Sutton's young troops rounding into shape

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ He lost almost every player who made any contribution at all last year. <br><br>Because of extensive renovations to Gallagher-Iba Arena, his youthful and inexperienced team has

Wednesday, December 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ He lost almost every player who made any contribution at all last year.

Because of extensive renovations to Gallagher-Iba Arena, his youthful and inexperienced team has been reduced to holding practice in high schools gyms and some junior high gyms.

Yet, Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State Cowboys are fresh off a 74-73 victory at then-No. 21 Arkansas. They're playing hard and playing smart and bidding for national recognition.

They are also solidifying their leader's place among the coaching elite.

Maurice Baker, a point guard who transferred from Dixie College in Utah, was voted the Big 12's newcomer of the week and is just one bright development in what could turn into a much better year than most Cowboys fans had expected.

``He's been a really pleasant surprise,'' said Sutton. ``We knew he was a good player. But any time you have a newcomer in your program, a freshman or a junior college player, you are always a little apprehensive as to how quickly they can adjust.''

Baker had a huge hand in the big victory at Arkansas, where Sutton once coached.

``He had 25 points and made some big plays down the stretch when the game was on the line,'' Sutton said. ``He has done everything we expected and much more.''

Nevertheless, the Cowboys continue making the mistakes of youth.

``We're so inconsistent right now,'' Sutton said. ``We played very well against Arkansas, the best we've played. And we didn't play very well against Wichita. I think we'll be up and down.

``But in time, this team can be a good basketball squad. By the time we get to league play, maybe we'll be fairly competitive.''

The Cowboys are slated to play in their renovated Arena soon. But much work remains to be done.

``It's just so dirty,'' Sutton said. ``It's quite a ways from being fully completed. But when it is it will be quite a showcase. What they haven't accomplished is a lot of the offices.''

The Big 12's player of the week is Kareem Rush, who is making a bid for stardom at Missouri.

``I think he's getting more and more comfortable scoring within the structure of what we're trying to do,'' said coach Quin Snyder. ``His teammates are doing a terrific job looking for him with the ball and screening for him, and finding him on good places on the floor.''

Rush, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, is also getting smarter.

``He's starting to take better shots,'' Snyder said. ``He's improving game by game defensively and getting on the boards.''

Kansas State appears to be the most troubled program in the Big 12 right now. Two players, guards Galen Morrison and Josh Kimm, have recently left. And first-year head coach Jim Wooldridge admits he's having difficulty getting everybody to buy into his way of doing things.

``I want them to re-evaluate who they have to be this year to compete,'' Wooldridge said. ``It's time to self-analyze, if you would, who we have to be and what each individual has to do to make this team better. We have expressed a point of view to help them understand what has to be done over the next few weeks.

``If we don't do a lot of little things very well, we're going to have a hard time winning.''