KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Anthony Roy scored 24 points, Christian Coleman had 17 points and 14 rebounds and 14th-seeded Oklahoma State held off 11th-seeded Colorado 92-83 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament on Tuesday night.
Jaylen Curry added 15 points for the Cowboys (19-13), who may need to keep winning to advance to next week’s NCAA Tournament. Their next chance is Wednesday night against sixth-seeded TCU for a spot in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
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Bangot Dak had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Colorado (17-15), whose own NCAA hopes are almost certainly dashed. Barrington Huggs had 18 points and nine assists, Isaiah Johnson had 14 points and Ian Inman had 11 points.
When the two teams met in Boulder earlier this season, Colorado nearly dominated the game against Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys essentially turned that around in the Big 12 Championship.
At halftime, the Buffaloes scored two goals in the last minute to tie the score to 41-40, and then continued to fight back throughout the second half. But every time Elijah Malone took a dominant shot, or Johnson scored on the run for the Bulls, Roy or Curry responded with a timely shot for Oklahoma State.
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The game remained stalemate until with about 6 minutes left in the game, Victorius Miller made 5 consecutive free throws. That turned a 68-62 lead into a 73-62 advantage and kept Oklahoma State away from Buffalo the rest of the way.
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Colorado: Buffalo waits to find out where they will play in the playoffs.
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys will face sixth-seeded TCU in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. They lost both regular season games to TCU, including a thrilling 95-92 loss in overtime.
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