STILLWATER, Okla. -- The dark circles around coach Sean
Sutton's eyes showed just how desperate Oklahoma State was to end a
six-game losing streak.
"If it was by 50, if it was by half a point, as long as we got
the win, that's all that matters," senior guard Byron Eaton said.
In the end, it was by one point, but it was enough for the
Cowboys. James Anderson scored 16 points as Oklahoma State ended
its longest skid in more than two decades by beating Colorado 64-63
on Wednesday night.
Oklahoma State (11-11, 2-6 Big 12) won for the 21st time in its
last 22 home games against Colorado (9-13, 1-7) in a matchup of
teams that entered Wednesday tied for last place in the conference.
Until this season, the Cowboys hadn't lost six straight games
since the 1986-87 season.
"Any win after what we've been through will help their mind-set
and help their confidence," Sutton said. "... During this streak
when we lost so many close games, they never put their head down
and never felt sorry for themselves. They continued to work hard on
the practice court and continued to get better."
Colorado can feel their pain. The Buffaloes lost their sixth
straight game despite 22 points from Richard Roby, who set a school
record with his 106th career start, breaking a mark set by Donnie
Boyce from 1991 to 1995. Colorado has lost 17 straight Big 12 road
games, dating to a 2006 win over the Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba
Arena.
"This game was lost in the first 20 minutes," Colorado coach
Jeff Bzdelik said. "We avoid contact going to the rim. We double
clutch, so we don't finish layups. And then we avoid contact on
defense. We didn't take one charge with them flying to the rim,
bailing them out with unnecessary fouls and just giving them
second-chance opportunities and missing free throws.
"You're not going to win any games doing those kinds of
things."
Colorado rallied from a 9-point halftime deficit to tie the game
at 36-36 on two free throws by Roby with 10:13 left. But Terrel
Harris started a 9-0 Oklahoma State run with two free throws with
9:06 left. He capped the spurt with a dunk that followed a steal
and pass by Eaton and put the Cowboys up 45-36 with 6:05 left.
Eaton's steal gave him 170 for his career, tying him for
Oklahoma State's career lead in that category with Ivan McFarlin,
who played for the Cowboys from 2001 to 2005.
Cory Higgins pulled Colorado within 49-46 with a 3-pointer from
the corner with 2:56 left. Marcus Dove and Eaton each hit a pair of
free throws for Oklahoma State to make it 53-46.
Colorado chipped away at its deficit, and a 25-foot 3-pointer by
Marcus Hall with 4.1 seconds left cut the Cowboys' lead to 61-59.
Eaton, who had 13 points, made 3 of 4 free throws after that,
including a pair with 1.2 seconds left after Roby had hit 1 of 2.
That proved to be the difference, as Hall's half-court heave at the
buzzer went in.
"I'm glad the game didn't go one more minute, the way they were
hitting shots at the end," Sutton said.
Despite the dramatic finish, the mistakes came early and often
for both teams. Colorado's Dwight Thorne threw up an off-balance
3-point attempt with the shot clock running down to end the game's
initial possession, and Oklahoma State answered with a turnover.
Then came a Colorado turnover and another Oklahoma State
turnover before Thorne scored the game's first basket, more than
two minutes after the tipoff.
The errors sometimes were odd in nature, as when Oklahoma
State's Nick Sidorakis was called for traveling -- while trying to
inbound the basketball.
But Martavius Adams provided a bright spot for Oklahoma State.
He broke his career high for rebounds by grabbing nine in the first
half and scored three baskets -- all putbacks -- as the Cowboys took
a 25-16 halftime lead. Adams had only hit one basket in the
Cowboys' seven previous Big 12 games.
Colorado went 5 of 20 from the field in the first half and made
just 4 of 10 free throws. The Buffaloes didn't hit double figures
in the scoring column until 15 minutes into the game.
If Roby hadn't of made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of
the half, Colorado would have allowed Oklahoma State to set a new
school record for fewest points allowed in a half against a Big 12
team. The Cowboys held Baylor to 14 first-half points on Feb. 14,
2004.
Hall scored 12 points, raising his career total to 1,008. He is
the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 points or more in
his career.
Ibrahima Thomas added 9 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma
State.