OSU 84, Kansas State 70

Tuesday, February 27th 2007, 10:33 pm

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Terrel Harris scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the 2nd-half to help Oklahoma State build a commanding lead on its way to a 84-70 win against Kansas State on Tuesday night.

Harris matched his career-high with four 3-pointers as Oklahoma State (20-9, 6-8) snapped a four-game losing streak and took the first step toward salvaging any remaining NCAA tournament hopes.

JamesOn Curry snapped out of a two-game shooting slump and also scored 22, and Mario Boggan added 17 points for the Cowboys. It was only the second win in the past month for Oklahoma State, which had lost six of its previous seven games to plummet all the way from the top 10 out of the rankings.

Cartier Martin scored 19 of his 25 points in the 2nd-half to lead Kansas State (20-10, 9-6), which has alternated wins and losses for its last eight games.

Kansas State cut into a 16-point deficit with back-to-back 3-pointers, but Harris took over the game from there. He scored 9-straight points, beginning with an acrobatic, left-handed tip-in of Curry's missed 3-pointer.

He stole the ball and earned a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a fast-break dunk try, then hit a 3-pointer from the right side and topped it all off with a right-handed jam off his own steal near midcourt to push Oklahoma State's edge to 62-43.

Martin scored 11 of Kansas State's next 13 points to begin closing the deficit, and the Wildcats got as close as 71-63 on David Hoskins' layup with 3:49 to play.

But Hoskins, the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, fouled out with 2:45 remaining and Kansas State's rally ended soon after. Oklahoma State scored 10 straight points to lead 84-66 in the final minute.

Oklahoma State's David Monds had 10 points in his final regular-season game at Gallagher-Iba Arena for his first back-to-back double-figure scoring performances since December
2005. Byron Eaton also scored 10.

Hoskins added 20 points for Kansas State, and Clent Stewart and Lance Harris each had 10.

Oklahoma State used a 12-2 push to take a 20-10 lead on Monds' layup, but Hoskins came right back with four straight layups to narrow the gap 2.

Terrel Harris hit a pair of 3-pointers as Oklahoma State pulled away again with a 10-1 run shortly before halftime. Monds' two-handed jam in the final seconds of the 1st-half gave the Cowboys a 41-30 lead at the break.