“You just had to go out there and grind it out and make plays”, Hield said.
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“Maybe they got a little exhausted, but that’s a great team over there”, said Kansas guard Frank Mason, who made two game-changing steals in the final 21 seconds.
More importantly, this felt like a Final Four game and nobody who watched this game would be surprised to see rematches in the Big 12 championship game and the NCAA Tournament. Cal had won the previous 17 games between the two teams. Fortunately for college basketball fans, but unfortunately for the Sooners, Khadeem Lattin (a 52% free-throw shooter) missed a potential game-winning free throw (there were three seconds left). But Kansas gave away the advantage when Graham fouled Woodard for two free throws, which he hit both of.
This is the first time any conference has had the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in any poll since KU was No. 1 and Texas No. 2 in the coaches poll in 2010-11.
The players were gassed at the end but still smiling, and nobody seemed to beam so brightly as Oklahoma star Buddy Hield, despite being on the losing side. And Hield’s five turnovers, including the one in the final 10 seconds of the third overtime, were not ideal.
Kansas City gathered the highest-rated market for the Kansas-Oklahoma matchup, bringing in a 16.8 overnight rating, followed by Oklahoma City (10.7); Tulsa (8.6); Louisville (5.6); Raleigh-Durham (4.4); Las Vegas (3.9); Albuquerque (3.8); Greensboro (3.4); Dallas-Fort Worth (2.8) and Greenville (2.5).
After a seesaw opening five minutes, Kansas took the lead and extended it to eight midway through the half, before Oklahoma stormed back to go on top 44-40 leading into the half.
Hield scored a career-high 46 points (13 field goals on just 23 shots), and added eight rebounds and seven assists for good measure.
Oklahoma (12-1) had plenty of chances to close this game out.
When it came down to a free throw, Kansas didn’t miss.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes led Florida State with a season-high 30 points while Dwayne Bacon added 18 and Malik Beasley 15.
Kansas improves to 2-0 in the Big 12, having beaten Baylor and OU at Allen Fieldhouse, while OU falls to 1-1.
Game Preview: Oklahoma is one of the most experienced teams in the country. He fouled out in the third overtime period, but without Woodard, OU likely doesn’t have a chance against Kansas with Isaiah Cousins struggling to find his shot Monday and Ryan Spangler being less of a physical presence with the minor injury he suffered against the Cyclones Saturday. They are led by an enviable three-headed guard rotation of Mason III, Selden Jr. and Graham, and senior forward Perry Ellis is a sleeper player of the year candidate. His perimeter performance was part of a 27-for-55 joint three-point effort from both teams. Cavaliers guard London Perrantes drove to the basket but no foul was called in the closing seconds.
Bill Self has called his backcourt the biggest difference-makers on this team and the smallest players showed just how big they are in this one. Iowa State, 11-2, dropped two spots to No. 13 after opening Big 12 play with a road loss at Oklahoma.
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Kansas had few answers for Hield, but for teams are going to have any answers for him.
