| | NORMAN, Okla. -- Doug Gottlieb was looking for a magic marker to scribble the word, "We," on his already stenciled "Beat OU," orange T-shirt the team wore for its postgame walk to the bus.
|  | | Joe Adkins scored a season-high 21 points to pace the Cowboys. |
When he found a pen, he started a trend with the rest of the team.
Every player on Oklahoma State put it on their shirt, emphasizing that they
had accomplished the simplistic pregame goal with a 74-71 victory in the
first of two games in the "Bedlam" series Saturday at Lloyd Noble Arena.
But the fact that the T-shirts were made shows Oklahoma State was
still second-guessing itself prior to Saturday. The Cowboys knew how to
start something when they ripped off 10 straight wins to open the season,
and eventually, were one of the last undefeated teams. But they couldn't
finish the job, losing to LSU in their first true test in game No. 11. They
followed a convincing win over Texas with a loss at Texas A&M.
But check out their growth since losing to the Aggies. Oklahoma
State has ripped off six straight wins and, this week alone, handed Kansas a
33-point loss in Stillwater before pinning a 20-point first-half deficit on
the host Sooners on Saturday.
"We've been trying to get to the top 10 for two years," said
Gottlieb of the No. 13-ranked Cowboys, who peaked at No. 11 on Dec. 27
(three days before playing LSU in New Orleans). "If we're not a top-10 team,
we're pretty darn close."
While the polls don't mean much to coaches or the selection
committee, the Cowboys can rest on the fact that they are now one of the
challengers for the Final Four.
Oklahoma State proved Saturday that its defense is as unforgiving
on the road as it is at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Desmond Mason and Brian
Montonati took turns banging with Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera in the first
half, limiting him to a virtual no-show performance (he was 3-of-10).
|
Sutton sticking around
|
|
The face has weathered a bit, but his basketball mind is still as sharp as
it ever has been. The only thing that could roust Eddie Sutton from coaching
Oklahoma State in the near future is his health and that's doing as well as
his team right now.
Sutton, 63 (he'll be 64 in March), wouldn't put a definitive date on
his exit but his son, Sean, an assistant with the Cowboys, pencils in his
father for at least four more seasons.
"He wants to coach in the new arena and we've got some good recruits
coming in," Sean Sutton said.
The Cowboys lose four senior starters, but have a core group
returning in center Fred Jonzen, redshirt transfer forward Antoine Broxsie
(Minnesota), redshirt transfer point Victor Williams (Illinois State) and
forward Andre Williams. The Cowboys signed five players in the fall,
including high-profile 6-6 Terrance Crawford of Bishop McGuiness High
(Oklahoma City), 6-11 center Jack Marlow from Tulsa Union and 6-7 Ivan
McFarlin (Willow Ridge High in Sugar Land, Texas).
The Cowboys move into a renovated and expanded Gallagher-Iba Arena
in December 2000 (from 6,381 seats to 13,025). Regardless of how deep the
Cowboys go in the NCAA Tournament, Sutton won't walk away after his 10th year with
a rebuilding job ahead next season.
"I'll coach as long as I've got the energy and good health," Eddie
Sutton said. "I want to get this facility completed. We've also got to make
sure that whoever replaces me that we leave him with good players. I
wouldn't want anybody, whether it's Sean or anybody else, to not have good
players."
The consensus in Stillwater and around the nation is for Sean to
replace Eddie Sutton. Sean Sutton could have had a mid-major job in the past
two years. His younger brother, Scott, took over Oral Roberts last spring.
The only other potential OSU candidate would be Tulsa's Bill Self, a former
Oklahoma State player and assistant. But Self will likely be gobbled up well
before Eddie Sutton calls it quits.
|
But Najera got the Cowboys' leading scorers in foul trouble,
essentially taking them off the floor during the critical midsection of the
game from the last few minutes of the first half, and then again in the
middle of the second half. Mason and Montonati finished with a 19 points. Mason averages 19 a game. Najera ended with 21, but after the
Sooners were in a deep hole.
"This shows that if our top two scorers are out, we can still put
the ball in the hole," Montonati said. "We've always wanted to know what it
feels like to be up there in the top 10. We deserve to be there."
While Mason and Montonati were being held in check, wing Joe Adkins,
from nearby Oklahoma City, scored 21 -- including four 3-pointers.
Small forward Glendon Alexander added three 3s, continuing to look like one
of the sleepers for this June's NBA draft. And even sophomore center Fred
Jonzen was a hit at the line, making 10 of 13 free throws. He made only 42.9
percent at the line a year ago.
"He was worse than I was last year at the line," said Gottlieb, who
was actually a tad better at 44 percent. "We're well-rounded and can hit you
with a lot of options. There are three teams in this state that nobody will
want to play in the NCAA Tournament (adding Tulsa). We're playing our way to
a better seed. We've got the monkey off our back with this win."
Oklahoma State's win was its first road victory over a ranked team
since '92. And its the first of four crucial road games for the Cowboys,
who still have to play at Texas on Wednesday, Missouri Feb. 21 and Iowa State
Feb. 26.
"With the exception of three or four teams, we can play with anyone
in college basketball," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. "Cincinnati
is the best team, Michigan State and Stanford are very good. But we can play
with anybody. We're not going to win a series over those teams, but we could
beat any of them in a one-game NCAA Tournament, as long as the moon is right
and we get some friendly calls."
The Bedlam rivalry is a bit more than a "friendly," and that's why
beating the Sooners on Saturday should alert the rest of the Big 12 and the
nation that the Cowboys are a legitimate contender. A record crowd of 13,280
packed the capacity 11,100-seat arena (a fire hazard with the
standing room-only fans lining the upper deck) to witness the first time the
two rivals were ranked this high (No. 13 and No. 17 for Oklahoma) before
tipoff.
"(Dick) Vitale talks about Carolina and Duke and I was from L.A. and
thought SC and UCLA was it," Gottlieb said. "But this is the best with the
only two state schools in the state. This school (Oklahoma) is close to Oklahoma City,
the kids here are from the cities from Dallas and Oklahoma City. Oklahoma
State kids are from small towns and they even played 'Old McDonald' when we
came in. They're the big state school that gets all the money. They've even
got a big-screen color scoreboard and we're putting in one three years after
they did."
The Cowboys were inconsistent against a soft December schedule. They
weathered a five-game suspension to reserve forward Andre Williams for
having his senior year of prep school paid for by a benefactor. But now
they're playing unselfish with as much chemistry as any top five team.
"We wondered before this week how good we were," said Oklahoma
State assistant Sean Sutton. "Maybe we can finally crack the top 10. It
would be big for these guys, for recruiting. And, maybe this year, we can
get to the Sweet 16. Once we're there, anything can happen."
Start making the T-shirts now.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com
| |
ALSO SEE
Cowboys squander lead but hold off Oklahoma in in-state showdown
 |
