Big 12-SEC basketball challenge announced, but no Border War
Kansas will play at Florida, West Virginia will play at Missouri and Mississippi will play at Kansas State this fall in the inaugural Big 12/SEC men’s basketball challenge.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Kansas will play at Florida, West Virginia will play at Missouri and Mississippi will play at Kansas State this fall in the inaugural Big 12/SEC men’s basketball challenge.
Games are being played at the Sprint Center. Click on the team name for a preview or game results.
The Sprint Center crowd of 19,256 for Saturday’s Big 12 tournament title game broke the single-session record of 19,160 set during Friday’s semifinals.
Missouris break for the SEC is mostly viewed along party lines, but the Big 12 tournament figured to be a loser no matter what. A large, vocal fan base had left the party. The best weekend in Kansas City sports would take a hit. Maybe that will happen someday. But not this weekend.
Kansas State has struggled to score at times under first-year coach Bruce Weber, but the Wildcats reached a new low during the first half of a 70-54 loss to Kansas in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament.
The old joke that the Big 12 is Kansas and nine other schools in football and mens basketball isnt so funny anymore. Not when it comes to basketball, anyway. While KU's dominance against K-State is obviously a point of pride for Kansas, its also bad for the program.

Businesses are beefing up service and offering special prices and deals to draw in Big 12 fans. Most of the game-day specials are concentrated in the P&L District, but other nearby operations are getting into the spirit, too.
Kansas State's 68-57 win against Oklahoma State sets up a showdown with Kansas on Saturday for the Big 12 Tournament title. The Tigers are out of the SEC Tournament after a 64-62 loss to Mississippi in Nashville.
KU and K-State will meet for the third time this season to face off in the Big 12 tournament championship game at the Sprint Center.
K-State beat Oklahoma State 68-57 on Friday in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at Sprint Center to advance to its first title game since its loss to Kansas in 2010. Rodney McGruder was the main reason why. On a night when neither teams offense flowed the way it did during their regular-season meetings, McGruder couldnt be stopped. The senior wing, playing like a man on a mission, scored a game-high 25 points.
Kansas State beat Texas 66-49 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2010. The Wildcats will play Oklahoma State at 9 p.m. Friday.
Using only six players, three of whom played at least 37 minutes, the Kansas State women beat Texas 51-49 on Brittany Chambers layup at the buzzer Friday night in Dallas. The Wildcats advanced to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals against top-seeded Baylor at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

After several years of NCAA Tournament success in the early rounds, the Big 12 wound up 2013 with a paltry 3-5 record. It’s the fewest NCAA Tournament victories for league since 2001.
The emotion figured to favor Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinal.
A record crowd of 19,610 filled the Sprint Center for the semifinals.
Top-seeded Kansas blew out Texas Tech 91-63 on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at the Sprint Center, setting up a semifinal matchup against Iowa State, which is seeking revenge after two close losses to the Jayhawks this season.
WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Sprint Center
The Power & Light District was, well, not exactly hopping at noon Friday. Yes, a decent-sized crowd had gathered to eat lunch, enjoy the warm weather and watch some youngsters play basketball
WHEN/WHERE: 9 p.m. Friday at the Sprint Center
Fans enjoyed the warm temperatures Thursday at the Big 12 men's basketball tournament street festival in front of the Sprint Center.
Somehow, Pierre Jackson got a great look at the basket for a final attempt.