Cowboys, Jayhawks, Sooners roll on

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Just about everybody but coach Eddie Sutton seems to think No. 5 Oklahoma State deserves its lofty ranking. <br><br>With an 82-70 victory over Ball State, the Cowboys certainly

Monday, December 31st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Just about everybody but coach Eddie Sutton seems to think No. 5 Oklahoma State deserves its lofty ranking.

With an 82-70 victory over Ball State, the Cowboys certainly made believers of the team that beat Kansas and UCLA.

``They're as good as any team we've played,'' said Ball State coach Tim Buckley. ``They're very deserving of their ranking.''

Ball State led most of the game until the Cowboys (13-0) finally took control.

``I thought this was a huge test for us,'' said Cowboy center Fredrik Jonzen. ``This is a team that beat UCLA and Kansas. They're a good basketball team. I think we showed a lot of people we're as good as we're ranked.''

Other Saturday games involving Big 12 schools included No. 12 Oklahoma 97, Texas Southern 55; No. 2 Kansas 93, Tulsa 85; DePaul 63, No. 10 Missouri 62; Iowa State 88, Northern Iowa 69; Utah 71, Texas 61; TCU 92, Baylor 81; Kansas State 88, Fairleigh-Dickinson 45; and Pacific 75, Nebraska 52.

In Sunday action, Texas Tech hosted Minnesota, Colorado was home against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Texas A&M was at North Carolina.

For Oklahoma State, Maurice Baker scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half. But Sutton remains hard to please.

``I certainly don't think we're the fifth best team in the country,'' he said.

``I look at other teams play on television. If we had played their schedule we certainly wouldn't be 13-0,'' he said. ``But until somebody beats us I guess you have to say somebody has to be up there.''

One team that has no national ranking but deserves some is Tulsa, in the opinion of the Kansas Jayhawks.

The unranked Golden Hurricane erased a 15-point lead and got the game tied 82-82. But led by Drew Gooden's 25 points and 16 rebounds, the Jayhawks (10-1) remained unbeaten in their last 22 games in Kansas City.

``That's a good basketball team,'' said Gooden, who went past the 1,000-point mark for his 2 1/2-year career. ``They would do very well in the Big 12.''

In the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (10-1) had little trouble with Texas Southern.

``It was just a workmanlike game,'' said coach Kelvin Sampson. ``We went out and won by 40 against a team we should beat by 40.''

The Sooners' leading scorer, junior guard Hollis Price sat on the bench wearing street clothes and sunglasses after getting poked in the eye during practice Thursday. He will be re-evaluated Monday and his status was listed as day-to-day.

Missouri's steep decline seems to go on and on. Just a few weeks ago, the Tigers were ranked No. 2 in the nation.

``I don't think we're that good personally,'' said coach Quin Snyder. ``We've been pretty actively working to dispel the myth that we are the last few games.''

The Tigers have fallen to 9-3 following losses to then-No. 15 Iowa and then-No. 9 Illinois.

``We're struggling as a team right now shooting,'' said guard Wesley Stokes, who has hit only three of his last 23 shots.

In the final 11 minutes against Pacific, Nebraska had no field goals and just six free throws. Pacific outrebounded Nebraska 39-24 and made 20 of its 22 free throws. Jake Muhleisen led Nebraska with 14 points.