No. 4 Oklahoma 64, No. 1 Kansas 55

<br>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ When Hollis Price struggled to score in the first two games of the Big 12 tournament, Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said he wasn't worried. <br><br>Turns out, Sampson had

Sunday, March 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ When Hollis Price struggled to score in the first two games of the Big 12 tournament, Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said he wasn't worried.

Turns out, Sampson had no reason to be.

Price scored 23 points, including two clutch 3-pointers that turned back a second-half rally by No. 1 Kansas, and No. 4 Oklahoma won its second straight Big 12 tournament with a 64-55 victory Sunday.

Price also led a swarming defensive effort and was named the tournament MVP.

``I knew if something was going to happen for us, somebody was going to have to make it happen,'' Price said. ``You can't run sets against a team like Kansas, and Kansas can't run sets against a team like us. Someone had to just step up and create.''

Price averaged 10 points _ almost seven below his season average _ in tournament wins over Kansas State and Texas.

Despite the Big 12 title, Oklahoma did not get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Sooners are the No. 2 seed in the West Regional and will play Illinois-Chicago in Dallas on Friday.

The Jayhawks, who went 16-0 in the Big 12 regular season, are seeded No. 1 in the Midwest Regional. They meet Holy Cross on Thursday in St. Louis.

Drew Gooden had 22 points and 15 rebounds but also committed six turnovers for Kansas, which had its string of 18 straight wins over conference opponents broken by the Sooners (27-4).

Nick Collison added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas but missed his first five shots _ all from close range _ against heavy pressure in the post.

The Jayhawks (29-3), the highest-scoring team in the nation, were held 12 points below their previous low for the season _ also against the Sooners.

``The first time we played Kansas we learned a lot about post defense and how it has to be everyone's responsibility,'' Sampson said. ``It's not just having a 7-footer who can swat shots, or a big guy who can belly up _ it's five people's responsibility.''

Gooden and Collison both skipped the postgame news conference.

``I really don't feel like talking to you guys right now, because I just wanted to win so badly,'' Gooden said in the locker room.

Oklahoma shot just 34 percent (24-for-71) from the field, its third poor shooting performance in as many games _ but Price made the big shots.

Kansas rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to force two ties midway through the second half and trailed 49-47 on a dunk by Gooden with 7:02 left.

Price hit two 3-pointers in the next 82 seconds, and Jabahri Brown scored with 4:13 left to make it 57-49. Kansas could never get closer than four points after that.

Price, Brown and Quannas White each made two free throws in the final 1:45 to seal Oklahoma's win. White finished with 10 points for the Sooners, who held Kansas to 33 percent shooting (19-for-57) and shut out All-Big 12 guard Kirk Hinrich from the field.

The Jayhawks _ who have a school-record 11 100-point games this season and averaged 96 points in tournament wins over Colorado and Texas Tech _ hadn't scored fewer than 86 points since beating Oklahoma 74-67 on Jan. 19.

Kansas made only seven field goals in the first half and trailed 29-19, but hit its first six shots in the second half. Gooden and Aaron Miles had two baskets each in a 9-0 run that cut Oklahoma's lead to 31-28 with 17:20 to go.

Collison's basket with 8:42 left made it 41-all, but the Jayhawks could never regain the lead they lost in the game's opening minutes.

``I get tired of hearing that anyone wants things more than I do, yet at the same time they played tougher than us,'' Kansas coach Roy Williams said.

``To say they have more motivation would definitely bother me. I know Kelvin wanted to win, but there is no way on God's green earth that I would think he wanted it more than me.''

Hinrich, who came in averaging almost 16 points, missed all 10 of his field-goal attempts and went scoreless until he hit two free throws with 15:09 left. He finished with four points.

Only Collison's shot from the lane at the first-half buzzer saved Kansas, the nation's most accurate team, from having more turnovers than field goals in the first 20 minutes.

Kansas, which shot 52 percent in the regular season, was 7-for-30 (23 percent) from the field and committed 12 turnovers against the Sooners' aggressive man-to-man defense.

Still, the Sooners were unable to capitalize as they shot just 37 percent (13-for-35) for the half.