NCAA: Oklahoma goes OT to edge Colorado in College Basketball Crown quarterfinals

Nijel Pack scored 20 points, including two key 3-pointers in overtime, to lift Oklahoma to a 90-86 victory over Colorado in the opening round of the College Basketball Crown on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

The Sooners (20-15) will face Baylor in Saturday's semifinals after the Bears defeated Minnesota 67-48.

Oklahoma’s final eight points came from the free-throw line. The Sooners took the lead on Xzayvier Brown’s free throws with 32 seconds left. Colorado’s Ian Inman missed a jumper with four seconds remaining, and Kuol Atak grabbed the rebound, drew a foul, and sank two free throws to put Oklahoma ahead by three with 3.9 seconds on the clock.

Barrington Hargress went to the line for Colorado but missed the first free throw. He attempted to miss the second, but it went in, and Brown added two more to seal the win. Hargress had been perfect from the line earlier, making 14 of 14 attempts.

Hargress scored a season-high 31 points for the Buffaloes (17-16), with Alon Michaeli contributing 18. Despite shooting just 24% in the second half, Colorado stayed close, trailing by only two points after Josiah Sanders grabbed a rebound on Atak’s missed 3-pointer with 19.9 seconds left.

Hargress tied the game with a layup with 1.6 seconds remaining, sending the match into overtime. Tae Davis tried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer off an inbound pass, but it bounced off the backboard.

In overtime, Davis scored 19, Brown added 17, and Atak tallied 16 points off the bench to secure the win for Oklahoma.

Colorado, playing without three of its top four scorers from the regular season, led for most of the game. Oklahoma struggled early, making just 1 of 11 field goals and missing seven 3-pointers. Colorado extended its lead late in the first half on Felix Kossaras’ jumper, making it 41-31 with 74 seconds left.

The Sooners closed the gap by halftime with back-to-back 3-pointers from Atak and Brown, cutting the deficit to four. The teams combined to make 61 of 71 free throws — Colorado 33 of 39 (84.6%) and Oklahoma 28 of 32 (87.5%).

—Field Level Media/Reuters