Sooners edge Iowa State; trip to Kansas up next
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Buddy Hield scored 22 points and No. 3 Oklahoma beat No. 11 Iowa State 87-83 on Saturday night to match the second-best start in school history at 12-0.
Ryan Spangler had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Isaiah Cousins scored all 15 of his points in the second half for the Sooners in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Oklahoma plays at No. 2 Kansas on Monday in what could be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown after No. 1 Michigan State lost to Iowa on Tuesday night.
Oklahoma, the nation's top 3-point shooting team, made only 3 of 16 3s in the first half, but was 8 of 13 in the second.
Georges Niang scored 29 points, and Deonte Burton had 14 of his 19 points in the second half for Iowa State (11-2).
Oklahoma led by two with the ball in the final minute, but turned it over. Iowa State's Monte Morris had a good look, but missed a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds to go. Hield made two free with 3.5 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.
Hield missed four of his first five shots as Iowa State took an 18-9 lead. The Cyclones pushed their lead to 26-15 behind 11 early points by Niang.
Oklahoma's Dinjiyl Walker provided a spark with seven points in a two-minute span to cut Iowa State's advantage to 28-22. Iowa State held on to lead 41-37 at halftime. Hield made just two of his first eight shots in the first half, but made four of his last six to finish with 14 points before the break.
A 3-pointer by Jordan Woodard cut Iowa State's lead to a point in the early minutes of the second half. The Sooners finally tied the score on a pair of free throws by Khadeem Lattin with just under six minutes to play, and the Sooners finally took the lead on a 3-pointer by Cousins. A lob from Cousins for a layup by Spangler gave the Sooners an 81-77 lead with 4:08 to play, but Iowa State battled back and made it a game to the end.
TIP-INS:
Cyclones: Niang passed Hercle Ivy and moved into eighth on Iowa State's career scoring list. Niang has averaged 24.5 points in his past four games. ... The Cyclones shot 56.3 percent in the second half and were outscored 50-42.
Sooners: Hield passed Eduardo Najera and moved into 9th place on Oklahoma's career scoring list. ... Cousins went 0 for 6 from the field in the first half. He missed two more in the second half before finally connecting. ... Oklahoma shot 50 percent in the second half.
UP NEXT:
Cyclones: Host Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Sooners: At Kansas on Monday.
