Oklahoma beats Kansas State 86-76 as Buddy Hield scores 31 (+video)

Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners reminded a sellout crowd at Lloyd Noble Center how good they both are during an 86-76 victory against Kansas State on Saturday.

Hield had 31 points one game after putting up 46 against Kansas, requiring a mere 14 shots to lead all scorers and further validate himself as a Player of the Year candidate. Oklahoma raced to a 21-point lead.

That combination may be enough for the Sooners (12-1, 2-1 Big 12) to retain their No. 2 ranking when the new polls are released Monday, despite suffering their first loss on Monday.

“They are a team that deserves to be ranked No. 1,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said.

Much less is known about the Wildcats (10-5, 0-3).Though they have had their moments in all three of their conference games, including Saturday when they cut the deficit to as low as eight, but they lost all three times.

After an encouraging 10-2 start, K-State will be in desperate need of a victory when it hosts Texas Tech on Tuesday.

It would have taken a near miracle Saturday. Oklahoma made it hard from the beginning, with Hield scoring 17 points in the first 16 minutes, and the Sooners firing on all cylinders behind him. They led 18-4 with 14:23 remaining in the first half.

“We spotted them 14,” Weber said, “and after that we competed with them and played with them, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We had a few chances.… But it didn’t happen.”

The game effectively ended when Hield hit a jumper with 4:34 remaining in the first half to put Oklahoma on top 42-21 and Weber reluctantly used his third timeout in an attempt to break the OU senior’s rhythm. That left the Wildcats trying to play catch up with one timeout.

The strategy worked short term, and Hield quickly went to the bench for the remainder of the first half with two fouls. The Wildcats responded with a 14-2 run, including the final 12 points of the half. Behind timely jump shots from Stephen Hurt, Barry Brown and Justin Edwards, a game that once appeared out of hand was 44-35 at intermission.

K-State continued to push Oklahoma in the second half and never allowed it to pull far enough ahead for coach Lon Kruger to play his bench.

“That’s just not what we do,” said Brown after 19 points and eight rebounds. “We believe we can win, even though we got into that 20-point hole. We fought back and gave ourselves a chance. We cut it down to single digits at half. We are not a quitting team. We feel like we can beat anybody, but in those clutch moments of the game we are not following through.”

Brown led the comeback push while defending Hield, but his teammates provided their own contributions. Dean Wade got hot in the second half and finished with 12 points, Stephen Hurt had 11 points and six rebounds, while D.J. Johnson added 10 points.

It wasn’t enough for the Wildcats to threaten the Sooners.

“We struggle with scoring,” Weber said. “We have to get better at that.… I still believe we have enough offensive weapons … We just have to play with more energy from the get-go, with a little determination. I told them to exert their will. Obviously, Oklahoma’s will was a lot stronger than ours.”

That was obvious with Jordan Woodard scoring 19 points for Oklahoma and Ryan Spangler adding 14. It also helped that Hield continued his unparalleled level of play.

“He is magical,” Weber said of Hield. “I sit there and pray for ours to go and for his not to. He is on a run. He is special.”

“It is hard to imagine anyone playing more efficiently,” Kruger said, “than what Buddy is, in terms of making shots and attacking and creating for his teammates. It’s just really impressive.”

Weber hoped Hield and Oklahoma would suffer a letdown after losing in three overtimes at Kansas on Monday.

Instead, he said the Sooners “came out with a vengeance” after the Wildcats improbably beat them twice last season.

Weber, like everyone else in the crowd of 11,113, was impressed by Oklahoma. He called it an improved team, capable of winning the national championship.

He was less certain about K-State. The Wildcats remain a work in progress..

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Oklahoma beats Kansas State 86-76 as Buddy Hield scores 31 (+video)."