KANSAS CITY — Buddy Hield nearly cracked the Big 12 tournament scoring record, and he wasn’t even the most productive player during the second half.
Georges Niang scored 25 of his 31 points after the break to keep No. 21 Iowa State in contention, at least until Hield’s runout dunk culminated his 39-point performance and cemented a 79-76 victory for No. 6 Oklahoma.
From a memorable shootout highlighting the league’s most decorated seniors, the Sooners (25-6) flipped their focus to Friday night’s semifinal against No. 9 West Virginia (25-7), which had a far easier time dispatching TCU.