The final score was 72-68, as Jeremy Pargo had a career night in points despite a losing effort. For most of the second half it appeared Pargo would lead Gonzaga to a win with the most impressive performance of his career, but his effort wasn’t enough to compete with Oklahoma.

Pargo hit five straight shots and scored all of Gonzaga’s points during a 12-5 run that gave Gonzaga the lead late in the second half.

Pargo, who scored a career-high 28 points, had two final chances to tie it. After Blake Griffin hit one of two free throws to give Oklahoma a 70-68 lead, Pargo charged under the basket and missed a lay up underneath with 12 seconds left. He had another opportunity, but Austin Johnson blocked Pargo's 3-point try.

"Jeremy brings a lot of confidence. I never worry about that," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. "It would have been nice if he would have had some company tonight."

Pargo was the only Bulldog to score in double figures, hitting 11-of-18 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs saw OSU shoot over 65 percent from the field in the second half after holding the Cowboys to 25.7 percent in the first. "We let them shoot 65 percent in the second half after doing a pretty good job in the first half. We gave up point blank lay-ins, we weren't shifting on defense and to their credit they hit some big shots," Few noted. "We got no stops the last seven or eight possessions and we were a sieve."

On the last chance for the tie, Few said Pargo "probably should have brought it a little faster, but he felt comfortable all night and he said he was just working to get a comfortable shot." The Bulldogs entered the game a little banged up. Guard Matt Bouldin finally played, after sitting out last Monday's game with a sprained ankle. He played 26 minutes. The game also featured the return of Josh Heytvelt to the lineup for the first time since last February when he was suspended for the final nine games of the regular and post season, and then had surgery Nov. 12 to repair an injured ankle. Heytvelt played 15 minutes.

"It was good to be back on the court, but I didn't play very well," he said.

Few said Heytvelt will get better. "We made the decision today. He wanted to play. I wanted him to get more time to get in game shape and to get more reps, but the foot is safe so we decided to play him. It's just a matter of him getting into game shape," Few said. The Bulldogs will be on Christmas break until they prepare for The Battle in Seattle against the University of Tennessee, ranked 12th by both Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN.