February 7, 2012

For an uncontrollable situation with 2.5 seconds left on the clock, Oklahoma's last chance to forge overtime against No. 4 Missouri went about as well as it could -- until Steven Pledger's 3-point shot refused to go down.

Pledger slumped to the ground and put his hands over his face after his potential tying shot clanged off the rim to end the Sooners' 71-68 loss.

Romero Osby was forced to miss a free throw with 2.5 seconds left to set up one last unlikely shot for Oklahoma, and Pledger got the ball when the offensive rebound was tapped back to him on the right wing.

"It was perfect. The play was designed to miss the free throw and get the tip-out and we actually got the tip-out," said Pledger, who led the Sooners with 22 points.

"It was on line. It felt good when it left my hand. It didn't go in."

Marcus Denmon scored 25 points and Ricardo Ratliffe added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Missouri, which claimed first place in the Big 12 with the victory. The Tigers (22-2, 9-2 Big 12) had moved into a tie for first with No. 6 Baylor and No. 7 Kansas by beating the archrival Jayhawks on Saturday night.

"We understand that this game was just as important as the last one," Denmon said. "Pretty much, we have a veteran group and we just wanted to make sure everybody came out and understood how important this game would be for us to play after a big win like the one at home against Kansas."

Oklahoma (13-10, 3-8) still had the ball with a chance to tie with 5 seconds left, after Michael Dixon missed on a drive to the basket. Osby was fouled with 2.5 seconds left and missed both free throws, the second one intentionally.

That completed an uncharacteristic night when Oklahoma missed 14 of 23 free throws, after making 75 percent on the season. Missouri, fifth in the nation at 77 percent, wasn't much better at 10 for 18.

"It's hard to explain because we have shot free throws very well," Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. "When you play the game long enough, it will happen. Unfortunately, it happened kind of with everyone, it seemed."

Sam Grooms had a career-high 17 points and matched his career best with 10 assists, and Andrew Fitzgerald scored 12 for the Sooners.

Michael Dixon chipped in 13 points for Missouri in a game nothing like the teams' previous meeting, won 87-49 by the Tigers on their home court.