Absolute Bedlam: OSU Tops OU In Overtime

Saturday was Bedlam personified.

No. 17 Oklahoma State charged out to an early lead and then put together a wild comeback to take down rival Oklahoma 84-79 in front of a raucous gathering at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

This was one of the more anticipated Bedlam contests in recent years and it lived up to its billing and then some.

OSU, fueled by its sell-out home crowd, burst out of the gates with a 19-8 lead and looked poised to blow the Sooners out of the gym. But OU answered emphatically, ending the first half on a 27-8 run to take an eight-point lead into the locker rooms.

The Cowboys, led by stellar performances from Marcus Smart and Le'Bryan Nash, fought back to force overtime, where they had the momentum needed to outlast the Sooners and claim their Big 12-best seventh consecutive victory.

Smart led the Cowboys with 28 points, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 11-of-14 from the foul line. He also added seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in another well-rounded game for the Pokes' standout freshman.

Nash had arguably his best game of the season, giving OSU a huge boost with 26 points, 23 of which came after half time. Markel Brown added 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Freshman guard Phil Forte chipped in 10 points off the bench.

The Sooners had a trio of players tied for the team lead with 18 points each. Romero Osby and Steven Pledger were two of them but the most surprising was reserve guard Sam Grooms. Grooms had a career-high 18 on 9-of-11 shooting in 35 minutes off the bench.

Je'lon Hornbeak added 10 points on 3-of-6 from behind the arc.

The Sooners outshot the Cowboys 47.5 percent to 43.5 but OSU helped make up the difference by scoring nine more points at the free-throw line. OU outrebounded the Pokes 37-34, while OSU had a 7-2 advantage in steals.

For all the enthusiasm pumping through the arena, both teams managed to play relatively clean games with 13 combined turnover, eight for OU and five for OSU, respectively.

With the victory, OSU was able to split the season series with the Sooners and beat its Bedlam rival for a fourth-consecutive time in Stillwater. OSU improved to 19-5 and stays in first place in the Big 12 with a 9-3 conference mark.

The Sooners fell to 16-8 and 7-5 in Big 12 competition, two games out of first place but still very much in the mix.