Missouri Missouri/Oklahoma Oklahoma Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

He made the most of his second chance, though. Johnson atoned for a crucial missed free throw by scoring the go-ahead basket, lifting No. 16 Oklahoma to a 67-65 win over Missouri in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament Friday night.

"This is a tough one," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "We didn't make plays down the stretch."

The Tigers did make one big play to take a late lead, but couldn't make another to keep it.

Justin Gage's basket with 29.3 seconds left gave the sixth-seeded Tigers (19-11) a 65-63 lead, but Johnson hit the first of two foul shots with 13.2 seconds remaining to cut the margin to one.

He missed the second free throw, but third-seeded Oklahoma (24-6) got the ball back when Missouri's Kareem Rush and T.J. Soyoye collided going for the rebound and the ball went out of bounds.

"I had everything set up for us to make two (free throws)," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team meets Kansas – the tournament's second seed – in Saturday's semifinals.

"I never thought he'd miss that second free throw. But luckily, when Missouri called a timeout, it gave us a chance to set up our offense."

The miscue spoiled an outstanding shooting night by Rush, who hit five 3-pointers and led the Tigers with 31 points in just his third game back from surgery on the thumb of his shooting hand.

Johnson – who finished with 20 points – then scored on a driving layup with 3.2 seconds left to give Oklahoma a 66-65 lead, and Missouri threw the ball away at the other end of the court.

"I saw a clear lane, and I knew I wanted to be aggressive and hope for a foul," Johnson said. "I did take it strong and it ended up going in."

Aaron McGhee hit one more free throw for the Sooners with 2.9 seconds to go and then stole the inbounds pass after a Missouri timeout.

Johnson's basket sealed an emotional, physical game in which neither team could gain control.

"It's not one thing I can say that we didn't do during the game," Missouri guard Clarence Gilbert said. "We did it all. We dove, we fought, we scratched, we clawed."

Missouri led 30-20 on Rush's 3-pointer with 1:18 left in the first half, capping a 19-6 run. But the Sooners came back early in the second half and tied the game at 33 on McGhee's 3-pointer with 18:45 to play.

Johnson scored five points in an 11-0 run that gave Oklahoma a 53-48 lead with just under eight minutes remaining, but Rush hit a jumper with 4½ minutes left for a 55-all tie.

Hollis Price converted a three-point play with 2:24 left to put Oklahoma up 61-60, but Missouri's Clarence Gilbert answered with a 3-point shot at the 2-minute mark for a 63-61 lead.

Gilbert, who hit 8 of 11 3-pointers and scored 30 points in Thursday night's 77-62 win over Texas A&M, was 3-for-10 from long range on Friday and finished with nine points.

Daryan Selvy had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Sooners. McGhee also had 11 points, and Price finished with 10 points and five assists.

Soyoye had a double-double for Missouri with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Missouri Clubhouse

Oklahoma Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Nolan Johnson drives the baseline and hits the game-winner.
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Clarence Gilbert tips a pass and Wesley Stokes takes it the distance.
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Nolan Johnson drives for a bucket and gets the foul.
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Kareem Rush penetrates the Sooners' defense and nails a jumper.
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Nolan Johnson spins in the lane and hits a jumper.
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