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NIT Central
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NORMAN –
Isiaih Mosley broke a Missouri State NIT scoring record with 28 points, but it wasn't enough as home-standing Oklahoma turned back the Bears, 89-72, with a strong second-half surge in the Tuesday's first round matchup in the National Invitation Tournament at Lloyd Noble Center.
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The Sooners (19-15) pulled away midway through the second half, using a 17-5 run over a five-minute stretch to extend a 50-45 lead to a 67-50 advantage with 12:33 to play. Umoja Gibson had six of his team-high 28 points in that spurt, and Missouri State would get no closer than 14 the rest of the night.
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OU finished the game an even 33-for-66 from the field with Gibson accounting for five of his team's dozen 3-pointers. Jordan Goldwire was also in double figures for the Sooners with 15 points and 8 assists, while Tanner Groves added 9 points and 9 rebounds.
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Mosley snagged a game-high 10 rebounds for the Bears to secure his fifth double-double of the season and his third over the last five games. He also moved up to No. 2 on MSU's single-season scoring list, finishing the campaign with 692 points and trailing only Winston Garland's (1986-87) 720 points. His 28 points bounced Adam Leonard (2011) and his 26-point effort vs. Miami from the top spot on the Bears' NIT single-game scoring list.
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The Bears (23-11) also got a big night from senior
Gaige Prim who scored 14 points, snagged 8 boards and dished out 4 assists while going 6-for-6 at the foul line. Prim finished his three-year stint in Springfield with 1,338 points and 627 rebounds in 86 games while closing out his tenure ranked 15
th on the school's career scoring list.
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Also noteworthy was the effort of fellow senior
Jaylen Minnett who cashed in on three 3-pointers against the Sooners in his final game to finish with 9 points. The IUPUI grad transfer racked up 359 career 3-pointers and 1,677 points in collegiate career.
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In the first half, Mosley scored 22 points, knocking down 9-of-12 shots, to keep the Bears in it. Unfortunately for the upset-minded Bears Oklahoma's 6-2 run in the final 30 seconds of the opening period put the Sooners up 47-41 at the midway point and stole the visitors' early momentum.
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The Bears led for more than nine minutes in the half and survived four ties and 10 lead changes, but OU's seven first-half threes and a rare four-point play with 28 second left in the period pushed the home side ahead by six at the break.
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Missouri State shot 48.5 percent from the field in the opening half and made 6-of-12 from long range, but struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the final 20 minutes, going 10-of-31 in the second half overall and just 3-for-12 from distance.
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For the game, MoState finished 26-of-64 (.406) overall, 9-of-24 (.375) from 3-point range and 11-for-12 (.917) at the line with 35 rebounds and 11 turnovers. Mosley finished 11-for-20 from the field with 3 steals.
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Oklahoma, which advances to play the winner of Wednesday's Colorado-St. Bonaventure matchup, out-rebounded the Bears by a 38-35 margin and accumulated 14 second-chance points from its 10 offensive caroms. The Sooners were 11-for-13 (.846) at the line with 9 turnovers, 7 steals and 8 blocks.
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As a team, the Bears eclipsed single-season records for total points (2,628), 3-pointers (283) and free throw percentage (.797), while boasting three players with 70 or more threes –
Ja'Monta Black (77), Minnett (74) and Mosley (70) – for the first time in school history.
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Mosley also secured his place as just the third NCAA Division I player in the last 30 years to average 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 from 3-point range and 90 at the line. His season line was 20.4 ppg, .504 FG%, .427 3-pt FG%, and .902 FT%.
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