Oklahoma State 78, Colorado 73
LAS VEGAS -- Senior guard Markel Brown had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 7 Oklahoma State past No. 20 Colorado 78-73 in the MGM Grand Showcase on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Guard Marcus Smart finished with 18 points and guard Phil Forte scored 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers during a six-minute span late in the second half that helped the Cowboys (11-1) build a 12-point lead with three minutes to go. Forward Le'Bryan Nash added 15 points.
Colorado (10-2), which had a 10-game win streak snapped, closed to four points twice in the final 25 seconds before Forte sealed it with a free throw with 14 seconds left.
Sophomore forward Josh Scott scored 20 points, including 10-of-13 free throws, and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to lead the Buffaloes.
Colorado lost despite finishing with a 41-29 rebounding edge, including 18 offensive rebounds that led to a 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Guards Askia Booker finished with 19 points and Spencer Dinwiddie added 18 points for the Buffs, who shot just 40.6 percent from the floor.
Oklahoma State shot 52.1 percent from the floor and forced 14 turnovers that resulted in a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers.
Smart had nine points in the first half despite sitting out the final 7:04 after picking up his second foul. The Cowboys led 20-16 when he went to the bench, and Colorado quickly tied the score on a drive by Dinwiddie followed by a rebound basket by guard Tre'Shaun Fletcher.
But Brown took charge after that, scoring seven points including a 17-foot jumper as the shot clock buzzer went off to give Oklahoma State a 29-25 lead. After forward Xavier Johnson sank a free throw, Brown finished the half with a three-point play on a nice drive to basket to give the Cowboys a 32-26 lead.
NOTES: MGM Grand Showcase officials reported that there were 37 scouts from 27 NBA teams in attendance. ... Oklahoma State entered the game leading the Big 12 and ranked second in the nation in scoring margin (plus-24.5) behind only defending national champion Louisville (plus-25.8). ... Heading into Saturday night's game, Colorado hadn't defeated a Top-10 opponent on a neutral floor since edging No. 6 Missouri 92-88 in overtime in the 1990 Big Eight Tournament in Kansas City. ... Colorado, which held a 22-17 rebounding edge at halftime, came into the contest 10-0 when out-rebounding an opponent at the end of the first half.
