Conference tournaments across college basketball continued on Wednesday night as teams competed for spots in the NCAA Tournament.
The Texas Longhorns were the only in-state team in action during the night sessions and lost to Kansas State after allowing 49 points in the second half and relinquishing a 10-point lead. Kansas State moves on to face Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal round on Thursday night.
The loss leaves the Longhorns projected as a nine or 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament as Selection Sunday approaches and left four in-state teams remaining in the Big 12 Tournament (Texas Tech, TCU, Houston, and Baylor) entering play on Thursday.
Texas Tech answered the bell with an 81-67 win over BYU to open Thursday’s action in Kansas City and advance to Friday’s Big 12 semifinal round.
The top-seeded Houston Cougars await the Red Raiders in the semifinals after a 60-45 win over TCU on Thursday afternoon, avenging an earlier loss to the Horned Frogs. The Cougars led from start to finish as TCU did not score a point for the first nearly 10 minutes of game time. Houston and Texas Tech will be the first Big 12 semifinal game at 6 p.m. CT on Friday.
Baylor will face No.11 seed Cincinnati, which upset Kansas on Wednesday, in the final Big 12 quarterfinal game on Thursday night, and the winner will face either Iowa State or Kansas State on Friday.
Texas A&M begins its postseason quest against Ole Miss at 6 p.m. CT at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Many experts have the Aggies as the first team out of the NCAA Tournament, so any wins will help their case.
The American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament also continued in Fort Worth. East Carolina escaped with a win over Tulsa to advance to play No.1 seed South Florida on Friday, while Wichita State knocked off Memphis.
North Texas and Tulane will play the first game of the AAC’s Thursday night session at 6 p.m. CT at Dickies Arena, with the winner advancing to play Florida Atlantic on Friday night. SMU and Temple will close the night as they compete to play Charlotte on Friday.