Sooners Close Out Regular Season With Much Needed Win

News9.com

NORMAN, Oklahoma – If Saturday's game was a preview of the opening round of the Big 12 Championship, it should be a good one.

The Sooners held off Texas A&M 65-62 in Norman in the first of two games in a short span for the teams. They will meet again on Wednesday in the first round of the conference tournament.

The Aggies had several chances at the end to tie or win the game but OU's defense held on when it counted the most.

With 53 second remaining, A&M's Khris Middleton missed a jumper that left his team trailing 61-60.

The teams then traded layups and Oklahoma hit a pair of free throws to lead 65-62.

Once again, the Aggies had a chance to stay in it but Elston Turner missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sealing the win for OU.

But the biggest story of the night for the Sooners was Romero Osby, who had a career-high 24 points on an efficient 11-of-15 shooting.

He handled the scoring load as one of only two Sooners who reached double figures – Andrew Fitzgerald had 10.

But Cameron Clark had nine points and nine rebounds to go with two blocks and two steals.

David Lobeau had 15 points to lead the Aggies.

Oklahoma had desperately needed a win to gain a bit of momentum heading into the tournament, as it had lost eight of nine coming into Saturday's game.

The Sooners finished the regular season at 15-15 overall and 5-13 in Big 12 play, good for the No. 8 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Oklahoma and Texas A&M will meet up again on Wednesday for the first round, with tipoff coming at 6 p.m.