Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: OU storms back late to knock off Kansas State, 66-61

When Bruce Weber called timeout with 2:06 left in the second half, his Kansas State Wildcats had led the Oklahoma Sooners for all but 32 seconds of Saturdays game in Norman. A Brady Manek dunk had just cut the KSU lead to one point and the Wildcats were trying desperately to fend off a late comeback attempt from an Oklahoma team that had sleepwalked through the first 30 minutes of the contest.

126 seconds stood between Kansas State and an upset win on the road to open Big 12 play.

Austin Reaves had other plans.

Xavier Sneed missed a three pointer out of the timeout before Reaves splashed home a three on the other end to put the Sooners up 63-61. Some free throws from De’vion Harmon and Kristian Doolittle put the game away, and the Sooners walked away with a 66-61 victory after trailing by double digits with under 11 minutes remaining.

OU closed the game on a 12-0 run and held the Wildcats scoreless for the final 3:44 of the contest.

Reaves finished the game with 21 points, 18 of which came in the final 10:26 of play when his team needed him the most. He was the only bright spot on what was otherwise a disastrous shooting day for the Sooners, as he finished 4-8 from the three-point line while the rest of the team finished a combined 1-15 from deep.

Kristian Doolittle continued to dominate down low, adding 19 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Brady Manek struggled from the field but was still able to add nine points and nine rebounds and played a key role in locking things down in the final minutes.

OU is now 1-0 in Big 12 play and 10-3 overall on the season. Up next for the Sooners is a road trip to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns this Wednesday night. Wednesday’s game tips off at 8 PM CT and will be broadcast on ESPN2.