Oklahoma City, OK (My Sportsbook) - The series called Bedlam has turned the Big 12 Tournament into exactly that, as James Anderson's two free throws with 2.3 seconds to play capped the scoring in Oklahoma State's wild and wacky 71-70 victory over arch-rival No.6 Oklahoma in the conference quarterfinals at the Ford Center.
The conference quarterfinals began with two of the nation's best teams on what appeared to be a collision course for a meeting in the championship game. Three games into Thursday's action, both Kansas and Oklahoma will spend the rest of the weekend away from Oklahoma City. The Jayhawks fell to ninth-seeded Baylor earlier on Thursday.
The Cowboys (22-10), who lost both regular-season meetings with the Sooners, played with confidence from the outset against a club that seemed to look nothing like the unit that began the season with a 25-1 mark and the nation's top ranking.
Since then, All-American candidate Blake Griffin has been sidelined for a period of time and the Sooners (27-5) have now lost four of six entering the NCAA Tournament.
Byron Eaton slashed his way to the basket against multiple defenses, scoring 16 points with seven assists. The final of his six field goals with 1:01 left gave the Cowboys a 68-66 edge. Tony Crocker's two free throws squared the contest with 47.3 seconds left, before Eaton again entered the lane at will and drew a foul. He made the first but misfired off the back rim on the second for a one-point edge.
Crocker was at it again off a broken play, finishing off the glass for a 70-69 lead with 14.2 ticks to go. Oklahoma State decided against the timeout and instead let Eaton create off the dribble, leading to a scrum in the lane and a whistle on Anderson's putback attempt with 2.3 seconds left.
The 84 percent foul shooter calmly sank both for the 71-70 game. However, that wasn't the end of the nip-and-tuck affair.
Taylor Griffin's three-quarter-court baseball heave to Blake Griffin allowed the star forward to turn and fire a three-pointer that went off the side of the backboard. Griffin's only three-point attempt capped a 17-point, 19- rebound performance.
Willie Warren flew in from the strong side, but his lunging follow didn't find the bottom of the net, as the Cowboys slapped the basketball out toward midcourt.
How long did the final sequence last? It lasted at least 2.3 seconds according to officials, as the clock never started on Blake Griffin's catch, and only started when Warren put his hands on the follow-up.
The whistle finally blew with 0.8 ticks to play, but after a conference in front of monitors, the officials determined the contest had come to an end.
Keiton Page and Terrel Harris joined Eaton in Oklahoma State's three-guard attack, scoring 15 and 13 points respectively. Obi Muonelo added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Anderson's two free throws at the end pushed him into double digits with 11 points. The Cowboys will get the Missouri-Texas Tech winner in the semifinals.
Austin Johnson and Warren each scored 13 points for the Sooners in defeat.
The Sooners had an early 11-6 edge that quickly turned into a 19-18 deficit after the first of Harris' three treys. Blake Griffin's layup capped an 8-0 spurt moments later for a 27-21 advantage -- Oklahoma's largest edge of the contest.
Oklahoma led 34-33 after 20 minutes of game action, but the Cowboys rolled to a 49-41 lead on the heels off a 13-1 surge capped by Eaton's lay-in. Juan Patillo's jam nearing the six-minute mark brought the Sooners back even, 62-62, and the game remained tight from that point forward.
Game Notes
The Cowboys shot 41.4 percent from the floor, but made nine three-pointers to help the cause...The Sooners made 48.8 percent of their shots, yet finished just 3-of-19 from beyond the arc and committed 19 turnovers that turned into 24 Cowboys points...The Cowboys, already in position for an at-large berth, last won the league's automatic bid in 2005.
