KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marcus Morris had 18 points, Tyrel Reed added 15 and No. 1 Kansas held off No. 9 Kansas State down the stretch for a 72-64 victory and its seventh Big 12 tournament title Saturday night.
Kansas (32-2) labored through a physical, defense-dominated first half and used a small spurt midway through the second to beat its in-state rivals for the third time this season. Coming off a sixth straight regular-season title, the Jayhawks will likely be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament when the brackets are announced Sunday.
Kansas State (26-7) had never beaten Kansas in six tries at the Big 12 tournament and had lost 40 of 42 meetings since 1994, but had hopes of winning its first conference championship since 1980. Instead, the Wildcats go into Selection Sunday still hoping for a high seed after setting a record for wins this season.
Denis Clemente had 17 points, Jamar Samuels 14 and Jacob Pullen added 13 for K-State.
Tournament MVP Sherron Collins had 12 points and seven assists for Kansas.
The two regular-season meetings were among the biggest in the rivalry’s 103-year history.
The opening act was in the Little Apple, where Kansas squeezed out a taut overtime victory that was among the best games of the college basketball season.
Part II was pre-billed as one of the greatest Sunflower Showdowns ever, the teams ranked in the top 5 against each other for the first time in 52 years. It was a bit of a flop, Kansas winning easily in Collins’ Allen Fieldhouse finale.
