Web posted
Friday, March 14, 2008
Oklahoma State ousts Texas Tech in Big 12 tourney
Cowboys out in second round
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- James Anderson scored 18 points and hit the game-clinching free throws with 4 seconds to go, lifting Oklahoma State past Texas Tech 76-72 in a seesaw first-round match in the Big 12 tournament.
Texas Tech led by as many as five points in the second half, but missed three of four foul shots with about 3 minutes to go and could not stop Oklahoma State point guard Byron Eaton down the stretch.
Eaton popped in a 12-foot jumper for a 73-71 lead with 45 seconds left, then hit a free throw to make it 74-70. After Charlie Burgess sliced the lead to 74-70, Anderson connected twice from the foul line for the Cowboys (17-15), who have won six of their last eight following a six-game losing streak and will face top-seeded Texas in the second round on Friday.
Alan Voskuil had 19 points for Texas Tech (16-15).
Pat Knight, after taking over for his hall-of-fame father, Bob, on Feb. 4, was 4-7 as the Red Raiders' head coach. His losses included 98-54 to Texas A&M and 109-51 to Kansas in less than a week, with both breaking the school record for most lopsided defeat. In between those epic defeats was a shocking 83-80 upset of eventual co-champion Texas.
Eaton, the first guard in Oklahoma State history to have 100 or more assists in each of his first three seasons, missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw with 20 seconds left. The Red Raiders grabbed the rebound, but Burgess was trapped near the foul line on the opposite end of the court and the Cowboys got the ball.
Eaton had 12 points and four assists and Terrel Harris had 12 points for Oklahoma State.
Voskuil and Trevor Cook each hit two straight 3-pointers opening the second half and the Red Raiders quickly erased a 36-32 halftime deficit to take a 44-42 lead on the second 3-pointer by Cook, who had only two points the first half but finished with 16, including 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc. Burgess had 14 for the Red Raiders.
Byron Eaton's 3-pointer put the Cowboys on top 45-44, then the two teams traded one-point leads for the next five possessions, with just about every shooter getting an open look and making good on the first shot.
In a weird, streaky start to the game, Oklahoma State took a 6-0 lead and then missed its next 10 shots as the Red Raiders went on a 14-0 run for a 14-6 lead.
Oklahoma State, with Anderson hitting the Cowboys' first 3-pointer, then unleashed a 7-0 run for a 14-14 tie.
Marcus Dove blocked a Texas Tech shot in the first half, giving him the distinction of being only the fourth player in Oklahoma State history with 100 career blocks and 100 steals.
Augustin, James lead No. 6 Texas past Oklahoma State
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- D.J. Augustin wiped out Oklahoma State's halftime lead with a single shot. A few minutes later the quick and crafty point guard had obliterated all of the Cowboys' hard-earned momentum and put No. 6 Texas on the road to a 66-59 victory Friday in the Big 12 tournament.
Damion James had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Augustin powered a 14-0 run starting the second half for the top-seeded Longhorns (27-5), who also ran an uncharacteristic zone defense that seemed to confuse the Cowboys.
''We had to slow the whole team down,'' said Augustin, who led the conference in assists for the second straight year and was second in scoring. ''We needed to get stops on defense and not let them get easy baskets. They have a lot of great players. I think we did a great job helping each other and playing pretty good defense.''
Ibrahima Thomas had 19 points for Oklahoma State, which trailed by as many as seven points in the first half before taking a 33-32 halftime lead on Terrel Harris' 3-pointer at the buzzer.
But the Cowboys (17-15) faltered as Augustin took over after intermission. After hitting a 3-pointer on Texas' first possession, he coaxed a third foul against Oklahoma State point guard Byron Eaton and sank both free throws. Then a few seconds later he seized a Cowboys pass that was deflected to him by a teammate and dished to A.J. Abrams for a layup.
With the Cowboys having trouble against the 2-3 zone, Abrams scored again a moment later and then Augustin boosted the lead to 44-33 with his fifth 3-pointer.
The Cowboys went almost 8 minutes at the start of the second half without a field goal. Nevertheless, the zone does not come easy for a team that's known for its man-to-man defense, agreed coach Rick Barnes.
''It's hard for us right now because we've been a pretty good man team,'' Barnes said. ''We just felt like we were getting what we needed out of it.''
After regaining the lead and momentum, the Longhorns went back to their man defense.
''At the 7-minute mark, I thought we had gotten into a walk-it-up game with them and we don't want to do that,'' Barnes said.
It was the Longhorns' fifth straight victory over Oklahoma State.
''We lost again to another great basketball team,'' Cowboys coach Sean Sutton said. ''They found a way to make plays down the stretch and that's what great teams do.''
Texas took a 56-43 lead on Connor Atchley's bucket and seemed ready to cruise home. But Harris made a 3-pointer and the Cowboys, ice cold from beyond the arc all day, then quickly drilled three more from long range during a 12-2 spree that cut the Longhorns' lead to 58-55.
James then sneaked inside for a layup and Justin Mason, following an Oklahoma State turnover, made it 62-55 with 2:17 left.
''Defensively, we didn't have the intensity we showed the first half and let them get off to an easy start,'' Oklahoma State's Obi Muonelo said.
Top-seeded Texas, the regular-season co-champions with Kansas, will meet the winner of the Colorado-Oklahoma game in Saturday's semifinals.
Oklahoma State will go home and hope for either an NCAA or NIT bid.
''I haven't thought about that,'' Sutton said. ''Our total concentration was on winning this tournament. I felt like the way we've been playing, we'd need a good effort against Texas. But I thought we'd win the game.''
Muonelo had 13 points for Oklahoma State, which was only 9-of-31 from beyond the arc.
Much of the first half was a shooting contest between James and Thomas.
James, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, drilled his first five shots, including his first three 3-pointers. But Thomas, a 6-11 freshman, practically matched him shot for shot, making five of his first seven field-goal attempts and both his 3-pointers.
Atchley had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Longhorns.
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