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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Desmond Mason said his confidence was sky high, and that spelled doom for the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen.
Mason scored 30 points, two off his career high, as third-seeded Oklahoma State spread the scoring around, hitting 54 percent of its shots, and easily defeated upstart Hofstra 86-66 in the first round of the East Regional on Friday night.
|  | | Oklahoma State's Brian Montonati goes up for two of his 11 points. |
"I had a lot of confidence coming into this game," said Mason, who had eight points during the early 12-point run that put the Cowboys ahead to stay. "I played really well last year, and I wanted to come out and do the same thing.
"I've been a little inconsistent the latter part of the season, but I'm trying. It's going to pay off sooner or later."
It paid off handsomely against the Flying Dutchmen, who were no match even with their star point guard Craig "Speedy" Claxton. They shot just 36.4 percent in the first half and trailed 43-26 at the break.
"They just played solid team defense on me," said Claxton, who got close to his usual line -- 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. "They caused me to rush a couple of shots. They made it difficult for me to turn the corner. They're a great defensive team."
Claxton, who ended his college career with 2,015 points and almost singlehandedly resurrected a moribund program in his four years at Hofstra, had Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton burying his head in his hands in the opening minute after his court-long dash put the Flying Dutchmen ahead.
But Hofstra's pressing defense had no answer for Mason, who hit 11-of-17 shots and quickly turned the game in the Cowboys' favor.
"They really didn't know our offense," Mason said. "The main thing was just jumping up and knocking the shots down, guys getting me the ball."
Fredrik Jonzen added 13 points and Glendon Alexander, Joe Adkins and Brian Montonati each scored 11 for the Cowboys.
"They played hard and wanted to pressure us off the court," said Cowboys point guard Doug Gottlieb, who had eight assists. "It helps when you have guys that hit shots. A lot of times they'd be playing very good pressure defense, and Glendon or Joe or Desmond would come open and just knock down shots. It makes your offense look a whole lot better when you're making them. We got so many more open looks."
The Cowboys (25-6), who gave Sutton his 30th tournament victory, play Pepperdine, a 77-57 winner over Indiana, in Sunday's second round.
It was only the second loss for 14th-seeded Hofstra (24-7) in 19 games, and Sutton said it wasn't as easy as the score indicated.
"I was really impressed with their ballclub," said Sutton, who patted Claxton on the back and congratulated him afterward. "I had great concern that we had to really make sure that he didn't go off and hit us for 30 points or more and end up with 10 or 12 assists because he can beat you by himself."
Not on this night. The Cowboys took command early. After Claxton's court-long rush, any thought of a great tournament upset vanished in a flash as the Cowboys, 16-1 in first-round games in their storied history, regrouped behind Mason.
Hofstra had lived all season on the exploits of the spectacular Claxton, who averaged 22.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 3.3 steals. But he needed help on this night and got little.
Long-range marksman Norman Richardson was just 2-for-10 in the first half, 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Starting forward Roberto Gittens didn't score until 12:48 remained in the game and finished with six points, while Richardson had 20 on 6-of-21 shooting.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Hofstra NCAA Team Report
Oklahoma State NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
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