Pokes fall short in Austin
Road loss means Cowboys will be the No. 9 seed at the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City
Pokes fall short in Austin

By Andrea Cohen

Published: March 10, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma State and Texas were fighting for a couple of things on Sunday afternoon. Texas was fighting for a share of the Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Longhorns achieved both with a 62-57 win.

Oklahoma State was fighting for a .500 finish and a higher Big 12 Tournament seed. The Cowboys can't cross those items off their list – they finish 7-9 and will be the No. 9 seed Thursday in Kansas City. But OSU coach Sean Sutton's team fought Sunday, and he said that was more than half the battle.

"Today I told our guys before the game, this is going to be a great test of your guys' character,” Sutton said. "People are gonna see how you respond coming off a disappointing loss to our rival Wednesday night.

"I couldn't be more proud of our team than I am right now. We did not win the game but our guys gave great effort and did everything we asked them to do in regards to the game plan. We just didn't come up with a few plays we needed down the stretch.”

Oklahoma State was one of the hottest teams in the conference a week ago, on a five-game winning streak and fighting for fourth place in the conference and a possible at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Those hopes went flying out the window with a deflating loss to Oklahoma at home on Wednesday, which raised the potential for a blowout in Austin in a game that didn't have many concrete consequences.

But following the narrow road loss, OSU players spoke with confidence about their prospects at the Big 12 Tournament, which they likely have to win to make the NCAA Tournament.

"I think we have a chance to go to the (conference) Tournament and make some noise,” said sophomore Obi Muonelo, who finished with 10 points, just behind Byron Eaton and Terrel Harris who scored 12 apiece.

Texas shot 29 free throws compared to the Cowboys' 10 attempts, and OSU wasn't getting many calls for contact around the basket – and A.J. Abrams, who had been quiet all night, got hot in the game's final minutes.

Eleven of Texas' last 16 points came on free throws, and two Abrams baskets were the only field goals for Texas in the last 9:46.

Abrams hit a jump shot with 2:30 to play and a 3-pointer with 1:40 to go that gave Texas a 56-51 lead.

"Terrel and Obi always do a good job on (Abrams), but he hit two big shots against our zone late,” Sutton said.

Terrel Harris hit a 3-pointer to pull OSU within two points with 36 seconds to play, but OSU was forced to foul the rest of the way.

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