Cowboys' NCAA hopes dim

STILLWATER — Three weeks ago, Oklahoma State University men's basketball coach Sean Sutton told his team all was not lost, even though his Cowboys had an 11-12 record and had lost seven of its last eight games.

"We've got seven games left, and we've got a chance to win all of them,” Sutton told his team at the time. "We want to get to the Big 12 Tournament playing our best basketball of the year and we'll see what happens.”

Finishing the regular season without another loss seemed farfetched, but OSU indeed hadn't lost since — until Bedlam arrived Wednesday night.

The University of Oklahoma snapped the Cowboys' rather miraculous five-game winning streak with a 68-56 upset before a crowd of 13,459 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Even more upsetting for OSU, the Sooners were able to pull it off with their best player not even in the building. OU freshman forward Blake Griffin was back in Norman nursing an injured knee.

Sophomore guard Tony Crocker picked up the slack by scoring a career-high 25 points.

OSU's streak had included upset victories at No. 16-ranked Texas A&M and Missouri and at home against Baylor and No. 4 Kansas.

What slim chance the Cowboys had at an NCAA Tournament bid likely was dashed Wednesday night. Their only hope is to win next week's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., which would gain them an automatic berth.