Kansas Jayhawks claim Big 12 Tournament championship with win over West Virginia

Big 12 regular-season champion Kansas picked up overwhelming support as a possible No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament by downing West Virginia 81-70 in the conference final at the Sprint Center.

Malik Newman scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Devonté Graham tallied 18 points with a career-high 13 assists. Silvio De Sousa scored 16 points on 8-of-8 shooting with 10 rebounds and Svi Mykhailiuk hit four three-pointers and had 16 points as the Jayhawks (27-7), who hit 15 of 27 threes, overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to defeat the Mountaineers (24-10) for the third time this season.

West Virginia, which lost to KU in the league-tourney title game in 2016 in KC and Iowa State in the title game last year, entered the day projected to be a No. 4 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. KU, meanwhile, started the day as the Midwest’s No. 1 seed as predicted by both Lunardi and CBSsports.com’s Jerry Palm.

The tourney bracket will be revealed on Sunday.

Newman who hit 6 of 8 threes (6 of 11 shots total) was named the tourney’s most outstanding player. He became KU’s all-time leading scorer in a single Big 12 tourney for KU. Newman, who scored 30 against Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals and 22 against Kansas State in the semis, totaled 72 points in the three games. Paul Pierce, the old record holder, scored 67 in three postseason tourney games for KU in 1998.

Graham also made the all-tourney team for KU.

Lagerald Vick had 10 points and five rebounds for KU. Daxter Miles scored 25 points, Sagaba Konate 18 and Jevon Carter 17 for the Mountaineers.

KU hit 56.4 percent of its shots to WVU’s 40 percent. WVU hit 8 of 24 threes.

De Sousa had 10 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes for the Jayhawks, who trailed by one (34-33) at halftime. Newman and Mykhailiuk had nine points apiece, while Graham had six assists but just two points on 1-of-6 shooting while playing all 20 minutes.

The game was tied 66-66 with 6:41 left when KU went on a 7-0 run to grab a 73-66 advantage at 3:51. De Sousa opened the run with an inside bucket, while Graham had a bucket then a three to open the seven-point margin at 3:49.

The Mountaineers had used six straight points from Miles to grab a 51-43 lead at 15:11.

KU, however, which had overcome deficits of 14, 16 and 12 points to win its previous three meetings with the Mountaineers, immediately responded with a 10-0 run to go up 53-51. Vick had two points, Mykhailiuk two and Graham a pair of threes to close the surge.

However, the Mountaineers immediately regained control, leading 56-53 at the 12-minute mark and 63-56 at 9:35.

But KU went on a 10-0 run to grab a 66-63 lead at 6:59. Vick hit a three, followed by a bucket by De Sousa, a bucket by Graham and a three by Newman.

Konate, who had words with De Sousa after the latter dunked on KU’s final possession of the first half, scored 10 points with three boards in the first half. Carter had 10 points and four assists. KU hit 6 of 14 threes in the initial half to WVU’s 4 of 10.

KU used a 10-2 run to turn a 12-10 deficit into a 20-14 lead at the 10:21 mark. De Sousa had four points in that run, including a bucket off a lob from Newman. Mykhailiuk contributed two threes.

The Mountaineers countered with a 12-1 run to grab a 26-21 advantage at 6:26. Konate had six points and Teddy Allen four in that spurt. KU overall hit 43.3 percent from the floor while committing seven first-half turnovers. The Mountaineers hit 39.4 percent and also had seven turnovers.

Down 29-24 at 4:51, KU went on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 31 with 1:11 left. De Sousa had the first four points of that run, while Newman contributed a three. Carter hit a three with 48.7 seconds left until halftime, and De Sousa concluded the scoring on a dunk off an assist from Graham. WVU led by one at halftime.

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