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Oklahoma State upsets No. 2 Kansas 85-80

Phil Forte

Oklahoma State guard Phil Forte (13) celebrates in the arms of a teammate following an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Oklahoma State defeated Kansas 85-80. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

AP

Markel Brown scored 22 of his 28 points in the first half, and Marcus Smart added 25 points, nine boards and five steals, taking the game over in crunch time, as Oklahoma State upset No. 2 Kansas 85-80.

The Cowboys had a 14 point lead early in the first half, but the Jayhawks slowly but surely trimmed that deficit throughout the first 20 minutes. Kansas took the lead in the second half, but the Pokes wouldn’t let the Jayhawks pull away. The clincher was a game-deciding, 13-2 run that Oklahoma State used to take a 75-68 lead with just 1:12 left. Smart was the facilitator of that run, starting it by finding Phil Forte for a three-ball and finishing it with a pair of jumpers and two free throws.

It played into every single story that we’ve heard about Smart this season. He’s a defender. He’s a winner. He will do whatever it takes to win a game.

And that may never be more obvious that it was on Saturday afternoon.

(Before I go any further praising Smart, you need to get an idea of just how impressive this win was. Kansas had won 102 of their last 103 games at Phog Allen. The one loss? The game that was played against Texas the day after Thomas Robinson’s mother passed away. Oklahoma State hadn’t won in Lawrence since 1989. They hadn’t beaten a team ranked in the top two nationally since 1958. And Kansas had won 18 straight games this season, the longest streak in the country.

Now, back to Marcus Smart.)

He scored off of steals he created. His teammates scored off of his assists. He gave Oklahoma State a three-point lead with 2:19 left on the clock when he scored off of an offensive rebound he grabbed on a missed free throw by Brown. After getting a steal at the other end of the floor, he scored off of an offensive rebound he grabbed when Michael Cobbins missed a jumper.

After hitting five-of-six from the free throw line in the final minutes, Smart eventually made the game-saving play. He stripped Elijah Johnson as he tried to cross him over with the score 83-80 and just five seconds left on the clock.

What made Smart’s performance all the more impressive is that he did it after Kansas seemed to gain control of the game.

The Jayhawks have done this before. They struggle to find a rhythm, they let a lesser team hang around and then they turn it on and put the game away. And it looked like they were going to do just that on Saturday afternoon.

Until Marcus Smart showed up.

It must be noted that in addition to moving to 5-3 in the Big 12, Oklahoma State notches one of the most impressive wins of the season under their belt. It’s enough that the Cowboys should be able to lock up an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament so long as they beat the teams they are supposed to beat down the stretch of the season.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.