Game One Recap
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma State's Isaac Likekele went coast-to-coast for the go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds left, lifting the eighth-seeded Cowboys to a 72-71 victory over No. 9 seed Iowa State in the first round of the 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday night.
Likekele finished with 21 points for the Cowboys (18-14, who trailed almost the entire second half before taking the lead on his two free throws with 20.4 seconds left. The Cyclones (12-20) regained the lead when Terrence Lewis blew past the Oklahoma State defense for a layup with 8.9 seconds left, only to see Likekele race back the other way.
The Cyclones had one last chance when they inbounded the ball with a couple ticks left on the clock, but Lewis never managed to get a tightly guarded shot up before the buzzer sounded to end the game.
Likekele also had nine assists and five rebounds as the Cowboys advanced to play No. 1 Kansas in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Cameron McGriff added 17 points and Yor Anei finished with 12.
Prentiss Nixon led Iowa State with 25 points. Michael Jacobson had 13 and Tre Jackson had 10.
As usual, Iowa State fans arrived en masse and filled most of the lower bowl of Sprint Center. Iowa State committed 10 first-half turnovers in a sloppy half for both teams, and Oklahoma State took a 34-32 lead into the locker room.
Iowa State finally found its stride early in the second half.
Beginning with a 3-pointer from Caleb Grill, the Cyclones embarked on a 15-2 run that forced Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton to call timeout. Nixon had the final seven points during the charge, which brought injured star Tyrese Haliburton to his feet on the Iowa State bench and gave his team a 47-38 lead with just under 16 minutes to go.
The Cowboys slowly whittled away at their deficit throughout the second half, and a series of foul shots got them within 67-66 with 1:37 to go. Nixon answered with a step-back jumper for Iowa State, and McGriff followed with a pair of foul shots, as the two teams went toe-to-toe down the stretch of the Big 12 Championship opener.
Game Two Recap
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cartier Diarra scored 13 points, Mike McGuirl added eight points that included two free throws to ice the game as No. 10 seed Kansas State beat seventh-seeded TCU 53-49 in the first round of the 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday night.
Kansas State (11-21) scored the final eight points of the game and has won consecutive games for the first time since November.
RJ Nembhard scored 19 points to led the way for TCU (16-16). Desmond Bane provided 16 points.
David Sloan added nine points and Xavier Sneed had eight for Kansas State, which shot 21 of 54 (39%) from the field while the Horned Frogs were 20-of-50 shooting (40%). The Wildcats also had a 36-27 rebounding advantage, and held the lead for 35 minutes.
The Horned Frogs got their first lead of the game, 46-45 with five minutes left, on a floater by Nembhard, and then stretched it to 49-45 on a Kevin Samuel's free throw and jumper. TCU then didn't score in the final three minutes of the game.
Sneed, McGuirl and Mawien made a basket apiece and the Wildcats led 51-49 with 1:19 to play. PJ Fuller and Nembhard each missed a 3-point shot before McGuirl made a pair of free throws with two seconds left.