Kansas State tops Oklahoma with late FTs
NORMAN, Okla. -- For the second time this season, the new team Lon Kruger is trying to rebuild was beaten by the team he once rebuilt.
Angel Rodriguez hit two free throws in the final five seconds and Kansas State beat Kruger's Oklahoma Sooners 52-50 on Saturday.
Sam Grooms missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for Oklahoma (14-6, 5-3 Big 12). Kruger, who played (1971-74) and coached (1986-90) at Kansas State, lost to the Wildcats for the second time this season. Kansas State won 69-60 on Jan. 19.
"(We were able to) get a stop and get a real good road win," first-year Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said.
The No. 18 Wildcats (17-4, 6-2) led 44-36 after Rodney McGruder's two free throws with 5:25 to play, but Romero Osby and Grooms led the Sooners back. Each scored five points in the final minutes, with Grooms' layup tying the score at 50-50 with 13 seconds left.
Rodriguez was fouled by Amath M'Baye with five seconds left and sank the winning foul shots.
Will Spradling led Kansas State with 12 points. Senior forward Romero Osby scored 13 to lead Oklahoma.
The Wildcats made just 37.5 percent (21-of-56) of their field goals, and the Sooners hit just 38.8 percent (21-of-49).
"There's much work left," Kruger said of rebuilding the Sooners. "Absolutely. We'll learn from today.
"We've got to cut harder. They're physical and strong and their hands are on you all the time. We've got to get separation and cut harder. We realized today we've got a long way to go. (The team has) done a great job and made a lot of progress. They'll keep working at it." Will Spradling led Kansas State with 12 points. Senior forward Romero Osby scored 13 to lead Oklahoma.
"Since I got here, they talked about Oklahoma got them twice last year," Weber said. "So they were able to get them back this year."
The Wildcats held the Sooners scoreless for almost 11 minutes between the first and second halves.
"Sometimes you can realize it, but you can't really dwell on it," Osby said of scoring drought. "We'd get a stop and go at them again. A lot of shots didn't fall."
The Wildcats also had a dry period during the same time, with six straight empty possessions, but they ended it with 1:41 left in the first half with a basket from Omari Lawrence, then added a layup about 30 seconds later from Rodriguez.
Kansas State's Martavious Irving drained a wide-open three and led the Wildcats with a team-high eight points into halftime.
The Wildcats scored the first basket of the game with a dunk from Jordan Henriquez. From there, the Wildcats went 12 of 28 on field goals and 4 of 10 from three-point range, including two threes from Irving.
"I told them we just want to stay up in the standings," Weber said. "The only way to do that is win. Win on the road and not let an opportunity pass us by."
The Sooners were led by M'Baye, who scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
NOTES: Oklahoma lost its first Big 12 home game. The Sooners' 50 points were the fewest in 16 games and the second fewest this year. Kansas State also tied its lowest points total for the season with 52. ... Coming into the game, Kansas State outrebounded its opponent by an average of 5.3 per game, but Oklahoma outrebounded the Wildcats 38-34. The Sooners also outrebounded Kansas State two weeks ago in Manhattan 39-25. ... Kansas State committed only 10 turnovers compared with Oklahoma's 14. However, the Sooners outscored the Wildcats off turnovers 17-8.
