OSU Takes It

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Just because Eddie Sutton's team won the game doesn't mean he had to like it. And he didn't, at least not the second half. Sutton found little to be happy about

Sunday, January 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Just because Eddie Sutton's team won the game doesn't mean he had to like it. And he didn't, at least not the second half. Sutton found little to be happy about the final 20 minutes of No. 15 Oklahoma State's 67-51 victory over Baylor. After playing crisply in taking a 41-19 halftime lead, the Cowboys were sloppy and got outplayed during much of the second half.
"We lost our intensity and it shows up in rebounding, it shows up in careless passing ... but we won the game," Sutton said. "I think it bothers any coach who's been in the game very long. It shouldn't happen to a senior ballclub."
One of those seniors, Brian Montonati, scored all 13 of his points in the first half, when the Cowboys (16-2, 5-1 Big 12) took control. A freshman, Andre Williams, was one of the bright spots of the second half, scoring all his 11 points.
Oklahoma State shot 53 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game, while Baylor (10-8, 1-6) was held to a season-low 26 percent (17-of-65).
"We came up here and we had to do all we could to slow the game down a little bit," coach Dave Bliss said. "They're a great full-court team, whether it's defense or offense. We went through a period of about seven minutes of the first half or so where we lost control of the game."
The Cowboys didn't score a basket until nearly three minutes had elapsed, but that started a 20-5 run that ended any doubt about the outcome. Montonati scored seven during that time, and Baylor went 11 straight trips without a basket during a portion of that spurt. Oklahoma State closed the half with an 8-0 run that made it 41-19 at halftime.
Baylor slowed the tempo in the second half, and the Cowboys appeared to lose interest, and as a result Baylor was able to keep the final score respectable.
The Cowboys were outscored 32-26 in the second half, when they committed 12 of their 18 turnovers. "I thought we played really good basketball the first 20 minutes," Sutton said. "Second half, different story."
He called a timeout in the first minute of the second half to scold his team, and later came out of his seat and yelled "What in the world's going on?" as he called another timeout. He and his players took a little longer than usual to make it to the post-game interviews. Oklahoma State's best player, Desmond Mason, said the Cowboys' inability to turn big leads into blowouts is a concern. "You should have that killer instinct like some of these big men like Duke," he said. "They put people away. I think we should have that same killer instinct, but we didn't show it today."
Baylor was forced to do most of its shooting from the perimeter and it didn't work. The Bears had five first-half 3-pointers, but wound up just 8-of-34 from beyond the arc.
Glendon Alexander and Andre Williams scored 11 each for Oklahoma State. Mason had just 10 points, nine below his average, but grabbed 10 rebounds and had four steals. Tevis Stukes had 15 points and DeMarcus Minor scored 13 for the Bears.