NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Suddenly, Oklahoma State doesn’t look like a Big 12 title contender.
Ryan Spangler had 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to help No. 23 Oklahoma defeat the eighth-ranked Cowboys 88-76 on Monday night.
It was the first time both teams have entered a “Bedlam” rivalry game ranked since 2005, but it didn’t live up to the hype.
“You saw two good teams out there tonight,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “One played well, one didn’t.”
Marcus Smart had 22 points for Oklahoma State, but he made just 6 of 18 shots from the field and spent most of the game in foul trouble. Phil Forte scored 20 points and made all six of his 3-point tries and Markel Brown added 18 points for the Cowboys (16-4, 4-3 Big 12), but it wasn’t enough against the Sooners, who held the Cowboys to 40 percent shooting.
Now, the Cowboys are well behind Kansas in the conference standings. The Jayhawks are unbeaten in league play and already have a head-to-head win against Oklahoma State.
“We’re not playing our style of basketball,” Brown said. “We’ve been in a lot of tight games, and it shouldn’t be like that for us. We haven’t been moving the ball well on offense and our defense has been down also.”
OSU’s Le’Bryan Nash, who scored a career-high 29 points against West Virginia on Saturday, fouled out with eight points in 17 minutes.
Jordan Woodard scored 18 points and reserve Tyler Neal added a season-high 15 points for the Sooners (17-4, 6-2), who won their fourth straight game and claimed their third win over a ranked conference opponent this season.
The rematch is Feb. 15 at Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys committed 29 fouls and were outscored 30-15 at the free throw line. Forte said his team needs to handle those kinds of discrepancies better.
“We need to quit worrying about the refs and all that and just play,” he said. “Move onto the next play. That’s the most important thing.”
Oklahoma dominated early as Oklahoma State’s Smart, Nash and Stevie Clark all committed two fouls in the first 12 minutes.
Forte gave the Cowboys some life with two deep 3-pointers in a run that trimmed Oklahoma’s lead to 32-26. The Sooners extended it to 46-36 on a 3-pointer by Neal with 46 seconds left in the first half, and the Sooners led 46-38 at the break.
Neal, a senior who entered the game averaging 5.9 points, scored 10 in the first half. Smart played just 6 minutes in the first half and had six points on 2-for-4 shooting.
Woodard drained a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to push Oklahoma’s lead to 53-41, and he later hit another three to bump OU’s lead to 13. A 3 by Frank Booker increased the Sooners’ lead to 16 points, then Nash committed his fourth foul with 14:17 remaining, and Clark fouled out with 12:18 to go.
A 3-pointer by Smart and a dunk by Brown cut OU’s lead to 64-57.
Spangler scored on a putback, was fouled by Smart and made the free throw to put the Sooners up 75-62 with just over 6 minutes to play.
Oklahoma State cut Oklahoma’s lead to six, but Woodard’s 3-pointer with just under 3 minutes left bumped the Sooners’ lead to 10.
“Give them credit,” Ford said. “Every time we would make a semi-run at them, they would make a big shot and we would make a silly play.”
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