Cowboys Slap Pepperdine With A Loss

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- No West Coast miracle here. Oklahoma State wouldn't allow it. Paced by Fredrik Jonzen's 21 points, the Cowboys broke open a close game in the second half to beat Pepperdine

Sunday, March 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- No West Coast miracle here. Oklahoma State wouldn't allow it. Paced by Fredrik Jonzen's 21 points, the Cowboys broke open a close game in the second half to beat Pepperdine 75-67 on Sunday and advance to the East Regional semifinals.

Oklahoma State (26-6), which hadn't won two straight games in a month, will play the winner of the Temple-Seton Hall game Friday in Syracuse, N.Y. A day after the 10th-seeded Gonzaga shocked second-seeded St.John's in the West Regional, Pepperdine (25-9) tried to keep the West Coast Conference wave of surprise going. But the Cowboys and their seven seniors had too much experience.

Joe Adkins led Oklahoma State with 18 points, Desmond Mason had13 and Brian Montonati 11. Doug Gottlieb added nine assists and five points. Brandon Armstrong led the Waves with 19 points and Nick Sheppard had 13. Both teams were coming off 20-point victories in the first round.

The third-seeded Cowboys beat 14th-seeded Hofstra 86-66 and No. 10 Pepperdine defeated No. 6 Indiana 77-57. This one was a fight for 30 minutes. The game was tied six times before the Cowboys finally came to life midway through the second half with the score 44-44. And they did it as the Waves struggled from long range.

Pepperdine stunned Indiana by hitting 9-of-17 3-pointers. But the Waves missed their first 10 of the second half Sunday, going scoreless for four minutes as the Cowboys pulled away on a 16-4run. Pepperdine finished the game 7-of-32 from 3-point range, while the Cowboys hit half of their 14 and shot 49.1 percent for the game.

Adkins administered the crushing blows, hitting two straight3-pointers, the second from the right corner boosting the lead to65-50 with 3:27 left. By the time Armstrong hit two 3s and Tezale Archie hit another to break the drought in the final two minutes, the Waves were too far behind.

The Waves are relentless on defense with a full court press, half court traps and a number of half court defenses. It worked well enough to hold Indiana All-American A.J. Guyton to three points on 0-for-2 shooting in the first round and it worked pretty well against the Cowboys.

Mason, who scored 30 points to lead the Cowboys past Hofstra, managed just six in the first half.