Big 12 tournament tracker: Insane shot & Taylor Swift’s lucky number works for BYU

The Big 12 Men’s Championship continues Wednesday at T-Mobile Center with first-round games.

One more day until the four top seeds see action. Wednesday’s lineup:

• 11:30 a.m.: No. 5 BYU vs. No. 12 UCF (ESPN2).

• 2 p.m.: No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (ESPN+)

• 6 p.m.: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Kansas State (ESPN+)

• 8:30 p.m.: No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 11 Cincinnati (ESPN2)

Here’s today tournament list: Most points in a game

• 43: Mike Singletary, Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M, 2009. Making this performance even more amazing, Singletary scored 35 in the final 13 minutes and 29 in a row for Tech, which erased a 21-point second-half deficit to win.

• 39: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma vs. Iowa State, 2016.

• 38: Marcus Fizer, Iowa State vs. Baylor, 2000.

• 37: Kevin Durant, Texas vs. Kansas, 2007. This is the record for most points in a championship game. The Longhorns fell 88-84 in overtime. Durant was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Torrid start, fast finish push BYU past UCF

Big 12 newcomer BYU played its first conference tournament game at T-Mobile Center on Wednesday and the Cougars quickly grew comfortable in the environment.

BYU scored the game’s 14 points and rolled to an 87-73 triumph over UCF, sending the Cougars to a quarterfinal date against Texas Tech. That game will tip off at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

“We had a five-minute run,” said BYU’s Richie Saunders, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. “We had 35 minutes left to play.”

The BYU lead, fueled by 3-point shooting, grew to 18 in the first half before the No. 11 seed Knights (17-15) battled back behind guard Darius Johnson. His 3-pointers on successive possessions cut the UCF deficit to 59-56 with 13:40 remaining.

But the fifth-seeded Cougars (23-9) regained control of the game with a 12-0 run. One of the nation’s most prolific 3-point shooting teams, BYU made 14 of 30 from beyond the arc (46.4%). Seven different players knocked down at least one triple.

Johnson finished with 32 points, matching the ninth highest scoring game in tournament history. He had ball in his hands as the final seconds ticked away and when the game ended he pulled the jersey over his head and walked directly to the locker room.

Next game: TCU, the No. 8 seed, takes on No. 9 Oklahoma. The winner faces top-seed Houston on Thursday.

The 13 connection between BYU’s Mark Pope and Taylor Swift

Mark Pope, the BYU coach, mentioned at Big 12 Media Day in October that he was thrilled his Cougars were selected to finish 13th in their first year in the league. That’s Taylor Swift’s lucky number, and Pope took his daughters to multiple Swift concerts this year.

So Pope was beside himself when he was reminded that his first Big 12 tournament game, against UCF, was to be played on March 13. The Cougars and Knights played twice during the regular season, on Jan. 13 and Feb. 13.

“Like the deck was stacked against these guys, man, it’s not even fair,” Pope said of the fortune in store for BYU on Wednesday. “Plus we’re in Kansas City.”

Where Swift hangs out with boyfriend Travis Kelce.

What a shot!

At the end of the first half, TCU’s Micah Peavy wound up with the ball in his hands with his feet on the 3-point line — on the Oklahoma end of the floor.

No matter.

Peavy launched a two-handed heave. The ball bounced off the rim and backboard and fell through, giving the Horned Frogs a 45-31 halftime lead over the Sooners.

TCU looks to go 2-0 vs. top-ranked team

Houston defeated every team on its schedule this season except one. And it’s the Cougars’ next opponent.

On Jan. 13, TCU defeated Houston in Fort Worth, one of three losses for the nation’s top-ranked team. The others came at Kansas and Iowa State and the Cougars avenged both of those outcomes with home victories.

If the Horned Frogs bring an effort similar to Wednesday’s against Oklahoma they’ll have a shot.

TCU (21-10) outlasted the Sooners 77-70 in a battle of teams likely headed to the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs opened an 18-point halftime lead, then withstood a late OU rally. Emanuel Miller, a second-team All-Big 12 selection, led TCU with 26 points.

Oklahoma fell to 20-11. In this game that matched the eighth and ninths seeds, the Horned Frogs and Sooners may land similar seed lines on the NCAA Tournament bracket.

What will it take for TCU to hang with Houston?

“Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.

Houston is one of the Big 12’s top rebounding teams, but it doesn’t lead the league in that department. Where the Cougars thrive is on defense. They top the Big 12 in scoring defense (56.9 points) and field-goal percentage defense (38.3%).

Turn out lights on OU, Texas in Big 12 tourney

With their losses on Wednesday, Oklahoma and Texas concluded their last Big 12 tournament history. Both are moving to the SEC next season.

The Sooners finished with a 24-24 record. They won three straight championships starting in 2001. Kelvin Sampson, now Houston’s coach, led Oklahoma then. But their 2003 championship game victory over Missouri was the last time OU played in the title game.

Best OU player in Big 12 Championship history: Hollis Price, a two-time Most Outstanding Player.

Texas finished 31-25. The Longhorns won two of the past three championships, including last season’s title.

Best UT player in the tournament: Durant, who set a record with his 30.7 scoring average in 2007.