Big 12 Tournament tracker: Thursday’s games include Chiefs clash & Houston dominance

The top four seeds got into action on another full day of games at the Big 12 Men’s Championship at T-Mobile Center.

Of note, only one school in the quarterfinal — and now the semifinal — has won a Big 12 basketball title in the event’s 27-year history: Iowa State. The Cyclones have won the tournament five times.

Friday’s semifinals

6 p.m. Houston vs. Texas Tech (ESPN)

8:30 p.m. Iowa State vs. Baylor (ESPN/2)

Thursday’s tournament list: Scoring leaders, single tournament

• 30.7 ppg: Kevin Durant, Texas, 2007 (98 points)

• 26.3: Marcus Fizer, Iowa State, 2000 (79)

• 25.3: Alec Burks, Colorado, 2011 (76)

Universities of Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid square off

The Big 12 opener matched BYU, where Andy Reid was an offensive lineman in the late 1970s, against Texas Tech. That’s the alma mater of Patrick Mahomes.

Reid, wearing a BYU windbreaker, took in the game at T-Mobile Center and met up with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark before tipoff.

Late in the first half, Reid, seated at courtside, was introduced and received a rousing ovation from BYU and Tech fans.

On the court, the game belonged to Mahomes, err, Tech.

The fourth-seeded Red Raiders jumped to a big early from the tip, withstood a furious second-half rally and held on for a 81-67 victory.

A day earlier, BYU ambushed UCF. Thursday, the Cougars fell behind 14-2 and the deficit grew to 23 before halftime.

“It was a struggle for us all day long,” BYU coach Mark Pope said.

The Cougars offense, so good a day earlier, couldn’t buy a perimeter bucket Thursday, finishing 7-of-35 from beyond the arc. But a 15-0 BYU run in the second half trimmed the margin to 62-55.

Fourth-seeded Tech, ranked 25th, ended the comeback hope with successive 3-pointers by Joe Toussaint and Darrion Williams to restore breathing room.

Tech (23-9), led by Pop Isaacs’ 22 points, will meet Houston in a semifinal game Friday. No. 20 BYU, the fifth seed, fell to 23-10. The Cougars are safely in the NCAA Tournament.

Defense — what else? — carries Houston

TCU missed its first 16 shots of the game, but the Horned Frogs improved in the second half by only missing their first eight shots.

That’s how good Houston’s defense can be. The top-ranked Cougars advanced to the semifinals with a 60-45 over TCU.

“That’s hard to come back from,” coach Jamie Dixon said of the 0-fers to start the halves.

How bad was it for the Frogs? They pulled down an amazing 30 offensive rebounds. But the total was that high because TCU missed shot after shot, and turned few offensive boards into points.

Houston (29-3) entered the game second in the nation in scoring defense and leading in field-goal-percentage defense. Those numbers will improve after the Cougars held TCU to 23.3% (17-for-73).

But Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is hard to please.

“I liked our first-shot defense,” Sampson said. “After that, not a whole like to like.”

Bears eventually found stroke in victory over Cincinnati

Baylor couldn’t buy a bucket. The Bears missed their first nine shots and didn’t get a field goal until 8 1/2 minutes into the quarterfinal contest against Cincinnati.

But the the 14th-ranked Bears found their stride in the second half and pulled away for a 68-56 victory.

The Bearcats (21-13) finished a successful run in their first Big 12 tourney. After knocking off West Virginia in the opening round, 11th seeded Cincinnati beat Kansas by 20 in the second round.

But it probably would have taken a victory over Baylor, at least, to gain more serious consideration for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.

The game’s biggest shot came from Baylor Ja’Kobe Walter, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year who swished a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock for a 58-51 lead with four minutes remaining. Cincinnati didn’t get closer than six the rest of the game.

Baylor (23-9) will meet Iowa State in a semifinal on Friday.

Who is next at Oklahoma State?

Oklahoma State has fired Mike Boynton after seven seasons, the school announced Thursday morning.

Boyton’s final game with the Cowboys was a 77-62 loss to UCF in Tuesday’s opening round of the Big 12 tourney. The outcome dropped Oklahoma State’s record this season to 12-20 and Boynton fell to 119-109 during his tenure in Stillwater. His teams reached the NCAA Tournament once and played in the NIT three times.

Next OSU coach? Former Cowboys guard Doug Gottlieb, who has served as a consultant for the program, will be on the short list. Another possibility is Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew, the former tourney hero for Valpo whose brother Scott is Baylor’s coach.

Boynton is the second Big 12 coach fired after the conference tournament exit. West Virginia’s Josh Eliert was let go the day after the Mountaineers fell in Tuesday’s opening round.