Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (24) celebrates his team's win over Iowa State during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016. I say all that to say this: With the talent Lon Kruger has in his back court this season - Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard flanking Hield - Oklahoma can play four around one and not have to worry about having a low-post scorer all that much.
With the game tied at 77 in the final seconds, Kansas missed a shot and OU's Khadeem Lattin was fouled on the rebound with just two seconds left.
The solace came that he was a star in one of greatest basketball games anyone as ever seen.
By the time the buzzer sounded, No. 1 Kansas (AP poll) and No. 1 Oklahoma (Coaches Poll) had played 55 minutes and scored 215 points.
The first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the Big 12 since the Sooners and Jayhawks met 26 years ago in the conference tournament exceeded expectations. Most of it with Kansas point guard Frank Mason III glued to his torso. Each played a huge part in keeping us in the game beyond scoring the basketball showing their maturity from last season where Ellis was the only of the three who consistently could make that type of impact. The Jayhawks were 11 of 22 from beyond the arc....
Arizona 57, Cal 52: Kristine Anigwe had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, and Courtney Range scored 18 points, but they couldn't keep the No. 21 Bears (9-4, 0-2 Pac-12) from losing to the Wildcats (10-4, 1-1) in Tucson. Buddy Hield delivers 46-point performance for the ages. It's certainly not as simple as saying if Kansas had attempted 5 or 10 more threes they would have won, but 5-10 more threes vs a 3-man weave into a 1 on 1 drive is a pretty easy decision to me. But here's a look at the ones that won the game in the third OT. The Sooners rolled into Kansas for ESPN's first "Big Monday" game of the season undefeated, setting up a showdown between the Nos.
Perry Ellis led KU with 27 points and 13 rebounds in 53 minutes for his first double-double of the season after reaching nine rebounds with double-figure points in three of the previous five games. Kansas is putting up 91.1 points per game at home, while Oklahoma is shooting just 44.4 percent from the field on the road. The Jayhawks wisely started to go to him nearly exclusively in the second half and overtime and he delivered, finishing with 27 points and 13 rebounds. "I think there's no doubt who the No. 1 team in the nation is". He hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left to give Kansas the lead for good. West Virginia is ranked 17th after a 12-1 start. Ryan Spangler finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Big 12 powers Kansas and Oklahoma entered Monday night's game occupying the top two spots in the current AP Top 25.
Frank Mason had a game to forget offensively, going 4-15 on twos and 1-5 from three.
The Big Eight, the forerunner of the Big 12 which has Kansas and Oklahoma on Monday night, had two a month apart in 1990 when it was Oklahoma-Kansas and Missouri-Kansas.
