Oklahoma St. 76, Texas A&M 64

Thursday, January 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Oklahoma State made Big 12 cellar-dweller Texas A&M look like a contender for much of their game, waiting until the final three minutes to put the Aggies away 76-64.

Texas A&M (6-12, 0-6) was down just 62-60 with 2:47 to play Wednesday night, when the Cowboys began a 14-4 run to end the game. OSU hit free throws and the Aggies missed shots _ including several 3-pointers.

``In order to come in here and beat them, we knew that we had to hit shots. They just weren't falling at the end,'' said Bernard King, who led the Aggies with 19 points.

It allowed the Cowboys (13-3, 4-1 Big 12) to get a hard-earned fifth straight win, while Texas A&M lost its sixth in a row.

The Cowboys had three players notch double-doubles. Maurice Baker had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Fredrick Jonzen had 17 points and 12 boards, while Andre Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

OSU coach Eddie Sutton said it was Williams _ who tipped in an inbounds pass at the halftime buzzer, blocked two shots and had his way inside _ who provided the spark for the Cowboys.

``He was a warrior tonight,'' Sutton said.

``He picked up the slack when maybe some of the other guys didn't play as well.''

After Saturday's sloppy 74-58 win over St. Gregory's, an NAIA school, Williams said he was ready for A&M.

``I had something to prove to them. It was just personal,'' he said. ``I wasn't geared up for St. Gregory's, but from here on out it is Big 12. I am ready to play for this now.''

The two teams stayed within five points through the first 17 minutes of the second half, but they would not have been so close had OSU not let the Aggies back into the game midway through the first half.

A 10-0 Cowboy run gave OSU a 23-13 lead with 10:35 left in the half.

Then the Cowboys got sloppy. Up 27-16, the Cowboys committed three turnovers and two fouls to let the Aggies cut to 27-23 on a jumper by Carlton Brown with 5:47 left in the half.

``I thought when we jumped on them 27-16, we had a chance to break it open, and we lost our aggressiveness defensively and started fouling,'' Sutton said.

Jonzen said the first-half lapse showed that Oklahoma State still has improvements to make.

``The main thing is we have to tighten up our defense,'' Jonzen said. ``We have to get more aggressive and get up on people.

Andy Leatherman scored 15 for the Aggies and Brown had 14.

Victor Williams had 14 points for the Cowboys.

Bernard King said playing the Cowboys tough in Gallagher-Iba Arena was a small consolation for being winless in the conference.

``It hurts, but we just have to keep on working. We can't give up the season,'' King said. ``I think that once we get that first win, we'll be all right.''