University of Oklahoma Athletics
University of Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Offense Sputters in 72-65 Bedlam Road Loss
January 09, 2012 | Men's Basketball
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STILLWATER, Okla. -- Freshman Le'Bryan Nash tied his career high with 21 points, Keiton Page scored 18 and Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma 72-65 on Monday night in the Bedlam rivalry game.
The Cowboys (9-7, 2-1 Big 12) didn't trail after the first four minutes and hung on to pick up their fourth win in the last five games in the rivalry.
Carl Blair scored a season-high 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and Romero Osby had a career-best 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oklahoma (10-5, 0-3). The Sooners have lost their first three games in Big 12 play for the second straight season and only the third time since the conference was created.
Oklahoma trimmed a 17-point lead to five in the final minute, but Oklahoma State made all eight of its free throws in the last 43 seconds to finish it off.
Oklahoma State claimed the lead for good with an early 7-0 run that featured a dunk by Michael Cobbins and a 3-pointer by Nash. The Cowboys came up with an answer each time the Sooners started closing in down the stretch.
Blair scored eight straight points for Oklahoma to trim a 17-point lead to 52-43 on his 3-pointer from the left side with 10:19 left.
The Cowboys grabbed two offensive rebounds before Cobbins' left-handed dunk sparked a 10-2 response, with Markel Brown's reverse layup restoring the 17-point cushion at 62-45 with 7:22 remaining.
Blair started another comeback attempt by the Sooners with a 3-pointer, and Osby had back-to-back baskets to get the deficit down to 62-52 with a little over five minutes to play. But Oklahoma missed its next eight shots over the next four minutes to derail its chances.
Osby hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 34 seconds left to pull the Sooners within 66-61, but Cezar Guerrero and Brian Williams hit two free throws apiece on Oklahoma State's next two possessions to preserve the lead.
Williams finished with 13 points for the Cowboys, who limited the Sooners to a season-worst 32 percent shooting.
Andrew Fitzgerald had 12 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma but was limited to 25 minutes by foul trouble.
Neither team could get much going offensively at the beginning, combining to make only seven of 31 shots over the first 10 minutes. Oklahoma State strung together enough points for a 17-7 lead after Williams' two-handed jam.
The Sooners responded with their only consistent offensive stretch of the opening half, scoring the next nine points as coach Lon Kruger gambled by keeping Cameron Clark on the floor with two fouls. Clark hit back-to-back jumpers and set up Osby for a two-handed alley-oop dunk during the run but then picked up his third foul with 6:37 left before halftime and had to come out.
Page drove for a layup and nailed a pair of 3-pointers during a 14-2 run to close the first half, and Cobbins' layup in the lane made it a 35-22 Cowboys advantage at the break.
