Kansas Outlasts Oklahoma 109-106 in Battle of Number 1’s

I mentioned in the preview that Kansas did a fantastic job on Buddy Hield a year ago and if they did that again, Kansas would win no problem. “We’ve been good at home the last few years and our crowds have helped give us an advantage, and hopefully that continues”.

Lost in the Hield social media buzz were so numerous great things Kansas had going on. “We just fell short”.

Graham had 22 points and junior guard Wayne Selden added 21 points for Kansas.

“You just had to go out there and grind it out and make plays”, Hield said. Obviously, transition defense has got to get better.

It was a fitting conclusion for the first 1 vs. 2 matchup in two years, and the first pitting teams from the same conference since Ohio State and Michigan State of the Big Ten met on February 25, 2007. Barring injury, Hield figures to move up quite a bit by the time his Sooners career ends after this season.

Kansas took the lead and iced the game with four clutch free throws down the stretch – first from Devonte’ Graham, then from Frank Mason III. There’s always, it would appear, someone who is better than him at Kansas but he showed in this game why he is arguably the most underrated player in the country. After Lucas tipped in a shot with 3:20 left to tie the game up, the two teams combined to brick their final eight shots. Because of course Selden had an answer to go back up one, but Woodard answered back with a huge three to go backup by two with under a minute left.

After forcing two turnovers with less than 30 seconds to go in the third overtime, Kansas turned a 1-point deficit into a 3-point lead with 8.6 seconds left. Jaysean Paige scored seven of his 20 points in the late game-clinching run for foul-plagued No. 17 West Virginia, which won its sixth consecutive game with a 95-87 victory over TCU in Fort Worth. Cox cable customers have a second chance. The Sooners, which haven’t won on the Jayhawks’ floor since 1993, closed the first half with an 18-3 run to take a 44-40 edge.

After trading baskets, the Sooners closed the half with an 18-3 charge. Graham registered 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting at the free throw line, including the go-ahead points for the Jayhawks.

“I’m proud of our guys”, Kansas coach Bill Self said. They lifted it as high as 10 early in the second half.

Self said, “both teams were exhausted”. I also think he had a rough game defensively. “It was terrific, a grind both ways”. The last came in the 1957 NCAA Tournament title game when North Carolina defeated Kansas with Wilt Chamberlain as the Jayhawks’ starting center.

Hunter Mickelson played just 9 minutes, had 2 points, and 3 rebounds. Woodard fouled out in the final seconds of the third overtime…. I know he missed that free throw at the end of regulation, but he finished the night with 10 points, 14 boards, six blocks and a pair of assists in 39 minutes.

Perrantes hit 6 three-pointers in the second half and led Virginia with 22 points, but LeDay swatted his driving layup in the final seconds, preserving Virginia Tech’s slim margin.

Monday marked the first time in Big 12 history that conference squads ranked 1 and 2 played each other.