OSU Stops Sooners in Stillwater, 79-67

STILLWATER, Okla. -- JamesOn Curry just got a feel for the Bedlam rivalry the first time Oklahoma State played Oklahoma this season. His second time around, he played a starring role.

Curry and Joey Graham each scored 22 points and the 10th-ranked Cowboys beat No. 16 Oklahoma 79-67 to earn a split in the rivalry series Monday night.

Ivan McFarlin added 13 points and 10 rebounds and John Lucas III scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half for the Cowboys (18-4, 7-2 Big 12), who won their 27th straight home game.

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Behind Curry's sharpshooting and enthusiastic play, Oklahoma State pulled away in the second half.

"We need one person to step up in some sort of way to be a leader, to get everyone going," Curry said.

Curry had only two points and four fouls in 17 minutes in the first Bedlam game, then made his first career start in the Cowboys' next contest. In his four starts, he's averaging 16.5 points. His 22 points tied a career high.

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"He brings defense and he brings scoring," Graham said. "That's one thing that (NBA draft pick) Tony Allen did for us last year. He's definitely doing that for us. He's making a lot of people come to him and he'll dish it, or he can take it to the basket and score it.

"We were missing that, but I think we found the missing link with JamesOn."

The 6-foot-3 freshman sparked an 11-2 run with an offensive rebound putback and a long jumper from just inside the 3-point line. Lucas followed with a fast-break layup, Graham hit a baseline jumper and Lucas capped it with a 3-pointer from the right wing to push the lead to 48-39 with 15 minutes left.

Another 3-pointer by Curry stretched it to 53-43, and after an offensive foul call against Oklahoma's Taj Gray, Curry walked toward the student section pointing to his ear for the already noisy crowd in a sold-out Gallagher-Iba Arena to raise the volume even more.

"I'd say I was intense," Curry said. "If you bring intensity, one person can be that spark and get the whole team going."

Back-to-back baskets by Kevin Bookout and Johnnie Gilbert brought Oklahoma (17-5, 6-3) within 60-56, but the Cowboys had an answer. Lucas hit a 3-pointer off an inbounds play and Stephen Graham got the crowd back involved with a two-handed jam of his brother Joey's alley-oop pass.

Joey Graham added a right-hander in the lane, and he pushed the lead to 73-59 with just under 3 minutes left by driving the baseline for a layup. After that, the Cowboys were able to drain the clock as the Sooners didn't try to foul.

McFarlin added an exclamation point to the Cowboys' win with a two-handed jam with 1.5 seconds left.

Bookout had 15 points and 10 rebounds after two sub-par performances, and Gray added 14 points for Oklahoma, which has lost three of four after a 10-game winning streak. Lawrence McKenzie -- who didn't score in the first Bedlam game -- had 13 points, and Terrell Everett scored 12.

The Sooners made only 5 of 12 free throws and committed 15 turnovers.

"Don't turn it over and make your free throws, and you're going to have a chance to win the game," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "I felt like if we had done a better job in those two areas, we would have had a chance to win the game."

Curry's 3-pointer from the left wing gave Oklahoma State a 27-20 lead 12 minutes in, but Oklahoma rallied back to tie it at 33 on David Godbold's jumper from the left elbow with less than a minute to go before halftime.

McFarlin put Oklahoma State ahead 35-33 at halftime with a basket underneath 30 seconds before intermission.