Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Set To Meet Arkansas In Men's Hoops
December 08, 2000 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 8, 2000
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Saturday's Game
Two regional rivals meet for the first time in 28 years when Oklahoma State
and Arkansas square off in a neutral-site game at Tulsa's Mabee Center on
the Oral Roberts University campus. It's his first career matchup for OSU
coach Eddie Sutton against the school at which he coached between 1974-75
and 1984-85. Sutton compiled a 260-75 record in his 11 years at Arkansas and
led the school to nine NCAA Tournament berths and the 1978 Final Four.
OSU-Arkansas: The Series
OSU leads the all-time series 32-14, and although the teams are separated by
under 200 miles geographically, Saturday's game marks the first
Cowboys-Razorbacks meeting since Dec. 13, 1972, when Arkansas won 90-76 in
Fayetteville. Surprisingly, though Tulsa seems a likely neutral site to host
an OSU-UA game, Saturday marks the teams' first meeting there.
OSU Coach Eddie Sutton
Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State, 1958) is in his 11th year at OSU and his 31st
year overall. Under his guidance, OSU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament
eight times. Sutton currently owns a career record of 662-260 (71.8 percent)
overall and is 232-96 (70.7 percent) at OSU. Sutton is the only coach to
take four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
A Quick Look At Saturday's Game
Eddie Sutton is meeting a school at which he formerly coached for just the
third time in his 31-year career. OSU played a home-and-home series with
Creighton in 1997-98 and 1998-99, with the home team winning both games ...
OSU has played 13 games in the Mabee Center during the Eddie Sutton era and
is unbeaten in those games. OSU is 15-2 in all games played in Tulsa during
Sutton's Cowboy career. The Cowboys defeated UMKC 69-46 in the building Nov.
21 and also won an exhibition 103-88 over the California Midwest All-Stars
on Nov. 16 ... OSU is looking for its first regular-season nonconference
victory over a ranked team since the 1991-92 season, when the Cowboys topped
No. 24 Pittsburgh and No. 18 Georgia Tech in the Preseason NIT. In
postseason play, the Cowboys defeated No. 20 Alabama, No. 3 Wake Forest and
No. 7 Massachusetts on their way to the 1995 Final Four.
About The Cowboys
On the heels of an Elite Eight season that ended with the graduation of
seven Cowboy seniors, OSU's 2000-01 roster includes 10 newcomers, the most
since 1991-92. Oklahoma State returns just 17.4 percent of its scoring from
last season, the smallest amount since 1992-93, the year after the senior
class of Byron Houston, Sean Sutton and others.
OSU Drops From Ranks Of Unbeaten At WSU
A sluggish second half Wednesday night allowed OSU to lose a 10-point
halftime lead and the game as the Cowboys fell 61-59 at Wichita State. OSU
forced 12 first-half turnovers while holding the Shockers to 36.8-percent
shooting, but WSU committed just two turnovers and hit 44.4 percent from the
field in the second period while out-rebounding the Cowboys as well. OSU
trailed by six points with just over two minutes left but cut the lead to
two points with time running out, however, last-second shots by Fredrik
Jonzen and Maurice Baker missed the mark.
Baker Hits All Stats Marks
It's no surprise that juco transfer Maurice Baker leads OSU in scoring (17.0
ppg) and assists (4.5 apg), but the 6-1 guard is also tops on the team in
rebounding. He led OSU in scoring (17), rebounds (eight), assists (four) and
steals (three) at Wichita State, becoming the first OSU player to lead the
team in those four categories since Chianti Roberts did so against Tulsa on
Nov. 22, 1996. Baker scored just three points in the season opener but
brought his scoring back to life in the next two games, scoring 24 points at
North Texas and 23 against UNLV. He hit 10 of 12 field-goal attempts,
including all eight of his two-pointers, to lead the Cowboys to an easy
triumph over the Mean Green. Against UNLV, Baker scored six points in
overtime to help the Cowboys overcome the Runnin' Rebels. He was named the
Big 12 player of the week Tuesday.
Cowboys Blow Lead But Beat UNLV
Oklahoma State lost a 13-point second-half lead, but Victor Williams hit a
pair of free throws with 5.0 seconds left in regulation to send the game
into overtime, and OSU defeated UNLV 77-69 in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The
Cowboys hit just 11 of 20 second-half free throws while UNLV hit 15 of 17,
allowing the Rebels to get back into the game. In overtime, Fredrik Jonzen
and Maurice Baker combined for 11 points as the Cowboys pulled away to
defeat the Rebels for the fourth straight time over the past five seasons.
O-State Defense Shuts Down Opposing Stars
In its three victories, OSU has performed impressively against its
opponents' star players, capped by an effort that held UNLV standout Kaspars
Kambala to just nine points -- four in regulation -- on 4-for-12 shooting.
Conversely, in the loss to Wichita State, Shockers leader Terrell Benton had
a big night.
Andre Williams' Strong Game Keys UNLV Victory
Sophomore forward Andre Williams, one of just three returning lettermen for
OSU, earned his first career start at North Texas and responded with 10
points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. He came off the
bench against UNLV with one of the best games of his career, hitting 6 of 10
field goals with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Though
he has played just 32 games in his Cowboy career, Williams is already 12th
in school history in blocked shots with 42.
Jonzen Renews Scoring Touch
Swedish import Fredrik Jonzen, whose breakout performance in last year's
postseason earned him All-East Region honors in the NCAA Tournament, was
expected to be a key figure in the 2000-01 season, and his performance in
the team's opener did not disappoint. Jonzen hit eight of 10 field-goal
tries and recorded game highs of 17 points and nine rebounds against UMKC.
Victor Williams Shines In Second Game
Transfer guard Victor Williams came into the season as one of just five
scholarship players who were with the team for practice a year ago. The
1998-99 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, who came to OSU
after a year at Illinois State, is expected to be a regular starter in the
Cowboys' backcourt. After a solid but unspectacular effort against UMKC,
Williams had 20 points against North Texas to go along with three assists
and three steals. Williams went to the free-throw line with five seconds
left against UNLV needing to make both charities, he swished both attempts
to send the game into overtime.
Up Next
OSU returns to the Myriad Center in Oklahoma City on Dec. 16 to face
Northwestern (La.) State. Then, on Dec. 19, the long-awaited opening of the
new Gallagher-Iba Arena occurs when the Cowboys host Arkansas-Little Rock.
OSU plays Lamar in the new building on Dec. 22.
On The Air
OSU games are broadcast on the OSU Radio Network with KWTV's Bill Teegins
handling play-by-play duties and Tom Dirato, OSU coordinator of radio & TV,
providing commentary. Dirato and Teegins are in their 10th year as the
Cowboys' basketball radio team, Dirato is calling OSU men's basketball for
the 24th season. The OSU radio network can be accessed through the Internet
(www.okstate.com) or on Teamline. Fans wishing to use Teamline should call
(800) 846-4700 and use team code No. 1750. Use of Teamline requires a Visa
or MasterCard. Saturday's game will be televised on the Arkansas Razorback
Sports Network.
Head Coach Eddie Sutton
Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State, 1958) is in his 11th year at his alma mater
with a 232-96 record at the school as well as a 662-260 overall mark in his
31st year of collegiate coaching. Under his guidance, OSU has advanced to
postseason play in nine of 10 years and has won 20 games or more eight
times. Sutton is the 20th coach in Division I history to reach the
600-victory mark, and he is just the seventh coach to reach it in 28 years
or less, joining Denny Crum, Bob Knight, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Jerry
Tarkanian and John Wooden.
Only one active coach (Tarkanian) ranks ahead of Sutton in both victories and winning percentage, and Sutton is the 26th person overall and the fifth active boss to coach 900 NCAA games. Sutton, who previously coached at Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky, is the only coach in NCAA history to lead four different schools to the national tournament. With Sutton and Henry P. Iba among the 600-win club, OSU is one of only three schools -- joining Illinois and Kentucky -- with two coaches among the all-time top 20.
GIA Sells Out, But Tickets Available
The new Gallagher-Iba Arena isn't even complete yet -- it's due to open for
Commencement on Dec. 16 -- and it's already sold out for men's basketball.
The OSU POSSE office announced this week that all 13,611 seats in the
building are spoken for, and it has started a waiting list for fans still
hoping to purchase ducats for the 2000-01 and future seasons. Interested
parties may call the POSSE office at (405) 744-7301 or (877) 2-B-POSSE.
However, plenty of tickets are available for all OSU nonconference games, including Dec. 9 against Arkansas in Tulsa and Dec. 16 against Northwestern (La.) State in Oklahoma City. Because OSU students will be on holiday break, general-admission tickets to the first three games in Gallagher-Iba Arena -- Dec. 19 vs. UALR, Dec. 22 vs. Lamar and Jan. 3 vs. Texas-San Antonio -- are also available.
