March 10, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; The Arizona State Sun Devils guard Anthony Johnson (2) during the first half against the Baylor Bears at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Image Anthony “Pig” Johnson scored 19 points off the bench as 12th-seeded Arizona State defeated 13th-seeded Baylor 83-79 in a first-round game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Sun Devils play No. 5 seed Iowa State (No. 7 in the nation) in a second-round game Wednesday afternoon.
Arizona State University (17-15) built a 13-point lead and laid the foundation for a first-half victory, even though leading scorer Maurice Odem committed two early fouls 12 minutes before halftime and recorded zero points.
With the Sun Devils trailing by nine points at halftime, Grbovic and Johnson, who combined for 22 points in the first half, went into violation.
Arizona State extended its lead to as many as 15 points just 2 1/2 minutes into the second half before Baylor responded to make it 67-64 with 5:47 to play. The Sun Devils rallied back to an 8-0 run on Meeusen’s free throw with 3:04 left and held on for the win.
Andrija Grbovic added 14 points for Arizona State, Santiago Trouet had 13 points and nine rebounds, Meeusen had 12 points and Massamba Diop had 11.
Cameron Carr led Baylor (16-16) with 25 points and seven rebounds. Isaac Williams added 15 points, Tounde Yessoufou had 14 points and Dan Skillings Jr. and Caden Powel each had 10 points for the Bears.
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early lead, going on a 13-3 run on a layup by Trevor Best and taking a 21-10 advantage with 9:46 left in the first half after a steal by Bryce Ford.
Arizona State led by 13 points with 7:24 left in the first half before the Bears made progress. Success in the paint was key as Yessoufou hit two straight layups before Powell dunked and Williams capitalized on a putback tip-in, the latter allowing Baylor to cut the deficit to 29-25 with 5:41 left.
Carr poured in two 3-pointers around a jumper from beyond the arc by Meeusen to help Baylor pull within 44-35 at the break. Carr led all scorers with 15 points in the first half. The Sun Devils shot 61.3% from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play and 57.4% for the game overall.
Baylor had a field goal percentage of 42.6%.
–Field level media
