Norman, Okla. — This time, Oklahoma turned a huge night by an Oklahoma State player into just another statistic.
Maurice Baker scored a career-high 31 points for Oklahoma State, but No. 17 Oklahoma offset that with scoring balance and strong interior defense in a 68-56 victory Saturday night.
Hollis Price scored 16 points, including a big shot clock-beating three-pointer with 1:23 to play, as the Sooners (23-6, 12-4 Big 12) assured that they will be at least the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
Nolan Johnson also scored 16 points for the Sooners, who never trailed after an early 13-2 run gave them a 10-point lead. Aaron McGhee had 11 points and Kelley Newton added nine.
"When this team was 1-3 (in conference play), I think that we buckled down and really became a much more focused team. We learned how to play the way we play," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Oklahoma State (19-8, 10-6) had beaten the Sooners by 28 points in Stillwater on Feb. 14, when Victor Williams scored a career-high 26. This time, Williams had three.
Forward Fredrik Jonzen, the Cowboys' second-leading scorer at 15 points per game, was 1-of-6 from the field and finished with four points. No Cowboy other than Baker scored in double figures, and Baker also led the team with nine rebounds.
Baylor 85,
Texas A&M 59
Waco, Texas Terry Black scored 24 points for Baylor, leading the Bears over Texas A&M. It's Baylor's biggest margin of victory ever in a Big 12 game. DeMarcus Minor added 18 for the Bears (17-10, 6-10 Big 12). Black, who scored 19 in the second half, also grabbed eight rebounds and had seven assists for Baylor.
Bernard King led Texas A&M (10-19, 3-13) with 14 points, while Andy Leatherman had 11 and Nick Anderson 10.
The Bears built a 27-11 lead with 8:39 left in the first half. Baylor broke a four-game losing streak with the win.
Kansas State 72, Colorado 67
Boulder, Colo. Travis Reynolds had 15 points and Matt Siebrandt and Kelvin Howell each hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds as Kansas State defeated Colorado.
Reynolds, who played most of the second half with foul trouble, was 7-for-7 shooting and had five rebounds. Larry Reid and Phineas Atchison had 11 points each for Kansas State (10-17, 4-12 Big 12).
Jamahl Mosley had 12 points and six rebounds and Chevis Brimmer added 11 points for Colorado (15-14, 5-11), which extended its losing streak to a season-long five games.
Kansas State led 35-31 at halftime. Colorado tied the game at 59 in the second half when Brimmer hit two free throws and a three-pointer after an intentional foul. Mosley gave Colorado its only lead of the second half, 67-66, with a layup and free throw with 51 seconds left.
Richie Terry's layup returned the lead to Kansas State with 44 seconds left.
No. 24 Texas 78,
Texas Tech 55
Lubbock, Texas The Texas team heading into the Big 12 tournament on a six-game winning streak isn't playing anything like it was early in the season.
"We've gone up and down this year because we started out this season with a lot of young guys," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We are one game out of first place. I don't think anybody thought this was possible."
Chris Owens scored 22 points and Maurice Evans added 18 for Texas (23-7, 12-4), which clinched a bye in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
Cliff Owens had 21 points and Jayson Mitchell added 10 for the Red Raiders (9-18, 3-13).
It was Texas' ninth straight victory over Texas Tech, which last won in the series in the 1996-97 season. The loss was Tech's fourth straight since beating Nebraska on Feb. 21.
Texas finished with a 46-32 rebound advantage. Texas was 27-of-61 from the field, while Texas Tech finished 21-of-60.
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