No. 25 Oklahoma (15-9, 10-8) made it through the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night with a 79-73 defeat of Iowa State. Their reward is a matchup with No. 11 Kansas roughly just 19 hours after their opening round game ended.
The Jayhawks, meanwhile, will be nice and rested after having the first round bye. But, they will be without one of the very key pieces of their team in starting center David McCormack due to COVID-19 protocols. So, while it is still incredibly challenging to play a hot Kansas team that is rested, that should give the Sooners some help in the third collision of the year with Bill Self’s group.
The two teams split the first two matchups with both winning on their home floor. The game in Lawrence back on Jan. 9 came with Oklahoma down a couple of key players of their own due to COVID-19 protocols in Brady Manek and Jalen Hill. Despite that, the Sooners battled hard in a 63-59 loss.
The second meeting came in the midst of Oklahoma’s huge stretch of wins that really burst them onto the national scene. They toppled the then-No. 9 Jayhawks 75-68 at the Lloyd Noble Center behind a big day from De’Vion Harmon who scored 22 points.
For this Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal matchup, here is everything you need to know:
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. CT (approximate)
WHERE: Kansas City, Missouri (T-Mobile Center)
HOW TO WATCH: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla & Holly Rowe)
HOW TO LISTEN: Sooner Sports Radio Network – 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)