STILLWATER, OKLA. ? After a career night, Brad Buckman only could wait and watch to see if Texas would pay for his one big mistake.

After tying his career high with 27 points Saturday night, Buckman fouled Oklahoma State’s Terrence Crawford on a desperation three-point try with 0.3 seconds left and gave the eighth-ranked Cowboys a chance to tie on their vaunted home court.

When Crawford missed his second foul shot, Buckman was finally able to exhale, and Texas was assured of a 74-73 victory.

“It was a fun and exciting end, but it could almost give you a heart attack,” Buckman said.

The Cowboys (20-6, 11-5 Big 12 Conference) rallied from six points down in the final 48 seconds before blowing the chance to tie it.

John Lucas III brought Oklahoma State within 71-68 on a floater in the lane, and neither Kenny Taylor or Buckman could put the game away at the foul line for Texas (20-9, 9-7). Taylor was 1-for-2 with 18.9 seconds left, and Buckman missed both his free throws after grabbing the offensive rebound on Taylor’s miss.

Crawford’s three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left brought Oklahoma State within one point. After two free throws by Gibson put Texas up 74-71, Crawford got the inbounds pass and Buckman fouled him behind midcourt while he was attempting a desperation shot.

Texas forward Brad Buckman, left, defends as Oklahoma State forward Joey Graham shoots in the first half. Buckman tied a career high with 27 points as the Longhorns ruined the eighth-ranked Cowboys' Senior Night, 74-73, Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.

“It wasn’t designed that way,” Buckman said. “I was supposed to foul him before so he’d get two shots instead of three and we’d have a chance to run out the clock, but he called a foul when he was shooting. Luckily, he missed the free throw, and we got the win.”

Texas coach Rick Barnes said he thought Buckman had fouled Crawford before he was in the act of shooting.

“I looked at coach’s face and I was like, ‘God, what’d I do?”‘ Buckman said.

After missing the second of the three foul shots, Crawford — a 78 percent free-throw shooter — was supposed to intentionally miss his third. The Cowboys substituted their tallest players to go after the miss for a game-tying tip-in.

But the free-throw hit the back of the rim and fell through, and Oklahoma State’s chances to win fell, too.

Crawford, who’d attempted only 41 free throws in the Cowboys’ previous 26 games, wasn’t supposed to end up at the foul line. The play was designed for him to pass to a wing player streaking toward the frontcourt, but he bobbled the ball and improvised.

“It’s a tough situation for him,” Oklahoma State associate head coach Sean Sutton said. “It wasn’t his fault. That shot wasn’t what lost the game. … We lost this game because of defense and rebounding.”

Oklahoma State, which had been the nation’s best three-point shooting team at 43.5 percent — was only 7-for-24.