Sooners and Cowboys are both eliminated from conference title contention
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OU's Javian McCollum shoots the game-winning three to defeat Oklahoma State, 84-82, on Feb. 24. Courtesy of OU Athletics.
The 2024 Big 12 Basketball Tournament kicked off this week and the opening rounds of games saw early exits for both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State hoops.
Taking place after the regular season but before the March Madness tournament bracket is set, the Big 12’s conference tourney pits all member schools against each other in order to determine a conference champion. Tournament games are held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
The ninth-seeded Oklahoma Sooners fell in their first action of the tourney to No. 8-seed TCU, 77-70. OU had four players score in double figures (including a near double-double for Jalon Moore, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds) but couldn’t overcome a 26-point, eight-rebound performance from TCU’s Emanuel Miller, who connected on nine of his 13 shot attempts.
Head coach Porter Moser finishes with a pre-NCAA Tournament season record of 20-12 in his third season with the Sooners.
OU now awaits the March Madness selection show to find out if they qualify for the big dance. They are currently projected as one the “last four byes” by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Oklahoma State entered the conference tourney as the No. 13-seed after finishing the regular season with an unremarkable 12-19 record. They faced Big 12 newcomer UCF in the first round on Tuesday, losing 77-62 to the Knights.
Despite a 21-point day from point guard Javon Small, the Cowboys shot just 37% from the field and 31% from three to suffer their sixth-consecutive loss to end the season. With no shot of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, coach Mike Boynton’s team concludes the 2023-2024 season at 12-20.
OSU misses out on March Madness for the fourth-straight year under Boynton.
This year’s Big 12 tournament was the final iteration that included Oklahoma, who, along with Texas, will move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for all sports starting in 2024-2025. It is currently unknown whether OU and OSU will continue to play each other in basketball, but both schools’ head coaches have advocated for it.