BYU built a 25-point lead in the second half and then weathered a modest comeback by the visitors to defeat Oklahoma State 85-71 on Saturday night at the Marriott Center and earn the No. 5 seed for next week's Big 12 Tournament. .
The Cougars went on a 16-2 run at halftime and led 62-37 with 10 minutes left. Javon Small got incredibly hot and Oklahoma State cut the lead to 10 points with six minutes left, but the Cougars made enough plays until the end to cruise to the victory.
BYU finished its first season in the Big 12 with a league record of 10-8 and is 22-9 overall heading into postseason play. The Cougars were tied with Kansas for fifth place, but earned a better seed after defeating the Jayhawks in their only head-to-head matchup.
Small led Oklahoma State (4-14, 12-19) with 34 points, including 29 in the second half.
For BYU, Faus Traore scored 19 points, and Jackson Robinson, who was recognized on Senior Night along with Spencer Johnson and Tredin Christensen, added 17 points.
Here are three keys to BYU winning its 10th Big 12 championship.
• Made 12 of 31 from deep after falling behind when the Cougars failed to make 3-pointers. The Cougars got big man Traore to shoot inside and it was mostly a positive. Traore scored 19 points on 8 of 11 shots. Johnson added 10 rebounds on Senior Night, and BYU won the rebound battle 35-33.
• Credit to Small for playing an incredible second half and making the final 20 minutes a lot more interesting than it could have been. Small made 9 of 15 field goals in the second half and scored 29 of OSU's 42 points in the second half.
• BYU led by as many as nine points in the first half, but never took the lead in Stillwater, but couldn't put the visiting team away in the first 20 minutes. The Cowboys ended the first half on a 10-4 run, including a highlight-reel dunk by Eric Daley Jr., making it 32-29 in BYU's favor at halftime.
The key was how BYU started the second half with a 16-2 lead, giving them some breathing room and withstanding a small OSU comeback.
