OSU Men's Basketball Falls To Oklahoma

March 4, 2000

Postgame Notes

Tonight's game was the 743rd contest in Gallagher-Iba Arena history. OSU is 569-174 in the arena in its 62-year history. Next season, the arena will be expanded to 13,028 seats from its current 6,381. The loss tonight snapped a 16-game homecourt winning streak.

Desmond Mason failed to score a field goal for the first time since the final home game of his freshman season.

Although OSU has won 10 of the past 16 Bedlam games, Oklahoma has won the last two contests in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

OSU finishes the season with a 12-4 conference mark, its best since the 1964-65 team went 12-2 in Big Eight play.

OSU earns the Big 12's fourth seed for the upcoming conference tournament. OSU will play in Friday's quarterfinals at approximately 2:20 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's game between the fifth seed (the winner of tomorrow's Kansas-Missouri game) and 12th-seeded Kansas State.

With eight assists tonight, Doug Gottlieb moved into the Division I top 10 for career assists. He now has 898 in his collegiate tenure.

Dunks: Montonati 2

Postgame Quotes

OSU Coach Eddie Sutton

"It was a disappointing loss with everything that was riding on the game, but that's basketball. I thought the defense on the part of both ballclubs was really good. Anytime your two best players on both teams go two for 18, the defense has been pretty solid.

"I thought we really had the game under control with about 11 and a half minutes to go. We had some defensive breakdowns. We use a term 'piggyback' shooters off of screens, and we didn't do that on three different occasions. Glendon (Alexander) didn't do it, Joe (Adkins) didn't do it, and Doug (Gottlieb) didn't do it. It cost us a three-pointer every time we did that. They tried to fight over the top of the screen.

"(Nolan) Johnson just had a terrific game. He hit some big shots, but in the last 11 and a half minutes we only scored 10 points. We just had too many defensive mistakes. They hit some big shots. Even when you make a defensive mistake, they still have to put the ball in the basket. I thought they really hit some shots on us. Then we came down and really kind of lost our momentum as far as at the offensive end. We missed a couple of shots underneath the basket. We didn't finish them. Then Alex (Webber) missed a couple of free throws.

"But you have to give them a lot of credit. That hasn't happened to me very many times in my coaching career where you have a sizable lead late in the ballgame, and you let it slip away. You have to give OU a lot of credit. Their kids competed hard, and then they made some big shots. The only thing we can look at now is let's get ready for the Big 12 Tournament, let's get ready for the NCAA."

Oklahoma State Players

Guard Joe Adkins

"I think everyone's disappointed with the way we played. We have to tip our hats off to them. They played well, and they played their game."

On the team making only four three-pointers
"They went four for 13, so when they made their threes, it was at more of a crucial time. I think they played good defense, but I also think that we missed some shots. I just have to tip my hats off to them. They played well."

Forward Brian Montonati

On the turning point of the game
"They started playing harder and started hitting shots. We just didn't play defense very well. We couldn't do anything on offensive and get the ball in the hole. I thought we put our hands on our throat and squeezed as hard as we could, and we choked ourselves with a little help from them."

On getting ready for the Big 12 Tournament
"This game is going to motivate us. You're going to see a new Oklahoma State basketball team this next week. I can guarantee that. I just feel bad for our fans. This was a big game, not only for us but for them too. It's going to be tough on us the next week until we can get out there, play a game and get this behind us. We're going to grow and learn from this and keep positive as we go into the Dance (NCAA Tournament)."

Oklahoma State Locker-Room Quotes

Guard Doug Gottlieb

"We stopped playing when we were up ten points. We had the game won and we gave it away. We scored ten points in the last eleven minutes and gave away a perfectly good opportunity to win against a very good basketball team. They beat us. We have to regroup. We have to beat Kansas, Iowa State, and then either Texas or Oklahoma. The road just got tougher. We need the fan support like we had last year (at the Big 12 tournament). This is still a really good basketball team. We just have to show what we're made of. And we'll do that when we take that court in Kansas City."

Guard Glendon Alexander

"They made plays on the offensive end. We didn't make any plays on the offensive end and our defense was too passive. I thought I had a good look at the last shot. It felt good. I've made that shot 1,000 times. But, we have to regroup for the Big 12 tournament and come back with a positive attitude. We have to go out and play the way we know we can play."

Oklahoma Coach Kelvin Sampson

"I think preparation is a big part of playing games. We knew the hype on this game. We played an emotional senior night. Our program is built on toughness, and I thought that that was what this game was about.

"We had a really solid game plan. We knew what we wanted to do. We had a good idea of how to win the game and I think that that's really important in basketball. They (the kids) have to have something that they can latch on to. What is it you want us to do? How do we go about winning? I thought that was something that our kids really understood in terms of running our stuff and then flattening out and letting Nolan (Johnson) create.

"That's something that he couldn't have done two months ago. It's important to put kids in a position where they can succeed. Nolan's progressed to the point where he can do that. Some people think that we are a one-man team. That's probably a fair assessment three months ago in November and December when we were in Alaska. The new guys replaced four starters, so they weren't able to give us much.

"As this season's progressed, we've become a really good team. This team has become really, really good at what we do. That's a tribute to this group of kids. They're really, really tough. I know that a lot of people get excited about talent, but talent without toughness doesn't mean much. Our kids are really tough."

Oklahoma Players

Forward Eduardo Najera

Opening comments
"This is the best win of my career. It is going to put us in a position where we are going to be a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tonight, we showed that we are a great team because I had an okay game, but everybody else stepped up. That is the kind of team we have. I think we have improved a lot and we are playing our best basketball right now. Hopefully, we are going to keep doing the same thing."

On the 13-point deficit
"In the huddle, I was talking to them the whole time. I said, 'Let's not give up. We still have a chance to win, and we have to come back.' Everyone responded well. Everybody stepped it up. Nolan (Johnson) came through big time. At the end, we were trying to force the ball in and tried to throw it into the post and that was not there. I was not there tonight. We started to run some plays for the other guys and it just worked perfectly."

On the crowd
"Right now, they are not young anymore. They are not freshman anymore. They are playing great right now. That was the first thing we were talking about -- the crowd. We thought about it, and we decided to take that as an advantage."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Postgame Notes

Postgame Quotes

Oklahoma State Players

Oklahoma State Locker-Room Quotes

Oklahoma Players

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