Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Ready For Biggest Test
December 29, 1999 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 29, 1999
AP - The Cowboys face their biggest challenge of the season to date as they battle the Tigers on Thursday in the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.
Oklahoma State (10-0) is off to the fourth-best start in school history and can match the 1997-98 start with a win. The Cowboys best start was 20-0 in the 1991-92 season and they went 16-0 to begin the 1950-51 campaign.
Oklahoma State has been idle since a two-game swing out West. The Cowboys defeated UNLV and recorded an 84-72 win at Washington on Dec. 21. Desmond Mason scored a season-high 31 points and Glendon Alexander added a pair of 3-pointers in a game-breaking 11-0 run for Oklahoma State, which had four players in double figures. Doug Gottlieb dished out 12 assists and moved into the top 25 in NCAA history with 764.
The one area of concern for coach Eddie Sutton is his team's rebounding. The Cowboys were outrebounded by the Huskies, marking the fourth time this season it has happened.
"Our defensive board play is not where it should be. We need to improve on that," Sutton said. "But we can't improve on our record, and that's the bottom line."
Mason is averaging 20.9 points and shooting 56.3 percent from the floor. Alexander (13.0 ppg), Brian Montonati (12.9 ppg) and Joe Adkins (10.4 ppg) all are in double figures for the Cowboys, who are averaging 86.8 points and shooting 51.2 percent overall.
LSU (11-0) is off to its best start since the 1985-86 season but has not played the caliber of schedule Oklahoma State has. The young Tigers have won seven home games against the likes of Tennessee-Martin, Grambling, Alcorn State and Nicholls State. LSU's biggest test came at Thanksgiving, when it defeated Oakland, Wyoming and Fresno State in the Hawaii Pacific Shootout.
Stromile Swift had 21 points and seven rebounds as the Tigers pulled away from Howard on Monday, 81-55. Swift triggered an 18-0 run midway through the second half that snapped a 47-47 tie and teamed with Jabari Smith for 14 of the 18 points in the run.
Swift is averaging 20 points per game but shooting a torrid 70.2 percent (87-for-124) from the field. Smith is second at 14.3 points per game while Brian Beshara is contributing 13.3 per contest. Freshman point guard Torris Bright had 11 assists Monday and is averaging 5.1 for the season. LSU is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and scoring 86.8 points per game.
The schools have split two games, with Oklahoma State recording a 111-67 rout in Tulsa in 1994. LSU won the previous season at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
