NORMAN, Okla. -- When he arrived at Oklahoma after spending his freshman season away from home, Ryan Spangler made no secret of the fact he disliked the Sooners' in-state rivals.

"I couldn't go orange," Spangler said before his first Bedlam game.

Wednesday, in his final regular-season game against Oklahoma State, the senior forward had the best performance of his career, scoring 26 points and added 14 rebounds to give the No. 3 Sooners a 71-49 blowout of the Cowboys in front of 11,470 at Lloyd Noble Center.

"Just fell in a rhythm," Spangler said. "Teammates saw me hit one or two and they kept giving me the ball. Once you get in a rhythm, it's hard to miss."

That rhythm was never more apparent than with just less than four minutes remaining in the first half, when he banked in a 3-pointer to tie the game.

The shot left Spangler shaking his head and muttering to himself.

It was that kind of night for the forward from just outside of Norman who had missed all 12 of his 3-point tries in the month of February.

The win lifts Oklahoma (22-5, 10-5 Big 12) into a second-place tie in the conference with West Virginia with three games remaining. The Sooners own the tiebreaker over the Mountaineers after sweeping the season series.

The Cowboys fell to 12-16 and 3-12,

Oklahoma State's game plan coming in was to play off Spangler, giving the Cowboys the ability to give more attention to the Sooners' guards.

That worked outside of Spangler hitting shots.

Oklahoma's three starting guards—Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard—were just 9 of 32 from the field.

But Spangler made Oklahoma State pay.

He hit four first-half 3-pointers -- getting a career high from behind the arc before halftime -- and was 10 of 13 from the field.

"We had to pick our poison and he was just hitting them tonight," Oklahoma State's Jeff Newberry said.

The Cowboys never trailed in the first half until Spangler drilled his final 3-pointer just before the buzzer to put the Sooners up 27-24.

Oklahoma has dominated its Bedlam rivals in recent seasons, winning seven consecutive games. The Cowboys have not won in Norman since 2004.

Even with a depleted lineup that has struggled recently, the Cowboys led for much of the first half and kept the game close into the second half.

But the Sooners ripped off an 18-1 run when the Cowboys went more than six minutes without a field goal early in the second half.

The stretch started with four consecutive Oklahoma State turnovers, leading to eight Oklahoma points.

Hield said the Sooners needed a defensive fix after losing to Kansas and Texas Tech in back-to-back games before winning on Saturday at West Virginia.

"For us, after the first two losses, we see what we did on film," Hield said. "We needed to fix that. It started from the West Virginia game. We can guard anybody. We can by physical, aggressive and get stops. No matter how we score the ball, we have a chance to win. That's what we're banking off now -- defense."

But as good as Oklahoma's defense was, Spangler stole the show.

Going through warmups before the game, Spangler noticed a lack of pain in the knee that had been bothering him since banging knees with Iowa State's Matt Thomas in the Big 12 opener Jan. 2.

Spangler said it was the first time he'd been pain-free for a game since then.

"I felt a little bouncy," he said. "I knew it was going to be a good game. I took my time on that first shot. When I saw it go in, I got a little confidence going."

Newberry led the Cowboys with 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers.

Hield had 17 points but was just 5 of 15 from the field as the Sooners made a season-low 10 3-pointers.

NOTES: Already without a pair of starters (Jawun Evans, Phil Forte) due to injury, the Cowboys lost another when Jeffrey Carroll had to stay behind in Stillwater due to illness. Tavarius Shine started in his place. ... Buddy Hield's first 3-pointer, early in the game, gave him the Big 12 record for most 3-pointers in a season, breaking the record of 64 set by Oklahoma State's Keiton Page in 2011-12. ... Oklahoma plays at Texas on Saturday. The Sooners beat the Longhorns 63-60 on Feb. 8. ... The Cowboys host West Virginia the same day. The Mountaineers won the first meeting 77-60 on Jan. 9.