Buddy Hield and Georges Niang combine for 70, Sooners advance
College basketball fans hoping to see something special from two of the nation’s best players Thursday night got their money’s worth from Oklahoma senior Buddy Hield and Iowa State senior Georges Niang in an entertaining battle in the Big 12 Conference tournament.
Hield led the the third-seeded Sooners past the sixth-seeded Cyclones 79-76. He looked like he might score 50 points early in the second half but cooled off and finished with 39 points and nine rebounds, making 14 of his 21 field goal attempts.The performance certainly added ot his case for the national Player of the Year award.
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Niang found himself in foul trouble in the first half and watching Hield torch his teammates from the bench. But Niang came alive in the second half and helped the Cyclones stay close. he scored 31 points with seven rebounds and five assists in what proved to be the final Big 12 game of a remarkable career.
The two players made history before the game started. It was the first matchup in Big 12 history featuring a pair of 2,000-point scorers.
The two stars are friends off the court and after they combined to score nearly half of all the points scored in the game, ESPN took the unusual step of interviewing them together on the court when the action ended and they made their way through the line shaking hands.
“Obviously it’s frustrating when you have to watch a good friend get out there and play so freely and have fun a succeed,” Niang said of watching so much of the action in the first half. “Obviously it was tough. I’m a competitor and I don’t want to see him succeed when he’s playing me, but he did a hell of a job tonight.”
Hield called Niang the hardest matchup in college basketball.
“I love him to death,” Hield said. “I hope I see him in the NCAA tournament.”
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Hield and Niang have been two of the best players in the Big 12 for years and along with Kansas forward Perry Ellis, they often inspire opponent’s fans to ask when their eligibility is finally up.
That moment will come for Niang the next time the Cyclones lose or when the final horn sounds on the season at the Final Four. Hield can still afford to lose once more before he’ll find himself in do-or-die mode.
Oklahoma took two out of three from the Cyclones this year and all three contests were fast-paced and wonderfully entertaining, in part, because of the talent of Hield and Niang. As Oklahoma closed out its win Thursday night, it felt like the end of an era in the Big 12, but Hield and Niang will meet again in the NBA.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
