King Scores 48 as No. 4 Oklahoma Edges No. 13 Las Vegas, 90-88

Stacey King scored a career-high 48 points and Mookie Blaylock made a steal with 2 seconds left Saturday as No. 4 Oklahoma held off No. 13 Nevada Las Vegas, 90-88.

UNLV, trailing 90-86 with 42 seconds left, made 2 free throws to pull within 2, and then forced a turnover with 10 seconds to play. But Blaylock intercepted a pass by Anderson Hunt to preserve Oklahoma’s second victory over Las Vegas this season.

King scored Oklahoma’s final 7 points and 13 of the last 18 as he surpassed his previous high of 40 points in a game last season against Missouri.

“We just couldn’t guard King at all,” said Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV coach. “He is by far the best offensive center in the country.

“King and Blaylock were everything they were supposed to be. Every time I thought we were making a run at them, he (Blaylock) came back and made a 3-pointer.”

Blaylock had 23 points for Oklahoma (17-2), which had beaten UNLV, 83-81, in November in the semifinals of the Maui tournament.

Hunt led UNLV (14-4) with 22 points, and Stacey Augmon had 17, 15 in the second half.

King dominated the game from the outset, scoring 28 points in the first half against foul-plagued George Ackles and David Butler, who both fouled out in the second half.

But Las Vegas, after trailing 51-47 at halftime, took the lead early in the second half and expanded it to 72-68 on 3 straight 3-point shots midway through the half.

Blaylock made 2 jumpers to tie the score, 72-72, however, and King took over from there, scoring all but 5 of remaining points for the Sooners.

King’s 2 free throws made it 90-86 with 42 seconds left. Hunt made a free throw with 33 seconds left, and UNLV retrieved the ball out of bounds under its basket with 27 seconds to play.

After Barry Young missed a 3-point shot, Augmon was fouled on the rebound and made the second of 2 free throws to make it 90-88. Hunt forced Oklahoma’s Tony Martin to throw away the inbounds pass with 10 seconds left.

King scored 17 of Oklahoma’s first 25 points as the Sooners ran to a 27-19 lead midway through the first half.