTCAP
A couple of teams that have underachieved this season kept their Big 12 Tournament alive for one more day with wins in the night session.
First, Kansas State put it all together in the win over Arizona State. Or, perhaps it’s worth saying that Coleman Hawkins put it all together. The senior, who has been up and down and dealt with injuries, had a huge game with 26 points and eight rebounds. These are the kinds of games I thought he would have all season.
Then UCF was down by 14 points at one point against Utah before rallying and taking control in the second half to beat the Utes. Keyshawn Hall, after not being named to the Big 12’s First Team by the coaches, played with a chip on his shoulder and scored 23 points. But he wasn’t alone. Darius Johnson had 20 points and Moustapha Thaim had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordan Ivy-Curry was back and scored 15 points. The Knights also shot 71% from the floor in the second half.
UCF has won four of its last six games and gets Kansas tomorrow. Now, I’m not bold enough to predict an upset. But I’ll say this — UCF looks like they’re ready to be quite pesky on Wednesday. And the Knights have beaten Kansas before.
THE HURLEY WATCH BEGINS
Watching the Arizona State-Kansas State game I was struck by the fact that it could be Bobby Hurley’s last with the Sun Devils.
Or not?
That was one of the storylines going into the first day, that Hurley was coaching his last game. I found it in a post on Monday from Michael Luke, who hosts the AZ12 Wildcats Podcast and covers that team. He said that sources in Kansas City were telling him Hurley was done.
He didn’t back off it a few hours before game time saying, “Fwiw this hasn’t changed. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Why did he feel the need to reinforce the point? Well, Chris Karpman of Sun Devil Source was one of several who reported in the hours leading up to the game that Hurley would be retained and the most significant reason was money.
Hurley has one year left on his deal. I can’t imagine the buyout would be that significant. But ASU’s athletic department is getting huge subsidies from the university right now and every penny counts. Everyone knows — even Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard.
So, the financials may end up saving Hurley’s job. Something no one tells you about incremental reporting when you’re in journalism school — things change. It’s quite possible everyone’s sources were reliable, and that the minds of the decision-makers kept changing — or were told to change.
On merit, I think the Sun Devils should move on. Hurley has been there a decade and ASU has made three NCAA Tournaments. I don’t think that’s why Arizona State hired Hurley.
But here’s a good question. If money is the issue, then why fire women’s coach Natasha Adair at a cost of $1.2 million, per Sun Devil Source?
Luke makes a good point. We’ll see how this plays out.
2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Schedule
(all times central)
First Round Results
Game 1: No. 13 Cincinnati 87, No. 12 Oklahoma State 66
Game 2: No. 16 Colorado 69, No. 9 TCU 67
Game 3: No. 10 Kansas State 71, No. 15 Arizona State 66
Game 4: No. 14 UCF 87, No. 11 Utah 72
Wednesday’s Second Round Schedule
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati, 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 6: No. 8 West Virginia vs. No. 16 Colorado, 2 p.m. CT
Game 7: No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 10 Kansas State, 6 p.m. CT
Game 8: No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 14 UCF, 8:30 p.m. CT
Thursday’s Quarterfinal Schedule
Game 9: No. 4 BYU vs. Game 5 winner, 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 10: No. 1 Houston vs. Game 6 winner, 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 11: No. 2 Texas Tech vs. Game 7 winner, 6 p.m. CT
Game 12: No. 3 Arizona vs. Game 8 winner, 8:30 p.m. CT
Friday’s Semifinal Schedule
Game 13: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, 6 p.m. CT
Game 14: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 8:30 p.m. CT
Saturday’s Championship Game
Game 15: Winner of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 14, 5 p.m. CT
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
