ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Oklahoma State faces Baylor in the Big 12 championship game this weekend at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in suburban Dallas. The fifth-ranked Cowboys need a win to keep their hopes alive for a College Football Playoff berth. Oklahoma State beat the ninth-ranked Bears 24-14 when they played two months ago. Both teams have strong running games and powerful defenses. There wasn't a Big 12 title game when Oklahoma State won its only league title in 2011. Baylor is back in the title game for the second time in three seasons.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Big 12 coaches have picked rusher leader Breece Hall from Iowa State as the league's top offensive player of the year for the second year in a row. Hall has rushed for 1,472 yards and 20 TDs. The junior has run for a touchdown in his last 24 games. That is an FBS-record streak. Baylor senior Jalen Pitre was named the top defender, and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy was chosen by his peers as coach of the year.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CeeDee Lamb had 122 yards from scrimmage and Tony Pollard provided a 58-yard touchdown run as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Saints, 27-17 in New Orleans. Dak Prescott passed for 238 yards and a score as the 8-4 Cowboys won without coach Mike McCarthy and five assistants because of positive COVID-19 tests. Dallas intercepted Saints quarterback Taysom Hill three times in the final 6:32 of the game, including defensive tackle Carlos Watkins’ pick-6 on a screen pass that made it 27-10 with 2:52 left.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez has announced he is putting his name into the transfer portal. The three-time captain started 38 games over the past four seasons with the Cornhuskers and was the first major addition to the program following coach Scott Frost's hiring. Martinez had his best season in 2021, completing 61.8 percent of his throws for 2,863 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Damion Baugh and Mike Miles scored 13 points apiece and TCU fought off Oral Roberts for a 71-63 win. The Horned Frogs led 39-29 at halftime before Max Abmas, Kareem Thompson and DeShang Weaver buried 3-pointers — Abmas made 3 — and the Golden Eagles closed within 51-50 with 11:34 remaining. Thompson followed an Abmas 3 with a layup and Oral Roberts took its first and only lead at 52-51 with 10:43 left. ORU’s lead lasted 16 seconds as Emanuel Miller followed with a jumper for the Horned Frogs. Abmas scored 20 for the Golden Eagles.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Alexis Morris scored a career-high 25 points with five 3-pointers and LSU defeated No. 14 Iowa State 69-60 in the SEC/Big 12 Showdown. It was LSU’s first win over a ranked team in the Kim Mulkey era. Morris’ five 3s also were a career high and Khayla Pointer scored 20 for LSU, which won its fifth straight game under the former Baylor coach. Ashley Joens scored 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers, for the Cyclones, who were off to their best start since winning 14-straight to open the 2013-14 season. Emily Ryan scored 13 points and Lexi Donarski 10.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — New graduation numbers continue to show college athletes are graduating at higher rates than overall students. The NCAA's annual Graduation Success Rate shows 89% of athletes who enrolled between 2011-12 and 2014-15 earned diplomas compared with 68% in the federal rate of all students. The single-year calculation of 90% matched last year's record high. The federal numbers do not include students who earn diplomas at a different school than the one where they first enrolled.
THURSDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Dallas 27 New Orleans 17
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Washington at (11)Arizona 8:30 p.m. (Postponed)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Chicago 119 New York 115
Final Toronto 97 Milwaukee 93
Final Memphis 152 Oklahoma City 79
Final Phoenix 114 Detroit 103
Final San Antonio 114 Portland 83
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Florida 7 Buffalo 4
Final Tampa Bay 4 St. Louis 2
Final Colorado 4 Montreal 1
Final Ottawa 3 Carolina 2
Final SO Chicago 4 Washington 3
Final OT San Jose 2 N-Y Islanders 1
Final Minnesota 5 New Jersey 2
Final Boston 2 Nashville 0
Final Dallas 3 Columbus 2
Final Calgary 3 Los Angeles 2