No. 17 Kansas 63, Oklahoma State 62

Saturday, March 11th 2006, 10:44 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ They missed seven free throws down the stretch, had a player go out with blood gushing over his right eye and got away with leaving two defenders on the ground as time expired.

There wasn't much that went according to form for No. 17 Kansas, except the result _ a victory over Oklahoma State that sends the Jayhawks into the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.

Kansas won 63-62 Friday night in a game they pretty much dominated, but couldn't put away. The failure to do so almost caught up to the Jayhawks as the Cowboys got a 3-pointer to spin in with 1.3 seconds left, then might've deserved free throws after two players fell while trying to defend the ensuing inbounds pass.

There was no whistle, though, so Kansas (22-8) won for the 13th time in 14 games.

``Two guys fell down,'' Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. ``I don't believe for a second that it was a charge.''

``A judgment call,'' said Cowboys coach Sean Sutton, who saw the play develop right in front of him.

Kansas advances to a semifinal game Saturday against Nebraska.

Oklahoma State (17-15) ended its two-year reign as tournament champions. As the seventh seed, the Cowboys weren't expected to make it three in a row, and they're not expected to make the NCAA field, either, ending an eight-year streak.

This quarterfinal between longtime adversaries was physical, which made play choppy. The pace was broken up further by two long officials' caucuses, the second a video review of a 3-pointer by the Cowboys with 19.8 seconds left.

The teams combined for 40 turnovers and 40 free throws. While the turnovers were split 22-18 (Oklahoma State made more), Kansas went to the line 30 times to only 10 for the Cowboys. As if trying to even things out, the Jayhawks missed 12, including a pair by senior Jeff Hawkins with 7 seconds left that would've iced the victory.

Perhaps the best example of how the teams slogged through this one was the fact Kansas held Oklahoma State scoreless over an 8-minute stretch in the second half, forcing seven missed shots and seven turnovers, yet scored only nine points in that span.

Sasha Kaun led the Jayhawks with 16 points, his most since mid-December, but was 4-of-8 from the line and didn't play much at the end because of his poor foul shooting.

Russell Robinson had eight assists, seven steals, five points and a handful of stitches to close the gash that opened when he collided with Oklahoma State's JamesOn Curry.

Byron Eaton led Oklahoma State with 18 points. He was 5-of-6 on 3-pointers, including the one that made things so interesting at the end. Curry added 17.

The Cowboys ended the season 4-5 after coach Eddie Sutton's traffic accident on Feb. 10 that led to a medical leave of absence and much more fallout.

A charge of aggravated drunk driving has him planning to seek alcohol rehabilitation once he recovers from back surgery and there are questions about whether he'll return next season. The 69-year-old Sutton, who still gets credit for wins and losses, has 798 victories.

``Hopefully we can still get (800) this year if we make it to the NIT,'' Eaton said.