Web posted
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Eaton lifts Oklahoma State over Missouri
By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Byron Eaton scored off a drive near the lane with 1.7 seconds to go for his second straight game-winner in Oklahoma State's 75-73 victory over Missouri on Tuesday night.
Leo Lyons returned to Missouri's starting lineup after a 10-game absence and had career bests of 27 points and 18 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 Lyons missed only one of 13 shots, many of them from the perimeter, but it wasn't enough in a battle of Big 12 also-rans angling for a higher seed in the conference tournament.
Marcus Dove led Oklahoma State (15-12, 6-7 Big 12) with 15 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season and only his second time in double-figure scoring in nine games. Dove had three of the Cowboys' season-high 14 3-pointers.
Eaton had 15 points and freshman James Anderson added 13 points in his first game off the bench for the Cowboys, who built on successive victories over ranked Kansas and Texas A&M, the Feb. 16 triumph over the Aggies ending a 19-game road losing streak.
In a 61-60 victory over Kansas on Saturday, Eaton scored a career-high 26 points, including the game-winning free throw with 12.6 seconds to go.
Keon Lawrence added 13 points and J.T. Tiller had 11 for Missouri (15-13, 5-8). The Tigers fell to 12-4 at home.
Lawrence hit a runner with 33 seconds to go to tie it at 73, and Eaton killed most of the clock on the Cowboys' last possession while dribbling near midcourt. He pulled up for the winning shot, which popped out and back in.
Missouri didn't get off a desperation shot after Oklahoma State batted Darryl Butterfield's high, lofted inbounds pass around.
The 6-foot-9 Lyons made 12 of his first 13 shots, including several from the perimeter and a few near the 3-point line, while helping Missouri take an eight-point lead midway through the second half. He averages 12 points off the bench but had been behind defensive-minded Vaidotas Volkus, who has been hampered by a hip pointer and did not play.
Lyons locked up his third double-double of the season, and first in 18 games, in the first two minutes of the second half.
Oklahoma State has won four in a row in the Big 12 for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Cowboys had gone 18 games since the last time they reached double digits in 3-pointers.
Anderson was the first player off the bench for Oklahoma State and hit a 3-pointer only 10 seconds later. He made his first three shots and led the Cowboys with eight points in the half.
Lyons nearly had a double-double in the first half with 14 points and nine rebounds for Missouri, which led by as many as seven points midway through the half.
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