No. 20 BYU Holds Off UCF Rally, Wins 87-73 in Big 12 Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Fousseyni Traore had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Richie Saunders scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and No. 20 BYU squandered a big early lead before pulling away late for an 87-73 victory over UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.
Dallin Hall also had 13 points and Trevin Knell scored 12 for the fifth-seeded Cougars (23-9), who hit 14 3-pointers and matched the bigger Knights on the glass to advance to play fourth-seeded and No. 25 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Darius Johnson did everything he could to keep UCF alive, hitting six 3-pointers and scoring 32 points. But he didn’t have much help in the second half, when the Knights (17-15) briefly trimmed an early 18-point lead to just three midway through.
BYU answered with a 12-0 run that gave it the breathing room it needed to coast into the next round.
CINCINNATI 72, NO. 16 KANSAS 52
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dan Skillings Jr. scored 25 points, Cincinnati took advantage of No. 16 Kansas playing without injured stars Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr., and the Bearcats rolled to a victory over the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament.
John Newman III added 12 points and Simas Lukosius had 10 for the No. 11 seed Bearcats (20-13), who knew they had to keep winning to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. Now, they will get another opportunity to pick up a marquee win on Thursday, when they face No. 14 Baylor — the third seed in the league tourney — in the quarterfinal round.
Dickinson missed the game after dislocating his shoulder in a 30-point loss to Houston last weekend, while McCullar has been dealing with a knee injury. Jayhawks coach Bill Self said earlier Wednesday that he expects the Big 12’s two leading scorers to able to practice Monday, and that bodes well for their NCAA Tournament hopes.