Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) - Markel Brown tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds as No. 7 Oklahoma State topped 20th-ranked Colorado 78-73 in the second game of the MGM Grand Showcase.
Marcus Smart had 18 points and Phil Forte shot 4-of-7 from behind the arc for 16 points off the bench as OSU (11-1) won its fourth straight tilt following a 73-68 loss to Memphis on Dec. 1.
Le'Bryan Nash contributed 15 points in the winning effort.
Josh Scott recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 boards in the setback. Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 19 and 18 points, respectively, for Colorado (10-2).
New Mexico took down Marquette 75-68 in the opener of the doubleheader.
Michael Cobbins broke a 25-all tie late in the first half with a transition layup from Brown. Brown then scored five of the final six points of the period as OSU took a 32-26 edge into the locker rooms.
The Buffaloes never seemed out of the game, but OSU kept them at arm's length for the rest of the contest.
Booker's layup 1:41 into the second half made it 34-32, but Smart made a free throw and Brown knocked down a jumper to extend the OSU lead back to five.
It was 54-49 with 8:47 left when Forte knocked down a pair of treys around a Smart three-point play to force a Colorado timeout.
Booker followed his own miss with a baseline floater for a 66-59 margin with just under six minutes left, but Brown secured two offensive rebounds on OSU's next possession, which ended in a set of free throws.
Forte came off a curl with 3:10 to play and knocked down his fourth 3 of the game for a 73-61 Cowboys edge, but Colorado had one final push.
Dinwiddie followed Scott's three-point play with a transition trey, but the comeback effort fell short when Scott missed two free throws with a minute left.
Game Notes
This was the first ever meeting between the two schools when both were ranked ... Oklahoma State improved to 61-48 all-time against Colorado. The Cowboys have won 19 of the past 26 bouts in the series ... OSU has nine days off for the holidays before hosting Robert Morris on Dec. 30 in its final non- conference tilt of the regular season. The Cowboys open Big 12 play on Jan. 4 at Kansas State ... Forte, who entered the game shooting 31-of-32 from the free throw line, made only 4-of-7.
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