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Grahams 27 points lead No. 6 Kansas past No. 3 OU
spt ap KU Graham
Kansas guard Devonte Graham shoots in front of teammate Landen Lucas (33) and Oklahoma forward Khadeem Lattin (12) and Ryan Spangler in the second half of a Big 12 Conference basketball game in Norman, Okla., Saturday. - photo by AP Photo

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma often has found a way in close games this season.
Not this time.
Devonte’ Graham scored a career-high 27 points and did a tenacious job defending Buddy Hield to help No. 6 Kansas defeat the third-ranked Sooners 76-72 on Saturday.
“Our guys kept working, kept clawing to get within reach, then made a good run there in the second half to get the lead,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “But with the lead, we couldn’t get a stop or two.”
Graham made 6 of 9 3-point attempts for the Jayhawks (21-4, 9-3 Big 12), who swept the regular-season series. Kansas won the first meeting 109-106 in triple overtime on Jan. 4.
Isaiah Cousins added 21 points for the Sooners (20-4, 8-4), who fell out of a tie for the conference lead.
Hield, who scored 46 points in the first meeting with Kansas, scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half for Oklahoma.
“I just tried to make every shot tough on him,” Graham, a sophomore guard, said of defending Hield. “He still knocked down five trey balls. He still got his shots off. He had a good game. I just tried to lock up and play the best defense I could.”
Oklahoma trailed 73-71 and called a timeout with 32.1 seconds remaining. Hield made the first of two free throws with 25.3 seconds to go, and Kansas rebounded the miss.
Graham made two free throws with 19 seconds to play to put Kansas up three. Oklahoma’s Cousins shot a quick 3-point attempt that missed. Kruger was fine with Cousins taking the shot.
“Just attack, and you’ve got to make a read, make a play there — a 3, or attack the glass and get the quick 2,” Kruger said. “Either way, it’s fine.”
Kansas rebounded the miss, and Jamari Traylor made the second of two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put it out of reach. It was Kansas’ fifth straight win, and it snapped Oklahoma’s 19-game home winning streak.
Oklahoma matched a season-low by shooting 33.3 percent from the field. The Sooners, who entered the game leading the nation in 3-point percentage, made just 10 of 32 from beyond the arc.
Kansas ran out to a 20-6 lead as the Sooners made just two of their first 19 shots. Hield didn’t score until 9:04 remained in the first half.
Perry Ellis committed his second foul with 4:51 left in the first half and went to the bench with the Jayhawks leading 32-19. Oklahoma closed the half on a 14-6 run to make it 38-33.
The Sooners shot just 26.7 percent from the field in the first half and made 2 of 13 3-point attempts, but they made 15 of 18 free throws.
Hield, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, was held without a field goal in the first half on 0-for-6 shooting, but he made all six free throws.
“If you look at the percentages of what they’re shooting, we’re shooting and we’re within five, we feel kind of fortunate to not be in a deeper hole,” Kruger said.
Hield’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 18:28 remaining, put the Sooners up 39-38. Consecutive 3-pointers by Hield put the Sooners ahead 52-48.
Kansas rallied to take a 59-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Wayne Selden with just over 7 minutes to play, and the game was close the rest of the way.
“We have key players and good chemistry, so I just feel like this is a learning experience,” Cousins said. “Once we move on, we’re going to be rolling again.”

TIP-INS
Kansas: The Jayhawks did not trail in either of their previous two games, wins over TCU and West Virginia. ... Made just two free throws in the first half. ... Frank Mason fouled out with 14 points.
Oklahoma: The Sooners beat Kansas 75-73 last year in Norman on Hield’s tip-in at the buzzer. ... Hield, Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have started 92 consecutive games together. ... Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan attended the game.

UP NEXT
Kansas hosts Oklahoma State on Monday.
Oklahoma plays at Texas Tech on Wednesday

No. 6 KANSAS 76,
No. 3 OKLAHOMA 72
KANSAS (21-4)
Lucas 2-3 3-4 7, Ellis 4-12 0-0 10, Mason III 4-7 5-6 14, Selden Jr. 2-9 1-2 6, Graham 8-13 5-6 27, Diallo 0-0 0-0 0, Greene 4-8 0-0 9, Bragg Jr. 1-1 0-0 2, Traylor 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 25-54 15-20 76.
OKLAHOMA (20-4)
Spangler 1-4 1-2 3, Lattin 1-3 4-4 6, Woodard 3-12 3-3 10, Cousins 8-19 2-2 21, Hield 5-15 9-10 24, Walker 0-2 0-0 0, James 1-1 3-4 6, McNeace 0-0 0-2 0, Buford 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 20-60 22-27 72.
Halftime—Kansas 38-33. 3-Point Goals—Kansas 11-26 (Graham 6-9, Ellis 2-3, Mason III 1-4, Greene 1-5, Selden Jr. 1-5), Oklahoma 10-32 (Hield 5-11, Cousins 3-9, James 1-1, Woodard 1-6, Buford 0-1, Walker 0-1, Spangler 0-3). Fouled Out—Mason III. Rebounds—Kansas 38 (Lucas 10), Oklahoma 36 (Spangler 7). Assists—Kansas 11 (Mason III 3), Oklahoma 12 (Cousins 5). Total Fouls—Kansas 24, Oklahoma 19. A—12,247.