After an important 66-62 overtime win over Oklahoma State Saturday in Norman, it looks like the Oklahoma Sooners will match up with West Virginia in the play-in round in the Big 12 Championship Tournament.

(OU hosted the Mountaineers Tuesday night – the Tulsa Beacon is printed on Tuesday).

OU (15-14, 5-11 in the Big 12) is chasing Kansas State (14-14, 6-11) for the seventh seeding in the Big 12 Tournament. The Sooners and Wildcats finish the regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday in Manhattan. OU beat K-State 71-69 in Norman on New Year’s Day.

OSU is not eligible for the tournament so the number 8 and 9 seeded teams with have an extra game to play to reach the finals. Winning the Big 12 may be OU’s only chance to make the NCAA field (with the automatic bid). And winning the Big 12 Tournament may be a tall order. But all the speculation would have been moot had OU lost the Bedlam game to OSU.

Tanner Groves had 14 points with 10 rebounds and Jordan Goldwire each scored 13 points for the Sooners, who led almost always until OSU tied it late to force an overtime.

“They fought,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “They stayed with it, and that’s what we needed. We needed some confidence that we can turn it when something doesn’t go our way in these close games. We’ve lost a bunch of close games, and so it was really well needed for these guys.”

The smothering Sooner defense held the Cowboys to 25% shooting as OU led 29-19 at the half. Oklahoma State committed 11 turnovers before the break.

“I wish I could erase the first 20 minutes of the game,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. “I think I’d be feeling a lot better about what happened today.”

OU had dropped their last four straight – two by two or fewer points, including an overtime loss at Kansas. They actually have been playing well but coming up just short.

“They were exhausted,” Moser said. “Exhausted mentally and physically. And man, did they need it (the win). They just had pure joy on their faces, pure relief on their faces.”

Avery Anderson had 25 points and Moussa Cisse had 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Cowboys.

“A lot of being a really competitive game which I thought it was,”Boynton said. “Give them credit, they responded. Porter (Moser) and his staff did a great job in preparing their guys to play with a more physical determination this time around, and had us on our heels quite honestly for the first half, but also credit to our guys for responding to that and putting ourselves in a position to have a shot to win. Tough league. Tough loss. Proud of their fight to comeback and compete the way they did, but obviously disappointed we didn’t get the job done.”