Field Level Media
Mar 7, 2018
Oklahoma State's hopes for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament remain alive.
Oklahoma probably isn't done yet, but the Sooners will do plenty of sweating over the next four days.
The Cowboys dispatched their Bedlam rivals 71-60 on Wednesday to open the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center.
Cameron McGriff led the Cowboys with 18 points, Jeffrey Carroll added 13 and Kendall Smith 11 before fouling out late. Carroll added 13 rebounds as Oklahoma State outrebounded the Sooners 53-27.
Trae Young led the Sooners with 22 points, but missed five of his last six shots as Oklahoma fell to 18-13 on the season.
Oklahoma State (19-13) advances to play top-seeded Kansas in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Cowboys beat the Jayhawks in both of their regular-season meetings, including last weekend's 82-64 win to wrap up the regular season.
The Cowboys jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first half thanks to seven 3-pointers and a dominant performance on the glass.
Oklahoma State outrebounded the Sooners 31-15 in the first half, including 11-2 on the offensive side. The Cowboys outscored Oklahoma 12-0 on second-chance points to take a 39-28 lead into the break.
Oklahoma State stretched that lead to 16 in the first five minutes of the second half before the Sooners made their run.
Oklahoma reeled off a 14-2 stretch over the next five-plus minutes, thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Young and one each from Kameron McGusty and Brady Manek.
The Sooners had a chance to cut the lead even further with less than nine minutes remaining after Young's steal got the Sooners out and running, but Mitchell Solomon disrupted Young's lob to Manek, leading to a Carroll layup on the other end to stretch the Cowboys' lead back out a bit and stem the tide.
Oklahoma State led by five with five minutes remaining before the Sooners went cold from the field.
The Sooners missed six consecutive shots, while the Cowboys started taking advantage on the other end with back-to-back layups to stretch the lead back to 11 with three minutes left and keep their faint tournament hopes alive.
--Field Level Media