Big 12 tournament tracker: Insane shot & Taylor Swift’s lucky number works for BYU

The Big 12 Men’s Championship continues Wednesday at T-Mobile Center with first-round games.

One more day until the four top seeds see action. Wednesday’s lineup:

• 11:30 a.m.: No. 5 BYU vs. No. 12 UCF (ESPN2).

• 2 p.m.: No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (ESPN+)

• 6 p.m.: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Kansas State (ESPN+)

• 8:30 p.m.: No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 11 Cincinnati (ESPN2)

Here’s today tournament list: Most points in a game

• 43: Mike Singletary, Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M, 2009. Making this performance even more amazing, Singletary scored 35 in the final 13 minutes and 29 in a row for Tech, which erased a 21-point second-half deficit to win.

• 39: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma vs. Iowa State, 2016.

• 38: Marcus Fizer, Iowa State vs. Baylor, 2000.

• 37: Kevin Durant, Texas vs. Kansas, 2007. This is the record for most points in a championship game. The Longhorns fell 88-84 in overtime. Durant was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Torrid start, fast finish push BYU past UCF

Big 12 newcomer Brigham Young played its first conference tournament game at T-Mobile Center on Wednesday and the Cougars quickly grew comfortable in the environment.

BYU scored the game’s 14 points and rolled to an 87-73 triumph over Central Florida, sending the Cougars to a quarterfinal date against Texas Tech. That game will tip off at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

“We had a five-minute run,” said Brigham Young’s Richie Saunders, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. “We had 35 minutes left to play.”

The Brigham Young lead, fueled by three-point shooting, grew to 18 in the first half before the No. 11 seed Knights (17-15) battled back behind guard Darius Johnson. His three-pointers on successive possessions cut the UCF deficit to 59-56 with 13:40 remaining.

But the fifth-seeded Cougars (23-9) regained control of the game with a 12-0 run. One of the nation’s most prolific three-point shooting teams, BYU made 14 of 30 from beyond the arc (46.4 percent). Seven different players knocked down at least one triple.

Johnson finished with 32 points, matching the ninth highest scoring game in tournament history. He had ball in his hands as the final seconds ticked away and when the game ended he pulled the jersey over his head and walked directly to the locker room.

Next game: TCU, the No. 8 seed, takes on No. 9 Oklahoma. The winner faces top-seed Houston on Thursday.

The 13 connection between BYU’s Mark Pope and Taylor Swift

Mark Pope, the Brigham Young coach, mentioned at Big 12 Media Day in October that he was thrilled his Cougars were selected to finish 13th in their first year in the league. That’s Taylor Swift’s lucky number, and Pope took his daughters to multiple Swift concerts this year.

So Pope was beside himself when he was reminded that his first Big 12 tournament game, against UCF, was to be played on March 13. The Cougars and Knights played twice during the regular season, on Jan. 13 and Feb. 13.

“Like the deck was stacked against these guys, man, it’s not even fair,” Pope said of the fortune in store for BYU on Wednesday. “Plus we’re in Kansas City.”

Where Swift hangs out with boyfriend Travis Kelce.

What a shot!

At the end of the first half, TCU’s Micah Peavy wound up with the ball in his hands with his feet on the three-point line -- on the Oklahoma end of the floor. No matter. Peavy launched a two-handed heave. The ball bounced off the rim and backboard and fell through, giving the Horned Frogs a 45-31 halftime lead over the Sooners.