Mar 8, 2007, 20:20 GMT
Oklahoma City, OK - Nate Carter poured in 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as Oklahoma held off Iowa State, 68-63, in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament at the Ford Center.
Tony Crocker added 15 points and dished out five assists for the Sooners (16-14), who move on to the quarterfinals to play top-seeded Kansas on Friday.
David Godbold and Taylor Griffin each contributed 11 points in the victory for Oklahoma, which dropped its last six games of the regular season.
Mike Taylor had 18 points for the Cyclones (15-16), who battled back but could not fully recover from a poor first half.
Wesley Johnson netted 11 points and pulled down five rebounds in the loss, while Dodie Dunson had 10 points.
Trailing the majority of the game, a running jumper by Corey McIntosh put the Cyclones in front, 56-55 with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the contest.
Carter answered at the other end with a layup and after a defensive stop, Godbold sunk a three-pointer to put the Sooners back in front, 60-56 with around 2 1/2 minutes to go.
The closest Iowa State got the rest of the way was three points after Dunson drilled a three-pointer to make it 66-63 in the final seconds.
Led by Carter's 14 points, Oklahoma led 35-23 at halftime. The Sooners shot 50 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and limited the Cyclones to just 32 percent shooting from the floor.
Iowa State also had trouble taking care of the basketball in the first half and committed seven turnovers.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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