Oklahoma Big Men Are Force in Upset

Kevin Bookout scored 23 points and Taj Gray added 22 for No. 13-ranked Oklahoma, which exploited a weakness up front with its talented tandem and beat ninth-ranked Oklahoma State, 67-57, in Norman, Okla., on Monday night.

The Sooners, who improved to 16-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12 Conference, gave back most of an early 17-point lead before taking over again in the second half and giving Coach Kelvin Sampson his 250th win at Oklahoma.

Gray and Bookout scored the first 19 points for Oklahoma, and the big men were there with the game on the line too.

After Oklahoma State (14-3, 4-2) cut the deficit to 33-27, Bookout scored six points during a 10-0 run that put the Sooners back in control. In the middle of the spurt, Drew Lavender came down on a fastbreak, bounced the ball between his legs, and Gray flew in to jam it with his right hand to put Oklahoma ahead, 37-27.

Ivan McFarlin finished with 16 points to lead Oklahoma State, and Joey Graham scored 15. John Lucas III, who had been averaging 17.8 points, was held to 10 on three-for-13 shooting. He scored seven points in the last 4 1/2 minutes.

No. 4 Syracuse 86, Rutgers 84 -- Terrence Roberts’ three-point play with 7.2 seconds left helped the Orange (20-1, 7-0) defeat the Scarlet Knights (7-9, 1-5) in a Big East Conference game at Piscataway, N.J.

The win wasn’t secure until Quincy Douby’s three-point shot with just over a second left rolled around the rim and out at the buzzer, leaving the sellout crowd in silence. Syracuse, which trailed by 18 points, is the first Division I team to reach 20 victories this season.

It was the 13th consecutive victory for Syracuse and gave Coach Jim Boeheim 20 victories for the 27th time in his 29 seasons. Boeheim moved into a tie with Bob Knight of Texas Tech for second place among coaches with 20-win seasons, three behind former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick each had 21 points for Syracuse. Ricky Shields had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Rutgers.

No. 25 Utah 63, Air Force 51 -- Andrew Bogut scored 25 points on 11-for-12 shooting to lead the Utes (17-3, 5-0) in a Mountain West Conference game at Salt Lake City.

Utah entered the top 25 Monday for the first time since 2002-03. The Utes, playing under first-year Coach Ray Giacoletti, have won 12 in a row.

Nick Welch had 15 points for Air Force (12-7, 3-1).