OKLAHOMA CITY – The doghouse of Texas coach Rick Barnes features an exit as well an entrance.

Consider Varez Ward a prime example. The freshman guard had played just 27 minutes in his last five appearances and had lost playing time to junior Harrison Smith.

Ward unexpectedly resurfaced, scoring nine points in 19 minutes in a 61-58 win over Kansas State.

The reason? The game suited Ward's physical nature.

At halftime, Barnes told Ward: "This is your kind of game."

Ward was one reason that Texas held Kansas State guard Denis Clemente to 10 points on 4-of-20 shooting. Clemente scored 44 in the regular season at Texas."I thought he was terrific," Barnes said of Ward. "What he did defensively was really good."

Killing time: A stirring 71-70 win by Oklahoma State over Oklahoma featured a bizarre finish.

Just 2.3 seconds remained when Oklahoma had the ball out of bounds under Oklahoma State's basket. On Taylor Griffin's long inbounds pass to brother Blake, the clock didn't start immediately. Blake Griffin dribbled once and shot wide off the glass. Tony Crocker's tip attempt rimmed out. Oklahoma State batted the ball to halfcourt but 0.8 seconds remained on the clock.

The officiating crew reviewed the sequence on a monitor using a stop watch.

"We made sure," referee Curtis Shaw said in a statement. "We ran the play back three times just to make sure. There was over three seconds expired when Oklahoma rebounded the long miss. There was 2.3 seconds on the clock when we started the play.

"Even if Oklahoma had scored with the rebound on the long shot by Robert Griffin, it would have come after time had expired."

Briefly: The win over Oklahoma was the second for Oklahoma State senior Byron Eaton in nine tries. The Lincoln product had 16 points and seven assists. ... Texas' Dexter Pittman was much more involved in rebounding (a career-high 20) and defense (four blocked shots). Former Texas star LaMarcus Aldridge had suggested Pittman could do more, advice coach Rick Barnes relayed. ... Baylor will be making just its second appearance in the conference tournament semifinals in 12 years.