Sooners Use Hot Shooting To Down Cowboys In Bedlam

The Oklahoma Sooners used some hot shooting from downtown to hold off arch-rival Oklahoma State 77-68 in an early-season Bedlam showdown on Saturday in Norman.

OU (11-3, 2-0) stormed out to a 7-0 start in the first two minutes, forcing Cowboys' coach Travis Ford to call a timeout with 18:17 remaining.

The Cowboys' (11-4, 1-2) slow start continued throughout most of the first half as leading-scorer Marcus Smart battled foul trouble. Smart picked up his third foul with 4:35 remaining in the half as OU's Romero Osby drew the contact and finished the 3-point-play to put the Sooners up 32-18.

OSU crept back into it behind three Phil Forte 3-pointers, but Osby's 10 first-half points led the Sooners to a 38-29 halftime lead.

OU extended that lead when Je'lon Hornbeak drained a 3-ball made it 45-31 with just less than 18 minutes left in the half. That's when the Cowboys rallied.

The Pokes put together 19-7 run to cut the lead to 52-50 around the 9:30 mark, turning a sleepy, double-digit game back into a close, heated rivalry. Despite the comeback, OSU never could quite get over the hump. 52-50 was as close as the Cowboys would get, as Oklahoma ramped up the intensity down the stretch.

OU's Steven Pledger answered that Cowboy run by draining one 3-pointer and knocking down all three free throws after being fouled on another 3-ball. Buddy Hield followed that sequence with a long-range bomb to put the Sooners back up 61-54 with 7:50 remaining.

Markell Brown's free throws at the 6:08 mark pulled Oklahoma State within 63-57, but OU's Amath M'Baye went on a 7-0 run all by himself to put the final nail in the coffin.

The Sooners were led by Osby's 17, while Hield and M'Baye added 15 each. Pledger added 11 points and nine boards as well.

Brown's 19 points, including 9-11 from the charity stripe, led the way for OSU. Le'Bryan Nash added 12 while Smart chipped in 10 in just 27 minutes. Forte also scored 12 off the OSU bench, but did not hit a shot in the second half.

The Sooners shot 8-13 from 3-point range (61.5 percent) and 19-21 (90.5 percent) from the free-throw line. OSU struggled in both areas, shooting just 28.6 percent from downtown and 72 percent from the line.

Next up for OU is a home date with Texas Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. OSU also hosts Tech in its next game; tip time is set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19.