With the semifinals upon us, it feels like a long, lazy day without an early 11:30 tipoff at the Ford Center. But with the level of excitement already packed into eight hours of basketball yesterday, we’re not sure we could take on another quadrupleheader so quickly. Sure, there weren’t any six-overtime thrillers in this league championship, but three of the top four seeds stumbled in the quarterfinals, leaving the path to the trophy wide open.

We’ll get to a quick wrap of the win over K-State within the hour, but here’s our take on yesterday’s action from section 107 of the Ford Center.

[9] Baylor 71, [1] Kansas 64

The Bears came into the tournament having lost 10 of their final 12 games, and it seemed when they faced Texas on March 2nd that the players had thrown in the towel on their season. But after a mudholing of Nebraska in their first-round game, the Bears defied all odds with an upset win over the conference champion Kansas Jayhawks.

Although Baylor jumped out to a huge early lead, it seemed like the crowd was simply waiting for the inevitable comeback. And while Kansas certainly made their surges throughout the game, the Bears were able to keep them at bay thanks to a career night for sixth man LaceDaruis Dunn. The sophomore hit 6-of-11 from long range, including a dagger of a three when the Jayhawks had narrowed the lead to only 4 points with 3:37 to play.

For Kansas, that marks a second loss in their last three games, and could ensure that they miss out on the opportunity to play their first two NCAA games in Kansas City. Most bracketologists are now slotting Memphis and Oklahoma to that pod, so it could come down to which Big 12 powerhouse the Selection Committee thinks is most deserving.

[7] Oklahoma State 71, [2] Oklahoma 70

The reason those Sooners still aren’t a lock for that Kansas City pod is because they suffered the same fate as the Jayhawks in Thursday night’s quarterfinal. The Oklahoma State Cowboys claimed a narrow victory in this neutral-site version of the Bedlam series, and for our first time witnessing the rivalry in person, it couldn’t have been any better.

The arena may have been slightly skewed in favor of the bright orange OSU supporters, but every play was met with a cacophony of noise as the mixing of boos and cheers filled the Ford Center. With the Cowboys hitting nine threes on the night, the game had a shootout feel to it, and Blake Griffin and Willie Warren added their own share of highlight-reel plays to keep the crowd on their feet.

But all of the tension and excitement came to a head in the bizarre final minute, when Griffin was whistled for a foul on a rebound attempt with 2.3 seconds left and stood frozen in place, bewildered by the call. James Anderson sunk both of the ensuing free throws to put the Pokes up by one. Then things got weird.

Taylor Griffin threw a baseball pass to his brother, who tried to do his best Christian Laettner impression from beyond the three-point line. The shot missed, and a Sooner sailed in for a follow-up shot on which he was clearly fouled. The clock still read 0.8 seconds left, but it had not started immediately upon the inbounds pass. The referees huddled for a review just feet from the Sooner bench, where Jeff Capel tried to keep his players away from the monitors. After a seemingly endless discussion and a few rounds of both school’s fight songs, the final call was made, leading to the celebration below…

[2] Missouri 81, [11] Texas Tech 60

With all of the Sooner and Cowboy fans out of the arena, this game felt like it was being played in an empty cave. And although Texas Tech hung with the Tigers for the entire first half, there was no mistaking who was the better team once the final buzzer sounded. Missouri absolutely abused the Red Raiders with drive and dumps into the post, backdoor cuts that went undefeated, and a dizzying 48 points in the paint. Unfortunately for Tech, sixth man Mike Singletary came back to Earth just a day after his Hurculean efforts in a first-round win, scoring “just” 17 points in the losing effort.

The win sets up quite an exciting match-up for the second semifinal, as the Tigers and Cowboys are going to run up and down the court in an absolute track meet. When these teams first met in Stillwater back in January, they combined for 195 points in a game that the Tigers won by a razor-thin two-point margin.

It’s a mess of sleet, ice, and snow outside as the Big 12 Championships roll into the second day of action. Although temperatures are expected to be back in the 70’s within a week, Mother Nature decided that folks traveling to OKC for the tournament would just love a three-day visit from some bitterly cold weather. So rather than going out in this last gasp of winter that has gripped the city, we’ll take a look back at all of yesterday’s action from the Ford Center.

[11] Texas Tech 88, [6] Texas A&M 83

The best game of the day was certainly the last one, although it seemed like the nightcap between Texas A&M and Texas Tech was well on its way to being the worst of the four first-round match-ups. In fact, when we finally threw in the towel at halftime and hit the exits, the Aggies led by 19 points, and there were no more than 1,500 hardy fans remaining in the seats. But those who stuck around were treated to the single most-impressive performance in the history of the Big 12 tourney.

Mike Singletary — a forward whose role all season long was simply that of an effective sixth man — scored 35 points in the second half, including 29 straight for Texas Tech, and led the Red Raiders back from a 22-point deficit to steal the win. Oddly enough, we were joking midway through the first half that Singletary was Tech’s entire offense. At the time, his four points were all that Tech had mustered in the first seven minutes of the game. Who knew how accurate our wisecracks would actually be?

[9] Baylor 65, [8] Nebraska 49

While Nebraska’s four-guard sets have sometimes made it difficult to rebound against bigger teams, it seemed that a match-up with the similarly guard-oriented Baylor Bears might hide that weakness for Coach Doc Sadler and the Cornhuskers. That was anything but true in this one, as the Bears outrebounded Nebraska by a ridiculous 43-18 margin. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Kevin Rogers grabbed more boards than Nebraska all by himself. Rogers posted a double-double with 20 rebounds and ten points.

It’s also notable that this game started the day off with three technical fouls. There were three more in later action, and an additional warning on the Oklahoma State bench even after they had already been tagged with a T. Despite the temperatures outside, it was quite heated inside the Ford Center.

[7] Oklahoma State 81, [10] Iowa State 67

Perhaps the most heated of all the action came in the prime-time game, featuring the Cowboys from OSU. The Pokes hail from Stillwater, just 66 miles NNE of the Ford Center, and the arena was packed to the gills with folks wearing road-cone orange. Craig Brackins took charge early for Iowa State, as he often does, and drew not only tons of whistles from the refs, but the ire of the OSU faithful as well. The fans grew more and more restless as the fouls piled up for Oklahoma State, while the Cyclones stayed foul-free.

With seven minutes left in the first half, the Pokes had seven team fouls to the zero for Iowa State, and some additional commentary from the OSU bench heading into the media timeout resulted in a technical foul. The irate crowd absolutely ate up the tactical maneuver from Coach Travis Ford, and when the Cyclones were finally whistled for their first infraction with only three minutes left in the first half, mock cheers rained down on the court and Ford slapped the scorers table so hard it could be heard from across the arena.

Interestingly enough, foul calls in the second half were much more even until Iowa State was forced to intentionally hack at the Pokes in the final minutes. It’s tough to tell if this was a result of Ford’s lobbying or of OSU’s newfound commitment to pounding the ball down to Marshall Moses in the paint, but the newfound whistle equity allowed the Cowboys to cruise to a first-round win.

The Texas Longhorns return to the Frank Erwin Center for their final home game of the year, just one win away from their tenth consecutive 20-win season. That of course makes it Senior Night for the Longhorns, who will be bidding adieu to A.J. Abrams and Connor Atchley at the end of the season. Unfortunately, Abrams is banged up from a late-game injury suffered against Oklahoma State, but he will be on the court tonight after his availability was a question mark all day.

The bad news, though, is that Gary Johnson likely won’t play. Johnson’s absence was painfully noticeable in the last two games for Texas, who struggled to establish an inside presence against much smaller teams from Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Baylor Bears are also a smaller, guard-oriented team, and having Johnson available to take advantage of Kevin Rogers and Quincy Acy would have been incredibly helpful.

For Texas, tonight’s game takes on massive importance not only for the magical twenty-win mark, but also because a loss tonight could seriously hamper the team’s NCAA chances. As mentioned in this afternoon’s Fast Break, the general opinion is that one win in the final two games will move the Longhorns into “lock” territory for the Big Dance. But a loss tonight could spell disaster with a road trip to Kansas looming just six days from now.

By the numbers

The Bears are a team that lives and dies by the three. They take nearly 40% of their shots from behind the arc and are fairly successful from that distance, hitting 36.4% of their attempts so far. It’s not an overstatement to say that Baylor is completely glued to the perimeter, oftentimes to their own detriment. Even if the longball isn’t falling, the Bear guards will continue to fire them off as their opponents build larger and larger leads.

Baylor’s biggest weakness is an incredibly porous defense, something that many pundits thought was going to be a point of emphasis in the offseason for Coach Scott Drew. If it was, the numbers certainly don’t show it, as they are averaging 82.6 points allowed in their 11 losses this year. A big reason for their struggles defensively is an inability to rebound off their opponents’ misses, giving teams multiple chances to score each trip down the floor.

Those rebounding struggles are not limited to the defensive end, though. Baylor opponents are grabbing more than three extra rebounds per game in relation to the Bears, and its hindering their formerly high-powered offense. Without the key offensive rebounds off of missed three-pointers, Baylor is often limited to one-and-done possessions before having to hustle back and play D.

The starting five

The leader of the team is senior Curtis Jerrells, an Austin product who will be playing in front of his friends and family at the Erwin Center for the last time. He’s fairly strong for a guy his size, so he is able to finish through contact when he drives the lane. But what Jerrells loves even more than penetrating and drawing fouls is kicking it out to find his open three-point shooters when the defense collapses on him. He leads the team with more than five assists per game, and his ability to slash is the key to Baylor’s long-range threat.

Joining Jerrells in the backcourt is another senior, Henry Dugat, who has been struggling through conference play. Just last season, Dugat was hitting 38.6% of his three pointers, and he made over 43% of his attempts in non-conference play this year. But once league competition began, he completely fell off the map, sinking just 19.5% of his threes in Big 12 games. Dugat can put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, though, so he’s still able to help out his team despite the slump.

Junior guard Tweety Carter is a heck of a player and a likely preseason All-Conference selection next season. For now, he’s content being one of many talented Bears in the backcourt, but he still manages to turn in a few highlight-reel plays every night. He’s definitely the flashiest slashing threat that Baylor has, but his ability to hit the three from well beyond NBA range keeps defenses honest. He can hit the runners and floaters, and his mid-range shooting is just as good. If the recent trend continues where a player has a breakout game against Texas, Carter is the most likely candidate.

In the frontcourt, Baylor relies on a couple of players who are only scoring threats within a few feet of the basket. Forwards Kevin Rogers and Quincy Acy are both solid defenders and shot blockers, but on the offensive end they live solely on putbacks and bunnies. Rogers has a bit more talent with the ball and loves to sink the short hook shots, but if Texas can keep these two off of the offensive glass, the Longhorns should be able to limit their production.

Off the bench

One of the best sixth men in the conference is LaceDarius Dunn, a sophomore who is the team’s second-leading scorer despite coming off of the bench. Dunn can hit shots from anywhere on the floor, can create his own looks, and knows how to get to the rim. The only knock on his offensive game is the fact that his shot comes from a nearly set position, so he has trouble getting it over lengthy defenders. With Johnson likely not playing tonight, Texas probably can’t find anyone who has not only the length to stifle Dunn, but also the speed to contain him. Hopefully this doesn’t result in a career night from the super soph.

With Dunn and the starting five eating up so many minutes for Coach Drew, the rest of the bench sees extremely limited action for Baylor. Anthony Jones has been earning a little more playing time in conference games, but the highly-touted freshman has still yet to make a major impact. He’s a string bean at 6’10”, but he’s incredibly lengthy and is a great shot blocker. He’s even a threat from three-point range, although he’s only pulled the trigger a couple of times per game.

Josh Lomers is another big man down low for Baylor, but even in his junior year he still looks awkward and overmatched. He’s a bit clunky, is famous for picking up stupid fouls, and looks completely lost when teams double down on him in the post. Lomers might eat up a few minutes, but he’s far from a game-changer.

Mamadou Diene is the other viable post option that Drew has on the bench, but since he was replaced by Acy in the starting lineup, he has seen only a few minutes per game. Diene is another lanky guy who can alter shots down low, but his offense leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Keys to the game

Crash the glass – Baylor’s weakness on the boards dovetails nicely with Texas’ strong rebounding numbers, but the Longhorns must absolutely dominate their opponents in this category tonight. The Bears love the three-pointer, and Texas is famous for giving them up in bunches. The number one defense against that is to limit Baylor to one-shot possessions, so the Longhorns have to grab those boards.

Convert the easy buckets – Texas could have easily won the game on Saturday night in Stillwater if it had made just three or four of the point-blank shots that were missed throughout the game. The Longhorns not only missed the numerous easy looks, but compounded the problem by not following them with tip-ins or even rebounds. If Texas gets that many inside looks tonight and is able to put them in, their field goal percentage will be through the roof.

Control the ball – This key isn’t really a reflection on Baylor’s defensive pressure, but rather their miserly attitude with the ball. The Bears simply do not give up possessions with dumb mistakes. Unfortunately, Texas has had a problem doing exactly that when they have the ball. If the Longhorns do not limit their unforced errors in this game, Baylor will have a huge advantage in turnover margin and a ton of extra possessions.

Top 25 Action

#11 Texas Longhorns 78, Baylor Bears 72 – The Longhorns escaped Waco with their 23rd consecutive win over Baylor, leaning on a nineteen point night from sharpshooter A.J. Abrams. The senior guard was hot early, but went through long stretches of absolute silence, including a nine-minute scoreless bout to open the second half. Damion James logged another double-double in the winning effort, posting a line of fourteen and twelve. Full post-game thoughts and numbers will be headed your way this afternoon.

#16 Purdue Boilermakers 64, Wisconsin Badgers 63 – He only had eight total points on the night, but Robbie Hummel provided three huge ones when he hit the go-ahead trifecta with a minute left to propel Purdue to their fifth-straight win. Meanwhile, the Badgers continued their free fall through the standings, suffering their fifth consecutive loss. It was also their third loss this season at the friendly confines of the Kohl Center after posting an impressive 113-7 home record during Coach Bo Ryan’s first eight years in Madison.

Mississippi Rebels 85, #24 Kentucky Wildcats 80 – It was a rough welcome to the Top 25 for Kentucky, who lost their first game since cracking the poll on Monday. David Huertas dropped 21 for the Rebs — nineteen of them in the second half — to earn their first victory in ten tries against the Wildcats. The loss was the first conference blemish for Kentucky, who still holds the half-game lead over Tennessee, a team they soundly beat on the road earlier this month.

Big 12 Games

Colorado Buffaloes 55, Iowa State Cyclones 49 – Jeff Bzdelik and the Buffaloes shook the monkey off their back last night, winning their first conference game and climbing into a four-way tie for most futile team in the Big 12. Despite allowing Iowa State a robust 48% success rate from the field, Colorado was able to claim the home victory by sinking seven more free throws than their opponents. Craig Brackins once again led the way for the ‘Clones, dropping in 24 points in the losing effort. The performance marked the seventh time in his last nine games that Brackins has cracked the 20-point plateau.

Texas slid in this week’s polls as a result of its meltdown in Norman last Monday night, dropping to 14th in the AP and 15th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. The Sooners and Longhorns are the only Big 12 teams in the AP poll, while Baylor clings to 23rd in ESPN’s rankings after their road loss to A&M last Wednesday. Kansas and Missouri also received votes in both polls.

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology has the Horns dipping to a 4-seed and playing their first two games in Portland. After a nice trip to Spokane two years ago for the NCAA tournament, we’d love another roadie to the Pacific Northwest. But, of course, the selections are still two months away, and absolutely anything can happen.

We’ve had our share of interesting moments in the O-Zone over the years, including the time former OU guard Bobby Maze had to be held back by a teammate during pre-game warm-ups. Even more intense was the incident with a Colorado forward (who will remain unnamed) that exchanged shoves with a Texas student during the 2003-04 season. But nothing that’s happened in the Erwin Center can hold a candle to the video below, where a Clemson student tackles Chas McFarland. Good thing it wasn’t Ron Artest…