JimBob
03-15-2008, 08:43 AM
Cowboys booted from tournament with loss to Texas
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
3/15/2008
Last Modified: 3/15/2008 1:19 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma State turned the Sprint Center into Kansas City's biggest waiting room.
The Cowboys waited six minutes and 28 seconds before scoring a second-half point in a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal against Texas. As a result, the Cowboys must wait at least another year before they can go to the NCAA Tournament.
Ninth-seeded OSU needed to win the Big 12 Tournament in order to salvage an NCAA trip. The Cowboys led top-seeded and sixth-ranked Texas by a point at halftime Friday.
But the Longhorns scored the first 14 points of the second half and OSU spent the rest of a 66-59 defeat playing catch-up.
"We were fighting uphill from then on," OSU senior forward Marcus Dove said. "That's tough to do against such a good team like Texas."
OSU (17-15) lost despite getting a career-best 19 points from freshman center Ibrahima Thomas and likely will be NIT-bound. Texas (27-5) won for the 11th time in the last 12 games and advanced to a Saturday semifinal against Oklahoma.
"I was hoping to get to the championship (game) and win the Big 12 Tournament and felt the way we were playing, we could play with anybody in this tournament," said OSU coach Sean Sutton, whose team had won six of eight games before the quarterfinal game. "But we could not afford to have a bad shooting afternoon, particularly against a team like Texas."
OSU shot 35.1 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range. The Cowboys couldn't hit the broad side of Rick Barnes to start the second half, when they didn't score until their 10th possession (Terrel Harris made two free throws with 13:32 left) and didn't make a field goal until their 12th possession (Obi Muonelo cashed a 3-pointer with 12:20 left).
Texas took advantage to lead by as many as 13 points. And D.J. Augustin (24 points) is too good a point guard to steer his team in to a ditch when blessed with that kind of cushion.
"We really do have a lot of confidence with the ball being in D.J.'s hands because we know him being the player he is, he is going to make plays and just make plays for everybody else and put us in position to be on top at the end of the game," said Damion James, who produced 23 points and 11 rebounds for his 15th double-double this season.
Texas is 26-1 when taking a lead into the final four minutes. OSU flushed three consecutive 3-pointers to get as close as three with 3:39 remaining. But, excluding a dribble-out-the-clock possession in the final six seconds, the Longhorns pulled away because they scored on five of six possessions in the last 3:55.
"They found a way to make plays down the stretch, and that's what great teams do," Sutton said.
OSU fell to 0-3 against Texas this season and the collective margin of defeat was 14 points. No team has knocked the Cowboys out of the Big 12 Tournament more times than the Longhorns, who also ousted the Pokes in 1998, 2001 and 2007.
"I think everybody is just hurting right now and just disappointed about not making it to the NCAA Tournament," said Harris. "It just kind of hurts."
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
3/15/2008
Last Modified: 3/15/2008 1:19 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma State turned the Sprint Center into Kansas City's biggest waiting room.
The Cowboys waited six minutes and 28 seconds before scoring a second-half point in a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal against Texas. As a result, the Cowboys must wait at least another year before they can go to the NCAA Tournament.
Ninth-seeded OSU needed to win the Big 12 Tournament in order to salvage an NCAA trip. The Cowboys led top-seeded and sixth-ranked Texas by a point at halftime Friday.
But the Longhorns scored the first 14 points of the second half and OSU spent the rest of a 66-59 defeat playing catch-up.
"We were fighting uphill from then on," OSU senior forward Marcus Dove said. "That's tough to do against such a good team like Texas."
OSU (17-15) lost despite getting a career-best 19 points from freshman center Ibrahima Thomas and likely will be NIT-bound. Texas (27-5) won for the 11th time in the last 12 games and advanced to a Saturday semifinal against Oklahoma.
"I was hoping to get to the championship (game) and win the Big 12 Tournament and felt the way we were playing, we could play with anybody in this tournament," said OSU coach Sean Sutton, whose team had won six of eight games before the quarterfinal game. "But we could not afford to have a bad shooting afternoon, particularly against a team like Texas."
OSU shot 35.1 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range. The Cowboys couldn't hit the broad side of Rick Barnes to start the second half, when they didn't score until their 10th possession (Terrel Harris made two free throws with 13:32 left) and didn't make a field goal until their 12th possession (Obi Muonelo cashed a 3-pointer with 12:20 left).
Texas took advantage to lead by as many as 13 points. And D.J. Augustin (24 points) is too good a point guard to steer his team in to a ditch when blessed with that kind of cushion.
"We really do have a lot of confidence with the ball being in D.J.'s hands because we know him being the player he is, he is going to make plays and just make plays for everybody else and put us in position to be on top at the end of the game," said Damion James, who produced 23 points and 11 rebounds for his 15th double-double this season.
Texas is 26-1 when taking a lead into the final four minutes. OSU flushed three consecutive 3-pointers to get as close as three with 3:39 remaining. But, excluding a dribble-out-the-clock possession in the final six seconds, the Longhorns pulled away because they scored on five of six possessions in the last 3:55.
"They found a way to make plays down the stretch, and that's what great teams do," Sutton said.
OSU fell to 0-3 against Texas this season and the collective margin of defeat was 14 points. No team has knocked the Cowboys out of the Big 12 Tournament more times than the Longhorns, who also ousted the Pokes in 1998, 2001 and 2007.
"I think everybody is just hurting right now and just disappointed about not making it to the NCAA Tournament," said Harris. "It just kind of hurts."