Oklahoma State tops Iowa State 96-87 in OT

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Entering Wednesday night, Big 12 squads were 6-15 away from home in league play. It appeared Iowa State might pick up one of those rare road wins in a place it had lost 15 straight dating back to 1988.

But once again the road proved treacherous.

Oklahoma State, coming off back-to-back road losses, rallied from a nine-point deficit over the final 3 minutes of regulation to steal a 96-87 overtime victory.

"It's still early, but this game can give us momentum," said Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford. "It's good to get a win, and I want our guys to understand how we came back. And I want them to understand how we dug ourselves a hole. I want them to understand what makes us good and what makes us bad.

"We're playing in too many highs and lows. We're either jacked up making plays or (it's) like we're walking through mud. We need to eliminate the bad moments and keep the great moments."

Sophomore Jean-Paul Olukemi scored a game-high 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals. His three-point play with 40 seconds left in regulation cut the deficit to 76-75. Two Iowa State free throws pushed the lead back to three, but Keiton Page, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, drilled a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to tie it.

On the Cyclones' ensuing possession, Page, a 5-foot-9 guard, took a charge from Diante Garrett giving the Cowboys a chance with 7.4 seconds to play. Page's 3-pointer missed, but the Cowboys took the momentum into overtime, where they outscored the Cyclones 18-9.

"It's not about moral victories here," said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. "We had a chance to put a team away on the road, and we didn't do it. We let them get back in it.

"We got up 10 at one point in the second half, and that's when you have to find a way to kick them when they're down. We let them get back into the game with a couple shots and couldn't get a rebound."

Marshall Moses pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with his 18 points as Oklahoma State (14-4, 2-2 Big 12) outrebounded Iowa State 46-35. Roger Franklin added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Cyclones (14-5, 1-3) got 25 points from Garrett, 19 in the second half. Jamie Vanderbeeken continued his hot shooting, knocking down 6 of 9 from behind the 3-point line and scoring 20. Jake Anderson scored 17 and Bubu Palo chipped in with 11.

Iowa State, the Big 12's top 3-point-shooting squad, hit 13 of 33 from long range after starting 3 of 11.

During a 10-minute stretch from late in the first half to early in the second, Iowa State outscored the Cowboys 27-12 and led 52-42 with 15 minutes to play. Twenty-one of those points came from behind the arc.

"For 35 minutes I thought Iowa State was a step faster than us, and I felt like we were just trying to chase those guys around," said Ford. "When a team makes seven 3s in a row, it's very deflating.

"I love the win. You've seen a lot out of us at this point. Playing Kansas State here and being down, then coming back. We played bad at Texas A&M. We got up against Colorado and let one slip by.

"We were down pretty much the whole game tonight and pulled out a great win. It could have gone the other way because Iowa State played well."

Iowa State remains on the road, traveling to Missouri on Saturday. The Cowboys visit Baylor on the same day.

"It was definitely a good win for us," added Olukemi, whose has scored more than 20 points in three of Oklahoma State's four conference games.

"Iowa State is a great team. They have a great point guard, and they all shot the ball really well. A win like this definitely sparked something in us. We have to carry this one on to Baylor next."