KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Anthony Roy scored 24 points, Christian Coleman had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 14 seed Oklahoma State held on down the stretch for a 92-83 victory over No. 11 seed Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday night.
Jaylen Curry added 15 points for the Cowboys (19-13), who probably need to keep winning to make the NCAA Tournament field next week. Their next chance is Wednesday night against sixth-seeded
TCU for a spot in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Bangot Dak had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Colorado (17-15), whose own NCAA hopes almost certainly vanished. Barrington Hargress added 18 points and nine assists, Isaiah Johnson had 14 points and Ian Inman finished with 11.
Colorado mostly controlled its game against Oklahoma State when the teams met earlier this season in Boulder.
The Cowboys mostly flipped that script in the Big 12 Tournament.
The Buffaloes had to make a couple of late buckets to get within 41-40 at halftime, and then had to keep fighting back from deficits throughout the second half. But every time Elijah Malone would bully his way for a bucket, or Johnson scored with a runner for the Buffs, Roy or Curry was there to answer with timely baskets for Oklahoma State.
The game was still tight until Vyctorius Miller made five consecutive free throws with about 6 minutes left. That turned a 68-62 lead into a 73-62 advantage, and allowed Oklahoma State to stay away from the Buffaloes the rest of the way.
Colorado: The Buffaloes wait to hear where they will be playing in the postseason.
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys face No. 6 seed TCU in a Wednesday quarterfinal. They lost both of their games to TCU in the regular season, including a 95-92 overtime thriller.
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