OU Picks Up First Road Win of Season

Steven Pledger went off for the Sooners in 82-76 overtime win against Iowa State.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:10 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jan 29, 2011 10:23 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

AMES, Iowa – At the beginning of conference play, some fans were wondering whether the Sooners would be able to win three Big 12 games the entire season.

Now, they have won three straight.

The Sooners pulled off their first road victory of the season on Saturday at Iowa State, sealing a 82-76 overtime victory.

Steven Pledger had a monster game for the Sooners, not only dropping in 38 points but hitting big shots in timely fashion.

Pledger scored 12 of his team’s 15 points in overtime, including the first 10 to help the Sooners control the extra period.

He was also the hero in regulation, draining a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to tie the game at 67. Iowa State was unable to get a shot off before the shot clock expired, leaving .4 seconds left and leading to a strange turn of events.

OU’s Cade Davis launched the ball the length of the court, hoping for a teammate to tip it up and in, but his pass sailed long and out of bounds, giving Iowa State the ball back under its own basket.

The Cyclones (14-8, 1-6) got a shot off, but were unable to convert, sending the game into overtime.

The Sooners jumped out to several big leads at the beginning of the game, including 8-1 and 34-19.

OU led by eight at the half, but the Cyclones went on a 7-0 run to start the second and kept the game tight until the end of regulation.

Cameron Clark was the only other Sooner in double figures, posting 11 points. Forward Melvin Ejim led Iowa State with 19.

The Sooners got outrebounded 43-29 but held Iowa State to 39 percent field goal shooting while shooting 46 percent themselves.

With a three-game winning streak under its belt, OU (11-9, 3-3) will host Baylor on Tuesday at 6 p.m.