Oklahoma
K-State Thwarts Oklahoma State Upset Bid, 70-66
K-State overcame a 10-point deficit midway through the second half, then staged a 16-6 finishing kick to overcome Oklahoma State by a 70-66 score Saturday evening in Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats played just well enough, for just long enough, to win the game.
A three-point bucket by Oklahoma State’s Javon Small gave the Cowboys a 54-44 lead with 10:13 to play. K-State whittled the deficit to 4, only to see Connor Dow drain another three to push the ‘Poke advantage to 59-52 with 7:30 remaining. But Oklahoma State did not connect on another field goal until Small knotted the score at 66-all with less than a minute remaining.
A pivotal moment occurred after the Small bucket. K-State’s Tylor Perry drove down the lane, losing his footing and falling on his back. The ball went out of bounds off Oklahoma State, giving the Cats a baseline inbound play with 1.2 seconds on the shot clock. Off a perfectly executed set, Perry lobbed the ball to Cam Carter, who banked home the deuce from the front of the rim with the shot clock expiring to give K-State a 68-66 lead.
On its ensuring possession, Oklahoma State channeled the sloppiness that marked the game for both teams. Quion Williams lost his balance near the right elbow and threw a pass toward a vacant spot in front of his team’s bench, for his team’s 17th turnover. Carter was fouled after the subsequent inbound pass and knocked down both free throws for the 70-66 final score.
Although we have not mentioned his name yet, the clear player of the game for K-State was Arthur Kaluma. He poured in a game-high 23 points on 7-12 shooting and was, for stretches of the game, the only offense the Wildcats had going. He connected on 7 of 12 attempts from the floor, including 3 of 5 from beyond the three-point arc. On a day that saw the Cats outrebounded 31-25 on their home floor, King Art led the squad with 7. He had 4 assists, two blocks, and 3 steals to fill out the stat sheet, but was guilty of 5 turnovers, as well.
Cam Carter scored 15 on 5-9 shooting, and McNair finished with an efficient 5-6 shooting night, giving him 10 points.
Tylor Perry continued his season-long trend of starting slowly and finishing stronger late. He had no points at halftime and sat out a significant portion of the second half. But he came back in midway through the period and finished with 9 points and a team-high 5 assists. He only attempted 6 shots, making 2. But he scored 8 straight K-State points during a pivotal stretch just after Oklahoma State took its largest lead, helping to keep the Cats within striking distance.
K-State shot 25-48 (52%) for the game, including 8-22 (36.4%) from deep. The Wildcats made 12 of 16 free throws (75%). Despite decent shooting, the outcome was in doubt until the end, largely because of turnovers and rebounding. Each team committed 17 turnovers, and it seems that most of K-State’s infractions were of the “here, take it” variety. The rebounding margin also led to five more shots for the Cowboys, who made 21 of 53 (41.5%), including 9 of 27 (33%) from deep.
Three Oklahoma State players reached double-figures, led by Eric Dailey Jr. who came off the bench to score 15.
With the win, K-State (14-4, 4-1 Big 12) retains a tie atop the Big 12 standings with Texas Tech who also had to make winning plays late Saturday to beat BYU. Oklahoma State (8-10, 0-5), despite challenging K-State the whole way and controlling the game for several stretches, remains winless in conference play and alone in last place. Every other Big 12 team has at least two victories.
The Big 12’s top-to-bottom balance was on full display Saturday, as No. 3 Kansas lost on the road to a West Virginia team that was previously 6-11, and 6 of the 7 conference games were decided by margins of six or less. This game felt like the kind K-State could not lose if it entertains hopes of making the NCAA field. They held serve, if barely.
Time will tell whether the Cats can clean up the correctable errors that are making games so tense in the end, or whether they will keep dancing on the edge of disaster. Fortunately, against a young Oklahoma State squad, the Wildcats were able to do enough to survive. With six ranked opponents waiting in the wings over the next seven games, it is unlikely they will have the margin to live so dangerously.
Next Up
K-State plays No. 24 Iowa State in Ames Wednesday at 8:00 on ESPN2.
Oklahoma isn’t done yet.
The Sooners’ bats kept them in the Atlanta Regional with an emphatic showing in the Atlanta Regional on Sunday.
Deiten LaChance’s grand slam highlighted OU’s eight-run fourth inning, which turned Sunday’s contest against No. 2-overall seed Georgia Tech on its head.
Prior to the fourth, it looked as if it was going to be the Yellow Jackets’ night.
The hosts plated five runs in the third inning to take a 7-2 lead, and a call went against OU in the bottom of the third.
How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Regonal Final
- When: Monday, June 1
- Time: 2 p.m.
- Channel: ESPNU
Trey Gambill had snaked a single through the Georgia Tech infield to plate a run and cut the lead down with two outs, but just before the pitch was thrown, the third base umpire raised his arm to indicate there had been a pitch clock violation.
Lucky to have just gotten out of the situation with a ball, Yellow Jacket pitcher Jackson Blakely struck Gambill out, which understandably did not go over well in Oklahoma’s dugout.
The setback only galvanized Skip Johnson’s Sooners, however.
OU responded by sending 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth, and the Sooners took a 10-8 lead.
It was an advantage they never relented.
Oklahoma added an insurance run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to ensure that the Sooners would head back to the team hotel with a decisive Game 7 of the Atlanta Regional on the mind.
Johnson will have a big choice to make in who starts the do-or-die contest on Monday afternoon (2 p.m., ESPNU).
In OU’s first game against The Citadel on Sunday, Johnson rolled with freshman Nick Wesloski.
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He pitched seven innings to get the Sooners into Sunday night’s contest against Georgia Tech. Oklahoma’s big offensive showing against the Bulldogs meant that Johnson could make any choice necessary in relief, so he threw Reid Hensley and Jaden Barfield for an inning each to seal the win.
Against the Yellow Jackets, OU started Cameron Johnson. He faced just three batters, allowing two runs on two hits, before Oklahoma turned to Jackson Cleveland.
Cleveland tossed three innings in relief. OU also used two innings of Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius picked up a save by pitching four innings on Sunday night.
The winner between Monday’s battle will meet 15-seed Kansas in next weekend’s Super Regionals. Georgia Tech would host the Jayhawks with a win, whereas the Sooners would head to Lawrence next weekend if they are able to oust the top seed left in the NCAA Tournament.
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Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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Brent Venables got Oklahoma back to the College Football Playoff in 2025, and while the season was a massive success, merely making the 12-team field isn’t good enough for anyone in Norman — Venables included.
The Sooners enter 2026 with something that has been missing on both sides of the ball for a few years: continuity.
OU returns its starting quarterback, John Mateer, for the first time since Dillon Gabriel started Venables’ first two seasons as head coach.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle is back, and while Venables lost cornerbacks coach Jay Valai to the Buffalo Bills, Venables has everyone else back on his staff and he’s the architect of the defense.
The schedule will be tough again, but expectations are high for Venables’ fifth team at Oklahoma.
Here are three areas the Sooners need to improve to get back in the national championship picture.
Run the Ball
Venables hasn’t shied away from OU’s issues running the football.
He’s put improvement in the rushing attack at the forefront all throughout the offseason, from working to sharpen the mentality of the offense to bringing in pieces like right tackle E’Marion Harris and a virtually new tight end room to help the cause.
More consistency on the ground will take pressure off Mateer’s shoulders.
It will not only allow OU to control the clock and give its defense a rest, but it will also open up the passing game downfield if the second and third levels of opposing defenses truly have to worry about bottling up the run and the pass.
The inability to run the ball was the Sooners’ most glaring issue in 2025, so there is plenty of room for improvement this fall.
Limit Mateer’s Turnovers
At times, Mateer had to do everything for OU’s offense in 2025.
There were memorable moments, but Mateer also had a handful of head-scratching mistakes.
He threw a career-high 11 interceptions a year ago, and his downturn in turnovers in November coincided with the Sooners’ employing conservative game plans.
His worst moment came in the loss to Texas, where he threw three picks, but that performance came 17 days after thumb surgery, where he clearly was unable to throw the ball downfield with real accuracy.
But he threw a pick in each of his first three games on questionable decisions, then he threw a nearly catastrophic pick against Tennessee when the Sooners were just trying to milk the clock late.
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He tossed another three picks against LSU, and the pick six he threw against Alabama helped the Crimson Tide roar all the way back after digging a 17-point hole in the College Football Playoff.
Mateer’s freewheeling nature produced incredible moments, and that will lead to risky throws. The tradeoff in those moments is usually worth it, but he can cut down on his misfires elsewhere to find a balance between pushing the envelope and taking care of the football.
Avoid the Back-breaking Special Teams Plays
Oklahoma was excellent on special teams in 2025 for the most part.
Kicker Tate Sandell won the program’s first Lou Groza Award for his incredible season, and special teams played a big role in massive victories, like Isaiah Sategna’s first punt return in Tuscaloosa that set OU’s offense up deep in Alabama territory.
But the few special teams lapses were monumental.
Texas effectively put away the Red River Showdown by returning a punt for a touchdown, though Venables correctly pointed out a key block in the back that wasn’t called that helped spring the touchdown.
But in the Cotton Bowl, the call stood, and it’s the kind of play that cannot happen when lining up against the best competition on the schedule.
Then, in the CFP, punter Grayson Miller oddly dropped the football, leading to a blocked punt. Alabama was able to take that play and start clawing its way back into the contest.
Doug Deakin has done a phenomenal job with the Sooners’ special teams units, but there are still improvements to be made in 2026.
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