1997 Big 12 men's basketball tournament

1997 Big 12 men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	12
Site	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Kansas (1st title)
Winning coach	Roy Williams (1st title)
MVP	Paul Pierce (Kansas)
Attendance	114,420 (overall) 19,310 (championship)
Top scorer	Corey Brewer (Oklahoma) (73 points)
Television	CBS
Big 12 men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Big 12 men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	1		.938			34	–	2		.944
No. 24 Colorado	11	–	5		.688			22	–	10		.688
Texas	10	–	6		.625			18	–	12		.600
No. 18 Iowa State	10	–	6		.625			22	–	9		.710
Texas Tech	10	–	6		.625			19	–	9		.679
Oklahoma	9	–	7		.563			19	–	11		.633
Nebraska	7	–	9		.438			18	–	15		.545
Oklahoma State	7	–	9		.438			17	–	15		.531
Baylor	6	–	10		.375			18	–	12		.600
Missouri	5	–	11		.313			16	–	17		.485
Texas A&M	3	–	13		.188			9	–	18		.333
Kansas State	3	–	13		.188			10	–	17		.370
† 1997 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1997 Big 12 men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big 12 Conference. It was played from March 6 to 9 in Kansas City, Missouri at Kemper Arena. Kansas won the tournament for the 1st time and received the conference's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament.

Seeding

The tournament consisted of a 12 team single-elimination tournament with the top 4 seeds receiving a bye.

1997 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament seeds
Seed	School	Conf.	Over.	Tiebreaker
1	Kansas ‡#	15–1	34–2
2	Texas #	10–6	18–12
3	Colorado #	11–5	22–10
4	Iowa State #	10–6	22–9	1–0 vs. Texas Tech
5	Texas Tech	10–6	19–9	0–1 vs. Iowa State
6	Oklahoma	9–7	19–11
7	Nebraska	7–9	18–15	1–0 vs. Oklahoma State
8	Oklahoma State	7–9	17–15	0–1 vs. Nebraska
9	Baylor	6–10	18–12
10	Missouri	5–11	16–17
11	Texas A&M	3–13	9–18	1–0 vs. Kansas State
12	Kansas State	3–13	10–17	0–1 vs. Texas A&M
‡ – Big 12 Conference regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. # – Received a single-bye in the conference tournament. Overall records include all games played in the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Schedule

Session	Game	Time	Matchup	Television	Attendance
First Round – Thursday, March 6
1	1	12:00 PM	#8 Oklahoma State 80 vs #9 Baylor 66	Creative Sports	19,100
	2	2:20 PM	#5 Texas Tech 73 vs #12 Kansas State 57
2	3	6:00 PM	#10 Missouri 78 vs #7 Nebraska 72		18,800
	4	8:20 PM	#6 Oklahoma 67 vs #11 Texas A&M 58
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 7
3	5	12:00 PM	#1 Kansas 74 vs #8 Oklahoma State 59	Creative Sports	18,800
	6	2:20 PM	#4 Iowa State 72 vs #5 Texas Tech 70
4	7	6:00 PM	#10 Missouri 80 vs #2 Texas 75		19,100
	8	8:20 PM	#6 Oklahoma 55 vs #3 Colorado 41
Semifinals – Saturday, March 8
5	9	1:00 PM	#1 Kansas 72 vs #4 Iowa State 48	Creative Sports	19,310
	10	3:20 PM	#10 Missouri 89 vs #6 Oklahoma 80
Final – Sunday, March 9
6	11	12:00 PM	#1 Kansas 87 vs #10 Missouri 60	CBS	19,310
Game times in CT. #-Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket

	First round Thursday, March 6					Quarterfinals Friday, March 7					Semifinals Saturday, March 8					Championship Sunday, March 9
	8	Oklahoma State	80
	9	Baylor	66
						1	No. 1 Kansas	74
						8	Oklahoma St.	59
											1	No. 1 Kansas	72
											4	No. 16 Iowa State	48
						4	No. 16 Iowa St	72
						5	Texas Tech	70
	5	Texas Tech	73
	12	Kansas State	57
																1	No. 1 Kansas	87
																10	Missouri	60
	10	Missouri	78
	7	Nebraska	72
						10	Missouri	80
						2	Texas	75
											10	Missouri	89
											6	Oklahoma	80
						6	Oklahoma	55
						3	No. 18 Colorado	41
	6	Oklahoma	67
	11	Texas A&M	58

All-Tournament Team

Most Outstanding Player – Paul Pierce, Kansas

Player	Team	Position	Class
Paul Pierce	Kansas	So.	F
Raef LaFrentz	Kansas	Jr.	F
Jacque Vaughn	Kansas	Sr.	G
Jason Sutherland	Missouri	Sr.	G
Corey Brewer	Oklahoma	Jr.	G

See also

• 1997 Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament
• 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings