Oklahoma Tops Kansas State in Manhattan for First Time Since 2012

Oklahoma rode a first half shooting barrage from Umoja Gibson to its third straight victory on Saturday afternoon.

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Sooners marched into Manhattan and knocked off the Kansas State Wildcats, closing the regular season out with a 78-71 win at Bramlage Coliseum.

With the victory, OU finished the regular season with an overall record of 17-14, including a 7-11 record in Big 12 play which clinched the 7-seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament. As a result of the loss, the Wildcats (14-16, 6-12) fell down to the 8-seed, and they’ll have to square off against West Virginia in the lone game on Wednesday night in Kansas City.

"It was huge," OU head coach Porter Moser said of the victory during his postgame Zoom press conference. "... I'm just proud of them. I'm proud of the resiliency of this group.

"... I look back on the Kansas State game the first time we played them to now, man are we better in so many areas. That's a method to all this madness that you want to be doing ... you are constantly teaching and want to be playing your best basketball in February and March. And we are."

Needing to bank a third straight victory to keep any slim hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid alive, Gibson come out of the locker room on fire.

The Waco native drained his first four field goal attempts, pouring in 20 first half points to power the OU offense.

"He got free," Moser said of Gibson. "... He made some huge shots for us."

Eight first half turnovers from the Sooners kept Kansas State in the game, despite foul trouble keeping the Wildcats’ leading scorer in Nijel Pack on the bench for 17 of the opening 20 minutes. OU only took a 38-37 lead into halftime, and Oklahoma had to withstand a strong start to the second half by Kansas State.

The lead changed a couple of times over the opening four minuets of the second half, but then the Sooners locked in the clamps defensively.

Oklahoma held Kansas State scoreless for four minutes, and Moser's team found some success in transition, creating turnovers to fuel a 7-0 run.

Marvin Johnson played a key role in the middle of the second half, as the senior transfer added four quick points to help build a six point lead, giving Oklahoma a two possession cushion down the stretch of the contest.

From there, Gibson again took control to close out the win in the regular season finale.

Over the final five minutes of the contest Gibson added another nine points, bringing his total for the afternoon to 29 points.

"I just took what they gave me toward the end," Gibson said after the game. "The first three or four shots I missed, I kind of rushed them a little bit.

"But as the game went on, the ball found me and I hit shots. I appreciate my teammates for finding me on those looks."

Tanner Groves also added a double-digit scoring output to support Gibson.

Groves finished with 14 points, also pulling down four rebounds and dishing out three assists in the victory.

Jordan Goldwire was also steady running the offense for the Sooners, finishing with nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

Jalen Hill and Jacob Groves also added eight rebounds apiece, playing a huge role in OU’s 37-22 rebounding advantage over the Wildcats.

"I thought we were really aggressive on the glass," Moser said. "It was noticeable. We talked about it.

"You achieve what you emphasize, and we wanted to have that kind of presence on the offensive and the defensive glass. I thought that was one of the keys to the win."

Oklahoma will now head to the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City with its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. OU will open tournament play against the No. 3-ranked Baylor Bears, who ended up as the 2-seed in the Big 12 Tournament due to losing the tiebreaker with Kansas.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Bears from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday night.

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