Big 12 Tournament 2016: Semifinal Scores, Championship Bracket and Schedule

The Big 12 men's basketball tournament pressed forward Friday with a pair of semifinal matchups pitting the Kansas Jayhawks against the Baylor Bears and Oklahoma Sooners against the West Virginia Mountaineers.

The top-seeded Jayhawks advanced to the title game with a 70-66 win in the first matchup and seemingly secured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. West Virginia held onto a 69-67 win over Oklahoma when Sooners star Buddy Hield's heroic half-court buzzer-beater was called back after review.

Here is a look at the updated bracket and schedule and recaps for each game.

Game	Championship	Date	Time (ET)	TV
9	No. 1 Kansas vs. TBD	Saturday, March 12	6 p.m.	ESPN

Big 12 Tournament Bracket

Round 1		Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		No. 1 KAN 85
		No. 8 KSU 63
No. 8 KSU 75			No. 1 KAN 70
No. 9 OSU 71			No. 5 BAY 66
		No. 4 TEX 61
		No. 5 BAY 75
				No. 1 KAN
				No. 2 WVU
		No. 2 WVU 86
		No. 10 TCU 66
No. 7 TTU 62			No. 2 WVU 69
No. 10 TCU 67			No. 3 OKLA 67
		No. 3 OKLA 79
		No. 6 ISU 76

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Kansas 70, Baylor 66

Kansas held off a late effort by Baylor in the final 26 seconds to hang on for a 70-66 win.

Trailing 68-61, Baylor's Al Freeman connected on a three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining before Kansas' Devonte' Graham missed one of two free throws after an ensuing foul.

Baylor answered with a layup by Johnathan Motley to pull within three points with five seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late.

The Bears kept pace with the Jayhawks throughout the first half but could never pull away. They led 23-21 at the break after a back-and-forth opening period but fell behind when Kansas mounted a 10-2 run out of the locker room.

The Jayhawks eventually built a 15-point lead, and Wayne Selden Jr. dropped one of the top dunks of the season along the way. Selden’s effort was remarkable, but the fans' reaction was even better, as ESPN showed:

But the Bears crept back and slowly chipped away at their deficit, forcing Kansas head coach Bill Self to put his starters back in with 25 seconds remaining.

Even after the close finish, though, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports believes a Self-coached team is always the one to beat at this time of year:

Selden finished with 11 points, two boards and four assists. Perry Ellis was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, shooting 7-of-15 from the field.

Three Bears scored in double figures—Freeman (14 points), Rico Gathers (13) and Motley (11)—but Kansas dominated Baylor in the paint, winning the rebounding battle 44-32. 

The Jayhawks will attempt to sweep the Big 12 titles after finishing first in the regular-season standings. They will be in the tournament’s title game for the third time in four years but haven’t won the postseason crown since 2013.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports believes the top-ranked Jayhawks have secured the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed:

The No. 22 Bears did enough throughout the season to earn an at-large bid to the Big Dance and will find out where they land on Selection Sunday. After the team missed out last year, it would be Baylor's third NCAA tournament appearance in four seasons.

Postgame Reaction

After the game, Self spoke about his decision to pull his starters before having to put them back in, per Dave Skretta of the Associated Press: "I had one guy ask me yesterday, 'Hey, when you get a lead in the last two minutes, why don't you play your bench?' And I did. And it didn't work out so great.”

Baylor head coach Scott Drew credited the Jayhawks for their strong defensive effort.

"Proud that our guys didn't quit at the end," Drew said, per Skretta. "Kansas really executed well in the second half. I told coach Self they guard so well."

Baylor guard Ishmail Wainright, whom Selden made a remarkable dunk over, gave credit where it was due after the game, per Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World:

Ellis acknowledged Saturday’s championship game against West Virginia will present plenty of challenges, per Kansas Basketball:

Kansas split the regular-season series against West Virginia, losing 74-63 on the road Jan. 12.

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West Virginia 69, Oklahoma 67

Oklahoma seemingly won Friday’s game against West Virginia—until it didn’t. 

Sporting News Player of the Year Buddy Hield connected on a half-court buzzer-beater that would’ve pushed the Sooners ahead by one point, but the play was overturned when replays revealed Hield’s hand was still on the ball when the clock struck zero.

ESPN captured a picture showing Hield’s fingertips on the rubber as red lights flashed on the backboard, indicating time had expired:

Here is a look at the replay in live time, courtesy of The Cauldron:

Deadspin’s Timothy Burke shared just how close Hield was to releasing the ball:

Nearly all of those tuned in—including the ESPN telecasters—thought Hield got the shot off. 

The Sooners star went straight to the stands after launching the prayer under the impression he won the game, as shown by the Huffington Post’s Kofie Yeboah:

But after the play was called back and Oklahoma was eliminated, Hield shook the hand of every Mountaineer before heading to the locker room. Tod Palmer of the Kansas City Star took notice of the sportsmanship:

Lost in what would’ve been arguably Hield’s most heroic moment of the year was that the senior finished with just six points—by far his lowest output of the season. 

Hield shot 1-of-8 from the floor, sinking just one three-pointer, while adding another three free throws on four attempts.

Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press speculated whether Hield’s uncharacteristic performance will have an effect on his running for more player-of-the-year honors:

But despite his worst output since scoring five points against Butler on Nov. 27, 2014, the Sooners nearly defeated the nation’s No. 9 team.

Isaiah Cousins (15 points), Christian James (13), Ryan Spangler (12) and Jordan Woodard (11) each shot in double figures, contributing to a 49 percent collective shooting effort. The Mountaineers shot just 38 percent from the field.

Oklahoma was plagued by sloppy play until the latter stages, turning the ball over 21 times and allowing a combined 24 points on such occasions.

West Virginia guard Jevon Carter finished with a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers. Guerin Emig of Tulsa World shared how much of an improvement Carter had made on West Virginia’s previous two meetings against the Sooners:

West Virginia advanced to its first Big 12 tournament title game and will look to go for its second win over the top-ranked Jayhawks in three tries after splitting the regular-season series. 

Oklahoma will head home disappointed but ready to regroup. The Sooners showed they can hang with the nation’s elite, even when their best player is having an off night. They should be in line for a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance.