No. 13 Oklahoma St. 96, Colorado 60

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Desmond Mason scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half, when No. 13 Oklahoma State steamrolled<br>Colorado after a sluggish start and went on to a 96-60 victory Wednesday

Wednesday, March 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Desmond Mason scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half, when No. 13 Oklahoma State steamrolled
Colorado after a sluggish start and went on to a 96-60 victory Wednesday night.

The Cowboys (23-4, 12-3 Big 12) moved back into a second-place tie with Texas in the conference standings. Both trail league-leading Iowa State by one game with one to play.

Colorado (16-12, 6-9) made five of its first six shots to build an early lead, then hit just one basket over the final 14 minutes of the half. The Buffaloes wound up shooting 30 percent in losing their 18th straight in Stillwater.

Mason, coming off a 2-of-11 performance in a loss to Iowa State, made five straight shots in just over three minutes to turn a 14-5 deficit into a 17-16 lead. He hit two jumpers, then consecutive 3-pointers and finally another jumper.

The score was 23-21 when the Cowboys went on a 10-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Mason. Glendon Alexander, who finished with 20
points, made consecutive 3s as Oklahoma State pushed its lead to 43-27 at halftime.

The Buffaloes got within 50-39 in the second half before the Cowboys went on a 17-2 run. Alexander had two 3-pointers during the
spurt and Joe Adkins had one.

Jaquay Walls, leading the Buffaloes with 17 points per game, scored 14 but was just 3-of-11 from the field. He had five points in the first two minutes but didn't score the rest of the half. He also hit Doug Gottlieb in the head with a forearm and was whistled for an intentional foul.

A rugged second half saw both teams get into the bonus before five minutes had expired. Colorado's Jose Winston and Oklahoma
State's Fredrik Jonzen each received technical fouls, and Mason was called for an intentional foul.

Colorado was 2-of-14 from the field in the first half after its quick start. Kyle Williams' follow shot at the 14:06 mark was the Buffaloes' last field goal until Williams hit a leaner with 1:03
remaining.