NORMAN, Okla., 23 February 2005 — Terrell Everett scored a game-high 19 points and David Godbold added a career-high 15 to lead No. 22 Oklahoma over No. 8 Kansas, 71-63, at the Noble Center on Monday.
Johnnie Gilbert contributed 12 for the Sooners (20-6, 9-4 Big 12), who have won three straight.
Wayne Simien scored 17 for Kansas (20-4, 10-3), which lost its third straight game for the first time in 11 years. Keith Langford had 16 in the loss.
The Sooners led by as many as 19 in the opening half and were on top, 37-22 at the break. Kansas, though, was within four, 45-41, eight minutes into the second half.
A three-pointer by J.R. Giddens cut the Sooners’ lead to one, 47-46, with 9:36 left. The game would remain close, but Oklahoma would not relinquish the lead.
With Kansas trailing 56-52, Langford missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Taj Gray made two free throws for a six-point lead. Godbold’s putback off the glass increased the lead to 60-52 with 2:36 left and the Sooners held on for the eight-point win.
Down one in the early going, the Sooners used a 15-2 run to take the lead. Godbold scored to give Oklahoma a 5-4 edge and the Sooners would not trail again. A three-pointer by Lawrence McKenzie capped the run to give the Sooners an 18-6 advantage with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half.
Oklahoma, which made 15-of-29 shots from the field in the half, continued to add to its lead. Threes by Everett and McKenzie made it 24-9 and the lead reached 19 at 37-18 after another shot from beyond the arc by Godbold fell through the hoop with just over a minute to play before the break.
The Jayhawks, who made just 9-of-19 attempts from the field, scored the final four points of the half to trail 37-22.
In Albuquerque, N.M., Mark Walters scored a season-high 22 points to lift New Mexico to a 65-54 win over 13th-ranked Utah at the Pit.
Walters sparked a late second-half surge with five straight points, ending 7- of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range, for the Lobos (20-6, 7-4 Mountain West), who have won three straight and six of seven.
Danny Granger, who missed New Mexico’s 69-58 loss to Utah earlier this season, added 15 points and nine boards for New Mexico, which has beaten a ranked Utah team six of the last seven times at the Pit.
Andrew Bogut had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Utes (23-4, 11-1), who had an 18-game winning streak halted. Marc Jackson added 12 points for Utah, which failed in its attempts to become the first MWC team in history to finish the season undefeated in conference play.
New Mexico scored 13 of the first 17 points of the game to get started. Utah responded with a 13-2 run to take a 17-15 lead on a Tim Drisdom three-pointer with 7:46 left in the half.
