Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Nebraska
Cowboys fall to Huskers, 74-67
February 28, 2005 | Cowboy Basketball
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Joe McCray scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half and Aleks Maric added a career-high 15 to lead Nebraska to a 74-67 upset of No. 4 Oklahoma State on Tuesday night.
The victory was the Cornhuskers' first over a Top Five opponent since a 98-91 win over No. 3 Missouri in the 1994 Big Eight tournament. It was Nebraska's first win in 20 games against Top Ten opponents.
Oklahoma State, which averaged 82 points in winning its last six games by an average of 15, was held under 70 points for only the fourth time this season.
The Cowboys (20-4, 10-3) fell into a tie with No. 8 Kansas for first place in the Big 12 after a sloppy effort that saw them commit 19 turnovers and go eight straight possessions without scoring to start the second half.
The Huskers (12-12, 5-8) used a 12-0 run from a 32-32 halftime tie to break the game open and the Cowboys never got closer than the final margin.
Nebraska's biggest victory in Barry Collier's five years as head coach came on the same day a columnist for the Omaha World-Herald, the state's largest newspaper, called for his firing.
After the buzzer, students from both end zones stormed the court. Collier and his players then waved their hands in the air as if they were directing the pep band in a rendition of ``There Is No Place Like Nebraska.''
The players wound their way through a gauntlet of students, high-fiving them as they headed to the locker room.
John Lucas led Oklahoma State with 20 points. Joey Graham, the Big 12's second-leading scorer, was held to 12 before fouling out in the final minute.
Freshman JamesOn Curry, averaging 14.3 points since joining the Cowboys' starting lineup seven games ago, was held to seven points, two in the second half.
The Huskers used the 12-0 run to go 44-32. Maric scored twice in a row before John Turek highlighted the spurt with a big dunk off a pass from Jake Muhleisen.
Oklahoma State didn't score for the opening 6:16 of the second half until Graham bulled his way in for a layup.
After Terrence Crawford got the Cowboys within 44-36, McCray hit a 3-pointer and Corey Simms hit a jumper for the Huskers' biggest lead, 49-36.
Nebraska played to the halftime tie despite going 6:35 without a field goal. The Huskers capitalized on 12 turnovers in the first half, converting them into 17 points.
Two 3s by Lucas and another by Daniel Bobik keyed a 13-0 run that gave the Cowboys an 18-7 lead. But the Huskers chipped away and tied it at 28 on Marcus Neal Jr.'s 3 with 1:36 left.
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