NORMAN — The entirety of Saturday night's Bedlam clash at the Lloyd Noble Center was a battle.

Oklahoma knew it would be, and it entered the danger zone late in the game.

Despite leading 31-26 at halftime, they trailed Oklahoma State 56-52 with 5:40 to go. But the Sooners finally started to make some plays. Fueled by 3-pointers from Jalon Moore and Le'Tre Darthard, the Sooners scored the next nine points to take a five-point lead.

Oklahoma State battled back to cut the lead to 61-60 with 1:20 to go, but four clutch free throws from Javian McCollum kept the Sooners ahead.

Clinging to a three-point lead with 11 seconds to go, Rivaldo Soares poked the ball away from OSU's Javon Smalls, and it was picked up by Otega Oweh.

That proved to be the final play the Sooners needed to make, as they outlasted Oklahoma State 66-62 to improve to 18-6 and 6-5 in Big 12 play.

Here's two takeaways and some notes from the Sooners' win:

The Cowboys simply never got going offensively, scoring just 26 points in the first half on 21.9% shooting. However, eight OU turnovers and an 11-5 advantage in free throws helped keep them in the game.

Early in the second half, that trend continued. The Cowboys shot nine free throws in the opening five minutes, and at one point had attempted 24 free throws to Oklahoma's seven.

The Sooners struggled to stop fouling, but they were also whistled for three technical fouls, and two of them came in the opening minutes of the second half. Sam Godwin was given a technical foul while he was on the bench — which fouled him out of the game — and Otega Oweh was given a technical after making a layup. John Hugley was also called for a flagrant foul at the 14:57 mark, giving the Cowboys two more free throws.

"I’ll say this, and I should’ve said it at the beginning: I didn’t expect anything less from Oklahoma State playing their tails off," Moser said. "Physical, physical, high energy —played unbelievably hard, and I didn’t expect anything else from Oklahoma State.”

The Cowboys finished 21 of 28 from the free throw line, while the Sooners made 15 of 24. The Sooners shot 45.6% (21 of 46) from the floor and 9 of 23 (39%) from 3. The Cowboys shot 30.6% from the floor (19 of 62) and three of 18 (16.7%).

It was another rough outing for the starting guard: seven points (1 of 7 shooting), two rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. McCollum had just three points heading into the final two minutes.

But when the Sooners needed it most, McCollum delivered from the free-throw line by making all of four of his attempts.

It's been a tough stretch for McCollum in recent games. He's made just eight of his last 46 attempts from the 3-point line, and he's finished with more than nine points in just two of the last six games.

But Moser was proud of the way McCollum battled back late in the game.

"That's what makes him special," Moser said. "He definitely wanted (the free throws)... He wasn't going to pass that off. And I love that about him. He wants that no matter what at the end of the game.

"He’s going to continue to come out of it. But man, down the stretch, that’s what you love. There was no way. He wanted that ball and wasn’t going to give it up. It was good to see how bad he wanted it."

— Moser didn't dive deep into what prompted the technicals for Moore and Oweh, but indicated that Godwin was assessed one for waving his towel from the bench.

"There’s nothing I can do to plan for Sam Godwin to foul out from the bench," Moser said. "I’ve been doing this for 33 years and I don’t think I have ever sat there before the game if Sam fouls out from the bench, this is what I’m going to do. It was crazy. The atmosphere kept our guys believing, kept our guys in there."

— With Godwin fouled out, it forced Luke Northweather into the game. The freshman responded with some of his best minutes of the season, finishing with five points (one 3-pointer), a rebound and three assists in 10 minutes of action.

"The guys were so happy for Luke Northweather," Moser said. "It’s very hard to not play, and then all of a sudden get in this atmosphere.That is a great lesson in keeping your mind right, staying with it. And he had two other (shots) that were just in and out. I thought he was loud on defense. He didn’t look scared of the moment, and that’s a credit to him to stay ready.”

— Speaking of the atmosphere, the Lloyd Noble Center was nearly full. OSU coach Mike Boynton said it was the best crowd that he's seen in Norman.

The Sooners also paid tribute at halftime to country music icon and Sooner fan Toby Keith, who passed away on Tuesday.

"I thought the crowd had tremendous energy," Moser said. "They were there whole time. It's what's you envision, to look around and it's completely filled and to have them walking away with a win. I mean, it was. And it wasn't the prettiest (game). It wasn't... There were so many ebbs and flows and the crowd just stayed high energy. So yeah, definitely it means a lot to them, and for us, we still have some huge home games, and they make a difference."

— Soares continues to play well off the bench. His final stat line: eight points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals in 30 minutes.

Darthard also added nine points, including two 3-pointers, and four rebounds off the bench.

— With the win, the Sooners improve to 18 wins, their most in a season under Moser.

— Next up: The Sooners travel for a road game at Baylor at 8 p.m. Tuesday.