Grant Sherfield crossed halfcourt, picked up his dribble and finally began to loosen up.

The senior guard was bleeding out the final few seconds left in OU's 61-50 road win over 23rd-ranked Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, and he was still clutching the ball with one hand as he high-fived teammate Milos Uzan with the other.

The buzzer sounded soon afterward, sealing a statement victory for the Sooners (14-15, 4-12 Big 12). They pulled off the upset by outscoring the Cyclones 38-22 in the second half.

"Iowa State did what they do," OU head coach Porter Moser said. "They come out and they punch you in the face. ... I thought we bounced back."

Here are three takeaways from the win at Iowa State (17-11, 8-8):

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OU misses extra ball handler in Bijan Cortes during first half

Uzan knew he’d made a mistake as soon as the ball left his hands.

OU trailed 28-22 with 1:08 left until halftime when the freshman guard tried to pass the ball to Jalen Hill. Uzan thought Hill was going to fade out to the corner, but the senior forward instead made a cut to the rim.

Uzan's hands immediately recoiled in horror as he passed the ball to an empty corner and watched it sail out of bounds.

OU committed 10 turnovers in the first half, and four of them were bad passes that went out of bounds. The Cyclones converted the Sooners’ turnovers into 10 points on the other end to help take a 28-23 lead at the midway point.

OU struggled to handle the ball, which is usually a duty of Bijan Cortes.

The sophomore guard ranks third on the team in assists per game this season (2), but he announced a temporary break from basketball Tuesday.

Cortes recorded 10 points and three assists in OU’s first meeting against Iowa State on Jan. 4, but the Kingfisher native’s ball handling was missed Saturday.

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Jacob Groves, OU’s supporting cast spark comeback

OU held a 34-32 lead with 16:44 left in the game when a 3-pointer by Sherfield rimmed out.

But waiting underneath the rim was Jacob Groves, who fended off an Iowa State player with one hand and secured an offensive board with the other.

That gave the Sooners and extra possession, and it ended with a 3-point attempt by Groves that found the bottom of the rim.

On a day when OU’s two leading scorers this season, Sherfield and Hill, combined for 12 points on 3-for-14 shooting from the floor (2-for-10 from deep), role players such as Groves picked up the slack.

The senior forward averaged 1.7 points on 20% shooting from the floor in OU’s previous 10 games, but he erupted for a game-high 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor (4-for-5 from deep) Saturday.

OU finished with 25 bench points, and it needed every bucket from its supporting cast as it earned a statement road win.

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Sooners earn best road win of the season

It isn’t easy to get a win at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State entered Saturday with a 13-1 record at home. It has the sixth-best home court advantage in the nation, according to an advanced metric by KenPom that factors in stats such as home steals advantage, home foul advantage and home-scoring advantage.

And yet the Sooners walked out of Ames Saturday with a convincing 61-50 win.

It’s only the second true road win by OU all season, not including three neutral-site victories in the ESPN Events Invitational from Nov. 24-27.

The win is a much-needed one for the Sooners, who hope to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

The Sooners close out regular-season play with a Wednesday night game at Kansas State before hosting TCU next Saturday.

"For us, it's to keep believing," Moser said of his message to his team. "Just keep believing and fighting. That's why they call it March Madness. ... Anything can happen."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Sooners upset Iowa State Cyclones for Big 12 basketball win