MANHATTAN, Kan. — Jalon Moore scored 23 points, Javian McCollum added 21, and No. 23 Oklahoma pulled away from Kansas State down the stretch for a 73-53 victory Tuesday night that ended the Sooners' two-game slide.
Sam Godwin added 11 points and Rivaldo Soares had 10 for Oklahoma (26-5, 4-4 Big 12), which blew most of a 17-point first-half lead before using a 12-1 run over the closing minutes to win its final scheduled trip to Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats (14-7, 4-4) didn’t score for more than 8 minutes to start the game and finished 16 of 53 from the field (30.2%) and 4 of 28 from the 3-point arc. They also turned the ball over 14 times while losing their third consecutive game.
Tylor Perry led Kansas State with 23 points, but leading scorers Cam Carter and Arthur Kaluma were a combined 3 of 20 from the field and 0 for 10 from the arc. The duo also had eight of the Wildcats’ turnovers.
Kansas State probably imagined it couldn’t start any worse than its last time out, when fourth-ranked Houston shut out the Wildcats for nearly 6 minutes in a 74-52 blowout. But the Sooners held them scoreless through two full media timeouts before David N’Guessan finally made the second of two foul shots with 11:49 to go in the first half.
The Wildcats’ first field goal didn’t come until the 10:30 mark. By that point, Oklahoma had built a commanding lead.
Kansas State wound up 6 of 26 from the field in the first half. It missed its first 10 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. And a team that ranks 336th nationally and last in the Big 12 in turnovers per game had already coughed it up seven times.
The Sooners weren’t great offensively, either. They led just 35-19 at the break. And their failure to capitalize on cold Kansas State shooting nearly cost them as their lead dwindled to 51-44 with less than 8 minutes to go.
That’s when the Sooners pulled down two offensive boards and Godwin got a bucket to go. Kansas State misfired at the other end, Oklahoma got another offensive rebound and Otega Oweh ended an 0-for-10 shooting slump with another basket.
The Sooners were off on the run that put the game away.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma travels to play Big 12 newcomer UCF on Saturday.
Kansas State heads to Oklahoma State on Saturday.
