Harris, Turner lead A&M past OU

Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy got everything he could out of those that got on the floor Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena.

He had to with Dash Harris playing 43 minutes, Elston Turner playing 42 minutes and four others playing at least 26 in Texas A&M's 81-75 overtime victory over Oklahoma.

The Aggies lost leading scorer Khris Middleton 15 minutes into the game, and with a short bench, Kennedy had few options.

"I thought we maxed out," Kennedy said. "We competed for 45 minutes. [Harris and Turner] have to play that many minutes for us."

Turner hit a 3 to send the game into overtime, then Turner and Harris combined to score 13 of A&M's 16 points in the OT.

It was a much-needed victory for A&M (11-7, 2-4).

"It shows how much heart our team has, to start off conference the way we have and to battle like we did," Harris said. "Going down, coming back and finishing in overtime. It shows the character of this team and how good we can be."

OU (12-6, 2-4) led most of the game and didn't trail from the 17:26 mark of the second half until 18 seconds into overtime.

"Playing the extra five minutes doesn't get to us," Harris said. "Coach said you want to score the first possession, get the lead and not look back after that."

Turner's 3 and a runner in the lane by Harris put A&M ahead in OT, then the Aggies held on by making free throws, sinking 8 of 10 after going 4 of 12 the first 42 minutes.

"That was the key. The right people were shooting the free throws," Kennedy said. "Dash, a senior, stepped up and made some good free throws when we needed them."

A&M first had to get into overtime.

David Loubeau tied the game at 60 with a hook shot in the lane. The Aggies again pulled even at 62 on Ray Turner's follow.

OU's Andrew Fitzgerald completed a three-point play with a minute remaining to put OU ahead 65-62.

On A&M's next possession, Harris found Elston Turner in the corner, and Turner tied the game at 65-65 with his second of three 3s.

"The play was set up for me, and [OU] did a great job of defending it," Turner said. "So I went behind Dash, and the defender didn't see I was open."

Elston Turner finished with a career-high 23 points, while Harris matched his career best with 14.

With 40 seconds remaining, OU brought the ball upcourt and called timeout.

Harris then fouled Sam Grooms with 15 seconds remaining, giving the Sooners a fresh shot clock and allowing them to take the final shot.

The Sooners set up Steven Pledger for a long 2-pointer that fell off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Pledger had 16 points, one less than Fitzgerald and two fewer than Romero Osby, who was 8 of 10 from the field, but didn't take a shot in the final 11 minutes and 48 seconds.

"Romero did a good job, he was aggressive, attacking," said first-year Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger. "Obviously when a guy is going like that the opponent is going to do things to make it more difficult for him."

Middleton, who injured his knee in the first game of the season and missed a month, re-injured the knee while going for a rebound along with Ray Turner and two Sooners.

Middleton went immediately to the locker room and returned to the bench before the end of the half, but never went back in the game.

"His leg is doing OK, I haven't gotten terrible news on it, so that is a good thing," Kennedy said. "We were thinking of probably resting him some this week because he's had a hard time in practice with it anyway. He bent it back when Ray fell on him awkwardly."

Kennedy said some of the swelling had already gone down at the postgame press conference.

OU held its largest lead at 28-20 when Middleton went down. A big part of that came because the Sooners held a 16-4 edge in rebounding just past the midway point of the first half.

Naji Hibbert filled in for Middleton, logging a season-high 28 minutes. He scored nine points, including a 3-pointer not long after he entered the game.

Harris and Elston Turner did the rest for the remainder of the half, scoring the final nine points.

"We were more defined offensively," Kennedy said. "We knew we wanted to go to Elston, and when Naji had good looks we wanted him to take it. We probably were a little more balanced offensively. We've played without [Middleton] before, and hopefully we can get him back."

David Loubeau also became more of a focal point in the second half, scoring 12 of his 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting after the break.

OU had taken the early lead with its offensive rebounding and A&M got back in the game by doing the same, especially after missed free throws.

Five times the Aggies rebounded missed free throws and twice Keith Davis, who led all rebounders with nine, put it straight back up for baskets.

"Obviously, in an overtime game it's pretty critical," Kruger said. "This was real tough when you have a chance to win a road game. Those are hard losses."

A season-high crowd of 8,468 saw the game with approximately 2,500 students at the first Big 12 home game with the students in session.

"The crowd was great," Elston Turner said. "We felt like we kind of owed them that game as well. Having them support us and getting a great win was amazing."

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NOTES -- A&M has beaten OU a school-best five straight times. ... A&M outrebounded OU 36-35, after trailing 16-4. ... The Aggies hit 4 of 4 shots in overtime, which pushed them over the 50 percent mark (52.5) for only the second time in 16 games and the first since their 76-58 victory over Arkansas Tech on Dec. 29. ... A&M had more assists (15) than turnovers (10) for the first time since the Arkansas Tech game.