NORMAN, Okla. - The matchup between the two best players in the Big 12 lived up to its billing.

Oklahoma's Buddy Hield and Iowa State's Georges Niang combined for 51 points, with Niang getting the final edge in points but Hield's No. 3 Sooners getting the win with an 87-83 win over the No. 11 Cyclones in front of 10,116 at Lloyd Noble Center.

While Hield was the centerpiece for the Sooners, it was plays by the other two guards - and struggles by Iowa State in the final five minutes - that allowed Oklahoma to pull out the win.

Oklahoma's Isaiah Cousins overcame a miserable first half, missing all six shots he took and not recording any assists, to turn in a memorable second half.

With just less than five minutes to play after Iowa State once again answered a big Sooners' basket with one of its own, Cousins hit his third 3-pointer of the half to put Oklahoma up by a pair.

On the next possession, Niang (29 points) was dribbling on the perimeter when Cousins poked the ball away with his right hand, then went to his left around Niang for the steal and found Ryan Spangler at the basket for a layup.

Cousins scored all 15 of his points and had four assists after halftime.

"You're never worried about what Isaiah is going to do because he's always in the gym," guard Jordan Woodard said. "That's where he breathes. He breathes basketball. If he's struggling, we talk to him as a team. We let him know what he needs to hear but he already knows what to do."

Cousins put Oklahoma (12-0, 1-0 Big 12) in front and Woodard helped keep them there with his step-back jumper over Deonte Burton at the shot-clock buzzer with 54 seconds remaining to put the Sooners up 85-81.

After an Oklahoma turnover gave the Cyclones (11-2, 0-1) another shot with less than 15 seconds remaining, Monte Morris' potential go-ahead 3-pointer banked off the front of the rim and bounced out of bounds off Jameel McKay's hands.

Hield hit two free throws to seal the game.

"As good a look as you're gonna get, especially on the road," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "I mean, a wide-open 3. It didn't come down to that. The turnovers, those are kind of fluke plays. It happens. You can second-guess yourself here or there but these guys made great offensive plays all night. We got a great look. You get that look, you live with it."

Now the Sooners can look forward to Monday's matchup in Lawrence, Kan., which is likely to feature the top two teams in the country after No. 2 Kansas opened Big 12 play with a win over Baylor on Saturday and top-ranked Michigan State went down earlier in the week.

"It's going to be fun," Hield said. "It's a matchup that everybody is going to be watching. We're going to handle our business.

"Kansas is a good ball club. We've got to be locked in and focused. The crowd is going to be after us. We have to be ready."

Hield led the Sooners with 22 - 14 in the second half - but shot just 8 of 23 from the field. Spangler added 20 points and Woodard had 14 points and seven assists.

Iowa State led by as many as 11 early, marking the third consecutive regular-season game in this series where the road team let an early double-digit lead slip away in the second half.

"It kills me because there was a couple late-game turnovers that swayed the game," Niang said. "That's something I'm going to work on going forward."

Oklahoma got a scare almost seven minutes into the first half when Spangler, who has started all 101 games of his Sooners' career, banged knees with Iowa State's Matt Thomas.

Spangler limped around on the court for a bit before being pulled off and eventually going to the locker room for evaluation.

But just a few minutes later, Spangler returned to the bench and was soon back in the game.

Oklahoma hasn't made an in-season adjustment to its starting lineup since the 2012-13 season and in the last three seasons, Spangler and guards Hield, Cousins and Woodard have started every game.

Spangler had six of his game-high 12 rebounds after returning with 11:43 to play.

"He did what he does today," Hield said of Spangler. "He made some big shots for us and battled our bigs tonight. You need a big guy like Ryan to take you far. He's the type of player that makes us great on the court."

NOTES: Deonte Burton, a transfer from Marquette who just became eligible in December, had a career-high 19 points for the Cyclones. ... Iowa State's 51.5 shooting percentage was the best of the season against Oklahoma. The Sooners hadn't allowed a team to shoot better than 45.5 through their first 11 games. ... Late in the first half, Oklahoma G Buddy Hield hit his 241st career 3-pointer, tying Hollis Price for third in school history. In the second half, Hield passed Eduardo Najera (1,646 from 1996-2000) for ninth place on the school's career-scoring list. ... Iowa State hosts Texas Tech on Wednesday.