Thursday,  March 20, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 247 • 24 of 35

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• "We'll gladly be your Cinderella, America."
• Except this Cinderella doesn't fit the traditional mold. These Bison are proven. They won at Notre Dame in the regular season. This is part of a progressive rise under Phillips since the Bison made their first tourney trip in 2009.
• They have a swagger not typically seen from smaller programs, because the Bison don't see themselves that way.
• Take Alexander. After releasing possibly the biggest shot of his career -- the tying 3 that forced overtime -- he hollered "buckets," so confident the shot would rattle through the net.
• "That's a lot of confidence there big fella," Phillips said.
• Cameron Clark led Oklahoma (23-10) with 25 points, including 16 in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime. Isaiah Cousins added 17 points and Jordan Woodward had 13, making up for leading scorer Buddy Hield being limited to nine points on 4 of 14 shooting.
• "They fought, kind of out hustled us on rebounds and things like that, but overall they're a great team," Clark said.
• Whenever the Bison needed a big shot, Alexander answered. With Braun bottled up by the Sooners defense, it fell to Alexander to pick up the scoring load. The most he scored all season was 20 points and his career-high came in 2011 as a freshman.
• No basket was bigger than the 3 that forced overtime. Braun drove into the lane and was cut off. Alexander was his only option. After briefly struggling to get the handle, he rattled in his fourth 3-pointer of the game.
• Oklahoma gave NDSU a chance at tying by twice missing foul shots in the final minute.
• Oklahoma had chances to win in regulation getting off three shots. Hield's open 3 rimmed off, Woodward's free-throw line jumper was short and Cousins' reverse layup attempt at the buzzer never caught the rim.
• NDSU scored the first four points of overtime on baskets by Bjorklund and Alexander, but Clark's 3 pulled Oklahoma even at 70.
• Braun put the Bison ahead with 1:39 left 72-70 on a driving layup. After he fell to the court, Braun got tangled with Clark, who appeared to inadvertently kick Braun in the face. No additional fouls were called, but Braun fouled out seconds later reaching in as Clark attempted to shoot.
• Clark hit both, but four seconds later Dupree -- a 58 percent free throw shooter -- hit a pair to put the Bison back in front. Following an Oklahoma miss, Dupree drove baseline and scored instead of running off time. It was the shot of an

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