The Big 12 Tournament continues today with semifinal action from Kansas City. Click here for a listing of Big 12 Network television affiliates.
Game 9: (1) Kansas vs (5) Colorado | 6:00 p.m. | Big 12 Network
Yesterday Oklahoma State served Kansas an extreme dose of the pack-it-in zone that so badly plagued Texas last year, and the Jayhawks nearly bricked their way out of the Big 12 Tournament, narrowly escaping with a 63-62 win after shooting a dismal 5-for-25 from beyond the arc. That won't cut it against the more offensively dynamic Buffaloes, who stayed hot with their fifth win in six games with their season sweeping 87-75 win over Kansas State.
If this game is a match up of the guards, the advantage is with Colorado, as both Burks and Higgins are playing phenomenal basketball right now, while the Jayhawks are up-and-down on the perimeter with Selby, Morningstar, Reed, and Taylor. The key will be controlling the Morris twins, the Jayhawks two most consistent players and the toughest match up for Colorado. Markieff dominated Colorado with 26 and 15 in Lawrence, and the Buffs don't have much size to bang inside. Especially after yesterday's flop, Bill Self will have his team working inside-out all game long.
Prediction: Kansas 75 Colorado 70
Game 10: (2) Texas vs (3) Texas A&M | 8:30 p.m. | Big 12 Network
As encouraging as it was to see, it was perhaps not so surprising that the Longhorns dominated the Sooners for the third straight game this season, but it was quite shocking to see Texas A&M so thoroughly whip Missouri. Like the first match up in College Station, the Missouri-A&M game was a whistle festival, featuring 51 fouls and 71 free throw attempts.
The problem for Texas A&M is that Texas doesn't foul. The Longhorns led the conference with a 30.0 FTR, substantially better than, say, Missouri, whose 39.8 was 8th in the conference. The question for the Aggies against Texas will once again be whether they can (1) get the game into a foul-fest, and (2) if not, whether they'll be able to score consistently enough to win. The Aggie roster is a poor man's version of Texas, lacking any distinctive qualities that translate into advantages. They'll simply have to outplay Texas to win it, which means excellent rebounding and earning trips to the line.
Prediction: Texas 68 Texas A&M 61