NCAA West: Purdue sinks free throws, OU

TUCSON, Ariz. - Purdue's Rodney Smith squatted and sank three of four free throws in the final 21 seconds Saturday. The last unorthodox shot finished Oklahoma, 66-62. <br><br>The Sooners (27-7) bowed

Saturday, March 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TUCSON, Ariz. - Purdue's Rodney Smith squatted and sank three of four free throws in the final 21 seconds Saturday. The last unorthodox shot finished Oklahoma, 66-62.

The Sooners (27-7) bowed out of the NCAA West Region second round under the weight of 17 missed three-point shots. They made 2 of 19. Purdue (23-9) sank only 4 of 19 from behind the arc, but they were the steadier team down the stretch and will move onto next week's West Region semifinals in Albuquerque, N. M.

"I'm so proud that we were able to fight hard and win a game like this," said Purdue coach Gene Keady. "This was an up-and-down game the entire way, and we were able to pull it out."

Greg McQuay led the sixth-seeded Boilermakers with 16 points and Jaraan Cornell added 15. With the outside shots clanging off the rim, the three-seeded Sooners turned to Nolan Johnson. He responded with 20 points, and Eduardo Najera added 15 and Hollis Price 10. The game-turning play was a foul by OU's Kelley Newton on a three-point shot by Cornell with 43.7 seconds to go.

Cornell, who sank back-to-back three-pointers earlier in the half to wrest the momentum from the Sooners, cooly made all three free throws for a 63-60 Boilermaker lead.

Oklahoma's answered with two free throws by Price 35 seconds from the end, but that still left the Big 12 representative one point short.

The Sooners had to foul and they chose Smith, a 70-percent free throw shooter for the season. Smith made two free throws at :21.3 and the first of two at :11.5 after he picked off an errant pass by Price, the last of seven turnovers by the freshman point guard. J.R. Raymond launched a couple of desperation treys as the clock ticked off. Free throws were the difference for the Boilermakers. Purdue made 18 of 23 free throws, and OU was only 8 of 15 from the line.

"This was not characteristic of our team," said OU coach Kelvin Sampson. "You've got to make free throws. Purdue did a better job." Neither team led by more than six points. The last such margin was, 45-39, by Oklahoma with 13 minutes to go. Cornell's back-to-back three-pointers gave Purdue a 52-49 edge 7:49 from the end. Oklahoma led once after that when Johnson's tip provided a 58-56 edge with 1:51 to play. "When we took the lead on Nolan's tip," said Sampson. "I felt like if we could get the ball with the lead, we'd have a good chance. McQuay got behind our defense and got the dunk. "I wanted to keep coaching this team. But my hat's off to Gene. They have a lot of moxie; they're a tough team. I wish 'em well."

McQuay, however, worked behind the defense for a free jam at 1:48 and Cunningham stripped Hollis Price near midcourt.

Cunningham dribbled down to the baseline, where he was fouled by Price at 1:28, then sank both free throws. "This was the best defensive game of Cunningham's career," said Keady. "He stepped up and played great D." OU tied the score again on a follow shot by Victor Avila at 1:06, setting up Newton's foul on Cornell.

Charlie Smith is a free-lance writer based in Tulsa, Okla.