No. 14 Oklahoma St. 74, No. 16 Oklahoma 71

Saturday, February 12th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Joe Adkins scored a season-high 21 points and No. 14 Oklahoma State, after building a 20-point first half lead, held on to beat No. 16 Oklahoma 74-71 on Saturday. Brian Montonati made two free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining to give the Cowboys (20-2, 9-1 Big 12) the three-point lead.

On Oklahoma's last shot, Eduardo Najera's jumper with his foot on the 3-point line bounced off the rim at the buzzer. Fredrik Jonzen had 14 points and 13 rebounds to help Oklahoma State get by despite playing much of the second half without leading scorer Desmond Mason. Mason picked up his second, third and fourth fouls in the first minute of the half. Najera scored 15 of his 21 in the second half as Oklahoma (19-4,7-3) clawed back after the big early deficit. Mason scored 13 and made two shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining that pushed the lead to eight.

The margin was six before J.R. Raymond hit a 3-pointer to get Oklahoma within 69-66 with 1:07 to play. Adkins followed with a tough jumper in the lane with 32 seconds to go. Nolan Johnson scored inside to make it a 71-68 deficit, and after Oklahoma State failed to get the ball in bounds, the Sooners got the ball back with 19.8 showing. Tim Heskett and Kelley Newton missed 3-pointers. Jonzen rebounded the second miss, got fouled and made one of two free throws. Newton hit a 3-pointer with 7.7 remaining to get the Sooners within 72-71.

Then Montonati came through at the line. The game was the most highly anticipated in many years, in part because the teams came in with the combined record in series history, and drew a record crowd of 13,280. Oklahoma State took command in the first half by hitting its outside shots and playing solid defense. With three minutes left in the half, Oklahoma State had seven 3-pointers -- one fewer than Oklahoma's total field goals.

Glendon Alexander and Mason hit consecutive 3s to cap an 8-0 run that gave the Cowboys an 18-9 lead with 11:22 left. Oklahoma State scored 11 straight late in the half -- Alexander and Adkins had 3-pointers -- for a 41-21 lead. Najera was guarded by Mason and was double-teamed whenever he caught the ball in close. Najera missed his first five shots, finally scoring on a leaner with 6:03 left in the half. The Sooners didn't score again until the 2:22 mark, when Najera scored inside to stop the 11-0 run. His basket was the first of three in a row for Oklahoma, which allowed the Sooners to get within 41-27 at half time.