The first day of the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament featured just one game but Wednesday’s matchup between West Virginia and Kansas State set the tone for what’s sure to be an exciting rest of the week in Kansas City.
The ninth-seeded Mountaineers outlasted the eighth-seeded Wildcats in a close battle to advance to the quarterfinals with a 73–67 victory. Sean McNeil led the way for West Virginia with 21 points and Malik Curry chipped in 17 points off the bench in the win.
The quarterfinals are scheduled to start just after noon on Thursday as the Mountaineers will join seven other teams hoping to claim the Big 12 crown. West Virginia will take on top-seeded Kansas with Texas, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Iowa State all taking the floor for the first time in the conference tournament.
Here is the updated Big 12 tournament schedule after Wednesday’s game.
Thursday, March 10
Quarterfinals
12:30 p.m. — No. 4 Texas vs. No. 5 TCU (ESPN2)
3 p.m. — No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 9 West Virginia (ESPN)
7 p.m. — No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 7 Oklahoma (ESPN)
9:30 p.m. — No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Iowa State (ESPN2)
