Rolling to Bedlam
Cowboys two victories away from fulfilling Sutton's challenge
Cowboys two victories away from fulfilling Sutton's challenge

By Andrea Cohen

Published: March 2, 2008

As far as the Cowboys are concerned that's five down, two to go.

"One week to go,” OSU coach Sean Sutton said. "We've got two left.”

Sutton told his team on Feb. 10, back when OSU was 2-7 in league play, that he thought they could win their last seven regular-season games. The Cowboys responded by beating Baylor, went on the road and beat Texas A&M, beat then-No. 4 Kansas by one point and won at Missouri last week.

With Saturday's 14-point win over Nebraska, OSU is 16-12 overall, 7-7 in conference play and tied for fifth place in the league, entering the NCAA Tournament bubble discussion.

"You got to give Oklahoma State credit,” Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. "I think they're one of the top three or four talented teams in this league. They're starting to play like they're one of those teams.”

OSU didn't get off to a great start on Saturday, missing shots, turning the ball over and nearing the five-minute mark without a single point. Then Marcus Dove stole the ball from Nebraska's Ade Dagunduro and dunked to put OSU's first two points on the board. It was the "Power Play of the Day” on the Gallagher-Iba Arena big-screen, and the beginning of a 15-2 run.

"That's what got us going,” Byron Eaton said. "We needed a big play from somebody, and our senior just stepped up and gave it to us. Our senior got us going, and it sparked a run for us and we never looked back.”

OSU took its first lead on a James Anderson 3-pointer that made the score 6-4, and did not trail again. The Cowboys led by 19 points with five minutes to play.

"The first 35 minutes we played pretty well,” Sutton said. "The last five minutes we didn't play very smart and didn't play very disciplined, but I was pleased with the effort and certainly we executed very well in the second half at the offensive end.”

Eaton had another strong showing, finishing with a game-high 20 points and Dove added 17. Nebraska big man Aleks Maric and guard Steve Harley scored 17 apiece to lead Nebraska.

Both teams shot well from the floor — OSU shot 52 percent and Nebraska 50 percent. But the Huskers, who average just 13 turnovers, had an uncharacteristically high 19 turnovers. OSU scored 24 points off turnovers and had eight points on fast breaks.

"They did a nice job of understanding and creating some problems,” Sadler said of OSU's defense.

Sutton said Saturday's win was huge for the conference standings and momentum, but the focus is now on the two remaining conference games. That's a pair of tough games, Bedlam in Stillwater on Wednesday and Texas in Austin on Senior Night next Sunday.

"We're certainly not satisfied,” Sutton said. "We want to finish this out.”

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