#8Nebraska vs. #9 Oklahoma State
The game went down to the wire as would be expected from the rankings and Nebraska had a great opportunity at the end of the game to steal it away. Instead, Lance Jeter lost the ball 6 feet from the basket and watched as the clock ticked away. The man who damaged Nebraska the most also gave them one last shot. Keiton Paige, who has regularly been a thorn in K-State’s side, scored 16 points but missed the front end of a one and one to give Nebraska the ball with 30 seconds left and only down by 1 point. NU failed to capitalize and Oklahoma State moves on.
#5 Colorado vs. #12 Iowa State
Alec Burks. That’s all that needs to be said. Iowa State made this way more of a game than it should have been and actually controlled things until about 3 minutes remained in the game but Burks decided he didn’t want to exit the tournament in the first round, put Colorado on his shoulders, and went crazy. He finished with 29 points and a career high 15 rebounds and basically put Iowa State away with his last 5 points. Hopefully he used everything up in this game because he’s going to try for a three-peat against K-State tomorrow.
#7 Baylor vs. #10 Oklahoma
The NCAA screwed Baylor 30 minutes before tipoff and suspended one of the best freshmen in the Big 12 for something that took place before he was a Baylor student and that he never knew of. Besides the 13.8 points per game that Perry Jones brings to the table for Baylor, he has been a vital cog in the zone defense they play almost exclusively. The game should have been closer than it was even without Jones but Oklahoma was handed a pass to the quarterfinals. The NCAA continues to baffle logical thinkers on a daily basis.