Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Nebraska
Cowboys Trounce Huskers, 74-55
March 06, 2010 | Cowboy Basketball
March 6, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- James Anderson scored 25 points in what likely was his last game at Gallagher-Iba Arena, and Oklahoma State closed the regular season by beating Nebraska 74-55 on Saturday.
Oklahoma State (21-9, 9-7 Big 12) clinched a winning record in conference play and likely also sealed a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Cowboys will be the seventh seed in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo., and will play Oklahoma in the first round. The Cowboys and Sooners split a pair of regular-season games.
Oklahoma State has won four straight games against Nebraska (14-17, 2-14). Brandon Richardson scored 16 points for the Cornhuskers, who have lost 14 of their last 16 games and finished last in the Big 12.
Anderson went 9 of 15 from the field. Nebraska had no answer for the 6-foot-6 junior guard nicknamed "Big Game James" for his penchant to come through when the Cowboys need him most. He left the game with 2:14 left to a standing ovation.
Anderson leads the Big 12 in scoring and is widely expected to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA draft, but after he hit an acrobatic shot in the lane and drew a foul with 16:22 left, some in the orange-clad crowd chanted "One more year!" as Anderson stepped to the free throw line.
At that point, Anderson had scored 21 points, while Nebraska had 23.
It was that way most of the afternoon for the Huskers, who played without their leading scorer, Ryan Anderson. He injured an ankle Wednesday night in a loss to Colorado.
Nebraska made its first three 3-point attempts and led 9-8 after a 3-pointer by Lance Jeter less than four minutes into the game, but the Huskers managed only one basket during the next 11 minutes.
Even as Nebraska burned three timeouts in a vain attempt to stem the tide, the Cowboys went on a 22-2 run, highlighted by three 3-pointers by reserve guard Nick Sidorakis. Anderson's layup with 6:30 left in the half made it 30-11.
Oklahoma State went 9 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half.
Oklahoma State led 38-19 at halftime - Nebraska's lowest-scoring half of the season. The Cowboys started the second half on a 15-6 spurt to push their lead to 53-25 with 15:44 left, and the Huskers came no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Sidorakis, who entered the game with eight 3-pointers all season, went 4 of 6 from behind the arc and scored a career-high 12 points. Obi Muonelo, Oklahoma State's only senior, scored 13 points, and Matt Pilgrim had eight points and 10 rebounds.
