Men's Basketball Overcomes Tough Kansas State Squad, 64-63 OT

Jan. 20, 2001

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - Yet another Oklahoma game came down to the closing seconds. This time, though, the Sooners pulled it out.

The 22nd-ranked Sooners scored off a steal with 10 seconds left in overtime to beat Kansas State 64-63 Saturday night, four days after losing by a point to Texas Tech on a last-second shot.

Hollis Price stole Quentin Buchanan's pass with 10 seconds to go in the extra period and drove for a layup to break the Sooners' two-game losing streak and three-game slide on the road.

"I'm still trying to figure out how we won that one," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "We were unlucky to get out of Texas with a loss. Everything that could go wrong did in Lubbock. If Kansas State makes their free throws, they win tonight. It's as simple as that."

Kansas State, coming off an 80-59 upset over No. 20 Missouri on Tuesday, hurt itself by going 6-of-14 from the line in overtime.

And Larry Reid, shooting 73 percent at the line, missed two free throws in the last 30 seconds of regulation.

"I am just thinking that I am going to knock them down and unfortunately it didn't happen that way," Reid said. "Going to the line I think everybody thinks they are going to knock them down and they are going to have an easy two points. It breaks your heart."

Oklahoma's Aaron McGhee intentionally fouled Matt Siebrandt with 13 seconds left in overtime, but Siebrandt missed both free throws. Then came Price's key play, and Travis Reynolds missed a basket that would have won the game for Kansas State (8-8, 2-3 Big 12).

"We fight all the way and then literally give them the layup at the end," Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge said. "That's what's really disappointing. I feel sorry for these kids."

Price, who had 13 points, scored the last six points in overtime. J.R. Raymond led the Sooners (13-4, 2-3) with 25 points.

The Sooners trailed by as many as 13 points and were down by nine at halftime. But that deficit was one point with 5:15 to go after Raymond hit a 3-pointer and a three-point play

"Welcome back, J.R.," Sampson said. "We lose to Kansas by eight and he has no points. He and Hollis really showed great effort tonight. Our kids showed great poise and fought all the way."

Johnnie Gilbert gave the Sooners their first lead of the night at 52-51 with 3:46 to go, before Reynolds scored four straight points to give Kansas State a lead it couldn't hold.

"We just had to get a road win just so we could get our confidence back," Price said. "Anybody can win at home. We were a little anxious after the first half. We just showed that we could play together in the end. This was a tough win."

Reynolds scored 12 of Kansas State's 14 points in the last nine minutes of regulation. He finished with 16 points, as did Reid.

The Wildcats held Oklahoma to 7-of-26 shooting and only 23 points in the first half. The Sooners made just two field goals in the first 10 minutes.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Basketball Overcomes Tough Kansas State Squad, 64-63 OT

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