Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
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Kansas
Cowboys dismantle Jayhawks, 80-60
February 10, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
John Lucas scored 21 points and Tony Allen added 17 to lead No. 10 Oklahoma State to an 80-60 win over Kansas on Monday night, handing the Jayhawks their worst loss in three years.
The Cowboys (18-2, 8-1 Big 12) won their eighth straight game and moved into a first-place tie for the conference lead with No. 11 Texas.
The rout of two-time defending Big 12 champ Kansas (15-5, 7-2) was a huge step for a school still seeking its first league title since winning the Big Eight in 1995.
Oklahoma State has now avenged an earlier loss to Texas Tech, snapped Texas' 25-game home winning streak and made an emphatic statement with its rout of the Jayhawks. Kansas hadn't lost so badly since an 84-53 defeat to Wake Forest on Dec. 7, 2000.
Lucas, a summer transfer from lowly Baylor, was the difference in the type of game he never got to play in until this season.
He didn't miss a shot until nearly five minutes into the second half, went 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc and held Kansas point guard Aaron Miles to three points.
Wayne Simien led the Jayhawks with 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting, most of them thunderous two-handed dunks.
The sellout crowd of 13,611 at Gallagher-Iba Arena was boisterous even before the tipoff and got only louder from there.
Kansas coach Bill Self, who was a star at Oklahoma State from 1982-85 and later an assistant for six seasons, received a standing ovation during pregame introductions from the Cowboys' typically unrelenting crowd.
Nothing much went well for Self or the Jayhawks after that.
Oklahoma State fed off the frenzied energy of the crowd while Kansas played itself into an early hole, trailing by as many as 18 points in the game's first seven minutes.
The Cowboys hit nine of their first 10 shots, including five 3s, to take a 27-9 lead.
Lucas hit all five shots he took in the first half, capping the sizzling start by hitting a jumper with 3 seconds left to give Oklahoma State a 44-26 lead at the break.
He cooled off after halftime.
Lucas nailed a 3-pointer 43 seconds into the second half, but missed his next two shots and didn't attempt another one in the game's final 13 minutes.
Allen and Ivan McFarlin took over from there, and the Jayhawks couldn't find anyone other than Simien to counter Oklahoma State's offensive effort.
Kansas never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
McFarlin finished with 12 points, Daniel Bobik had 11 and Joey Graham 10.
Kansas' leading scorer, Keith Langford, scored only eight points on 2-of-10 shooting.
