Liberty led at the half, but Oklahoma State took control down the stretch on its way to a 69-60 win Friday in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Both teams felt the NCAA Tournament jitters as both teams committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game.
Liberty (23-6) would lead by as many as five on its way to a 30-27 lead at the break.
Oklahoma State (21-8) retook the lead less than two minutes into the half and was able to jump out to an eight-point lead (47-39), with 12:23 left in the game.
It would get no closer than four late.
Avery Anderson had 21 points to lead Oklahoma State. Cade Cunningham had 15, 14 coming in the second half.
Elijah Cuffee led four Liberty players in double figures with 16 points.
“Congratulations to Oklahoma State,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “That is a really good basketball team with a special player. They did a great job of making it really hard for us, but proud of our group, the way they represented our program, our university. Tonight wasn’t quite our night.”
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