Jayhawks gain revenge in 2OT
STILLWATER, Okla. — After he’d missed time and time again all night long, for some reason Naadir Tharpe’s final attempt just felt right when it left his hand.
And what a shot it was for No. 9 Kansas.
Tharpe connected on a short jumper in the lane with 16.5 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Jayhawks over No. 14 Oklahoma State 68-67 on Wednesday night for a critical win in the Big 12 championship race.
Tharpe had made only one of his first 11 shots, and Kansas (22-4, 10-3 Big 12) hadn’t made a field goal in either overtime, before one finally fell through at just the right time.
“I knew I just had to make a play,” said Tharpe, who was filling in at the point after Cheyenne High product Elijah Johnson fouled out.
Travis Releford scored 18 points, and Jeff Withey had three double-overtime free throws among his 17 points for the Jayhawks, who are tied with No. 13 Kansas State for the conference lead with five games to go. Kansas has had at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title for each of the past eight years, but that streak was in jeopardy against the surging Cowboys.
Markel Brown scored 20 points to lead Oklahoma State (19-6, 9-4), which had won seven straight — including snapping the Jayhawks’ 33-game home winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month — to move into a three-way tie for the league lead.
“Our whole focus is just to win the Big 12,” Releford said. “Teams beat us. We knew we weren’t going to run the table and go undefeated.
“Unfortunately, it just happened they beat us at home. We just were focused to come in and try to get a win.”
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State’s star freshman, had 16 points but fouled out midway through the second extra period when he slammed into Releford after going airborne on a drive to the basket.
On the winning play, Tharpe isolated against Phil Forte and wiggled his way into the lane before popping in a jumper from the right side. Brown missed from the left wing with seven seconds left, and Releford dove along the sideline in front of Oklahoma State’s bench to prevent the rebound from going out of bounds and instead let the final seconds tick off the clock.
AROUND THE NATION
■ ZAGS STAY HOT — At Spokane, Wash., Elias Harris scored 17 points, and No. 3 Gonzaga (26-2, 13-0 West Coast) crushed Santa Clara 85-42, the ninth win in a row for the Bulldogs. Brandon Clark led Santa Clara (19-9, 7-6) with 14 points.
■ ORANGE CRUSH FRIARS — At Syracuse, N.Y., James Southerland scored 20 points, Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points and 12 assists, and No. 8 Syracuse (22-4, 10-3 Big East) rolled to an 84-59 win over Providence (14-12, 6-8).
■ HOYAS ROLL — At Washington, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored a career-high 33 points and the No. 11 Hoyas (20-4, 10-3) posted a 90-66 rout of DePaul (11-15, 2-11) to move back into a tie for first in the Big East.
■ ARIZONA BREEZES — At Tucson, Ariz., Solomon Hill had 19 points, Mark Lyons added 14, and No. 12 Arizona (22-4, 10-4 Pac-12) pulled away after an uninspired start for a 70-52 win over Washington (14-13, 6-8).
■ BUCKEYE BLOWOUT — At Columbus, Ohio, Deshaun Thomas overcame a slow start to score 19 points, and No. 18 Ohio State (19-7, 9-5 Big Ten) used a 16-0 second-half run to spark a 71-45 victory over Minnesota (18-9, 6-8).
