Kansas vs Iowa State: 2019 Big 12 Tournament title game preview, TV schedule
By Chris Kern
Iowa State and Kansas both picked up wins Friday night to advance to the Big 12 Tournament championship game. Both teams are looking to bring home the title after failing to earn a regular season title.
Tv Schedule: March 16, 6:00 PM ET. ESPN
Location: Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
The Kansas Jayhawks took care of business against the 10th seeded West Virginia Mountaineers. West Virginia upset Oklahoma on Wednesday and followed that up with a big upset win over Texas Tech on Thursday. That led to the Jayhawks getting an easier path to the Big 12 Tournament Championship game.
The Iowa State Cyclones were able to secure a victory over the top-seeded Kansas State Wildcats. It wasn’t pretty but they showed why they are a dangerous team heading into the NCAA Tournament. They will need to play as they did through their first two games if they want a chance to knock off Kansas Saturday evening.
Both of the regular season meetings between these teams ended with a victory by the home team. Marial Shayok made a statement in the win over Kansas in Ames as he scored 24 points in the 77-60 win. The game in Lawrence was much more competitive as the Jayhawks won 80-76 behind Dedric Lawson‘s 29 points and 15 rebounds.
Both of these teams respective stars have had phenomenal seasons and they will both need to play well if they want to win a Big 12 Tournament championship. Kansas is so reliant on Lawson on the offensive end but if they can’t get some contributions from other players then they are in a lot of trouble.
A couple of guys who are key to their success are Ochai Agbaji and Quentin Grimes. Agbaji has had some big moments this season where he looked like a future lottery pick while in some recent games he looked like the player who started the season on a redshirt. Grimes has been very inconsistent this season but he had a big performance, especially in the first half. He finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals including five three-pointers in the first half.
Iowa State wasn’t great on the offensive end but they did enough to stay in the game giving themselves a chance to make some plays down the stretch. Shayok hit a huge three-pointer in the final minute to put the Cyclones up three which helped them secure a 63-59 victory.
The Cyclones will need better play out of some of their other players though if they want to win this game. Lindell Wigginton had high hopes coming into the season but he has struggled in many games. He is a guy who needs to be able to score the ball consistently for this team. Talen Horton-Tucker is another guy who has been very inconsistent with his shooting.
The inconsistency has been a big part of the Cyclones struggles all season long. At times they have looked like a Final Four contender but other times they look destined for an early exit. If they can show up again and get another big win it will give them a lot of confidence heading into the NCAA Tournament.
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This is going to be an exciting Big 12 Championship game. These are the two best fanbases in the conference and they will be ready to cheer on their squads. Both these squads are playing a little bit better after some struggles throughout conference play. Kansas still has some big-time inconsistency from key players which will lead to Iowa State getting the victory to earn their fourth Big 12 Tournament title in the past six seasons.