KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The No. 6-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, who tied Baylor for the Big 12 regular-season title, completed a three-game sweep of West Virginia, TCU and Texas Tech on Saturday to win the league’s postseason tournament at T-Mobile Center.
David McCormack scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while four other Jayhawks scored in double figures as KU (28-6) downed the No. 14-ranked Red Raiders, 74-65, and likely emerged as the league’s top representative entering Selection Sunday.
KU won the Big 12 Tournament for the first time since 2018 and 12th time overall.
Backup power forward Mitch Lightfoot, who scored two points in 11 minutes, appeared to injure his left leg on the defensive end of the court with 7:26 left. He headed to the locker room then returned to the bench area wearing black sweatpants, no word yet on the extent of a possible injury.
Ochai Agbaji scored 16 points and Christian Braun 14, while Jalen Wilson and Remy Martin had 12 apiece for KU, which is expected to be awarded a No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi on Saturday speculated before the KU-Tech tipoff that KU had locked up a No. 1 seed. His prediction came after Kentucky lost to Tennessee in the SEC tournament.
Lunardi wrote that Gonzaga had the overall No. 1 seed with Arizona, KU and Baylor likely netting No. 1s in that order. The No. 2s on Selection Sunday will go to Purdue, Duke, Auburn and Kentucky, Lunardi projected.
Bryson Williams scored 17 points and Terrence Shannon added 14 points Saturday for Tech (24-9), which had split a home-and-home series with the Jayhawks during the regular season. The Red Raiders are projected to receive a No. 3 seed, according to Lunardi.
Martin, who scored 10 points in KU’s semifinal win over TCU on Friday, scored 10 points in the first half as KU led Tech, 37-36, after 20 minutes. He hit a pair of 3s and had two steals in 12 minutes. Braun scored 10 points and had three rebounds, while McCormack had nine points and five boards in the half. Dajuan Harris picked up two early fouls and played just eight minutes in the half.
Shannon hit three 3s good for nine points in the half for Tech. Carlos Santos-Silva had eight points and four boards. Adonis Arms had seven boards as Tech outrebounded KU, 22-15, in the half.
KU grabbed a five-point lead (43-38), its biggest of the game to that point, on a 3 by Agbaji from the corner with 17:11 left.
Tech regained the lead (54-51) with 11:48 left following a 3 by Kevin Obanor (11 points), a layup by Terrence Shannon and inside bucket by Williams.
KU took a 55-54 lead at 9:59 on a layup by Wilson off a feed from Martin and inside shot by Agbaji. Wilson scored off a feed from Martin at 7:49 to give KU a 59-56 lead.
KU led 61-56 at 6:58 following an inside hoop by Wilson. McCormack then hit two free throws to make it 63-56 at 5:55.
KU led 66-60 on an inside bucket by Braun at 2:46, followed by a bucket by Wilson giving the Jayhawks a 68-60 lead at 2:27.
KU will officially find out its NCAA seed and first-round opponent during Sunday’s Selection Show at 5 p.m. on CBS.
