SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, January 27, 1994
7
Last-second shot shoots down Cowboys
Woodberry heroics not unexpected
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
It was the right player at the right time for Kansas last night.
Kansas senior guard Steve Woodberry hit a three-pointer, defeating Oklahoma State 62-61 in overtime at Allen Field House.
After Oklahoma State senior forward Fred Burley missed his last free throw with 10.4 seconds left, Kansas junior center Greg Ostertag grabbed the loose ball. Behind by two, freshman guard Jacque Vaughn took Ostertag's outlet pass and sent it to Woodberry on the right side.
Woodberry drove down the sideline with two Cowboy defenders closing in. He set himself and launched a 23-footer while the field house crowd went silent. The ball fell cleanly through the net with 1.3 seconds left, and the crowd erupted with a victory celebration.
"I sort of had the feeling he was going to knock it in," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "I've got a lot of confidence in our entire team, but it starts with him. I think he's a big-time player and it's appropriate."
Woodberry led No. 3 Kansas with 17 points.
Oklahoma State players and coaches knew exactly what Woodberry was going to do, Oklahoma State senior guard Brooks Thompson said.
"Great players make great plays."
Oklahoma coach Eddie Sutton said.
Thompson led the Cowboys with 23 points and six three-pointers, and sophomore forward Sean Pearson and Woodberry each made five for Kansas.
In a game that was won from the three-point line, Kansas shot 10 for 16 from behind the arc, and Oklahoma State shot 11 for 23.
William Alix / KANSAN
The Jayhawks improved to 18-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Eight Conference. The Cowboys fell to 13-6 and 2-2.
Ostertag said he thought that he had lost the game for Kansas.
Williams said the play of Ostertag, Woodberry and Pearson had won the game. After Woodberry sank the final shot, Ostertag was moved to tears while he crouched down to the court. It could have been a different ending for Kansas after Ostertag turned the ball over with a bad pass in overtime.
"I sort of had the feeling he was going to knock it in. I think he's a big time player."
"I did cry because I was upset with
Teary-eyed Kansas junior center Greg Ostertag hugs Kansas senior forward Richard Scott after Kansas' overtime victory against Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks won last night's game 62-61 when Kansas guard Steve Woodberry made a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left on the clock. With the victory, Kansas gained sole possession of second place in the Big Eight Conference behind Missouri, and Oklahoma State fell into a three-place tie for third with Kansas State and Oklahoma.
Roy Williams Kansas basketball coac
myself because of the missed dunk and the turnover I had," Ostertag said.
With 37.5 seconds left in regulation, Oklahoma State junior center Bryant Reeves blocked Ostertag's dunk out of bounds.
The score was 64-54 when Woodberry missed a shot and the 35 second shot clock sounded. The Cowbies did not have any timeouts, but Oklahoma State junior forward Scott Pierce appeared to stop play. It would have been a technical foul, but the officials had already blown the whistle to stop the clock with 0.3 seconds, thinking the game clock had expired.
Despite Ostertag's mistake, Williams had nothing but praise for the 7-foot-2 center, who had nine points, a team-high 11 rebounds and tied a school record with eight blocks. He also held Reeves to 13 points, well below his average of 20.2 points a game.
"I've always thought Greg Ostertag had the chance to be an outstanding player," Williams said. "All those people that call in and talk and complain about him, they can ... you fill in the rest of that."
Both teams shot poorly from the field in the first half. Kansas shot 29.2 percent, and Oklahoma State shot 29 percent. Williams attributed it to the tough defense of both teams.
"We've always felt that over the last four or five years that Oklahoma State and ourselves play the hardest on the defensive floor," Williams said. "Defense dominated the game."
The game was an ordeal for Kansas senior forward Richard Scott, who injured his shoulder in Monday's practice. He played only 20 minutes, but Williams said Scott's toughness helped the Jayhawks.
"Nobody in this room would have been tough enough to play tonight," Williams said to reporters. "We don't win without Richard Scott."
Toughness was something shared by both teams last night, Sutton said.
"Both teams played as hard as any college basketball team could play," he said. "Both teams never allowed a good look at the basket."
Kansas 62, Oklahoma St. 61
OKLAHOMA STATE (13-6,2-2)
Player
Burley 1-5 1-2 ftm/fta tp
Collins 0-3 0-0 0
Reeves 6-18 1-4 13
Rutherford 5-12 0-0 15
Thompson 7-15 3-5 23
Sutton 0-2 0-0 0
Pierce 0-2 1-2 1
Roberts 2-6 0-0 4
Manzer 0-1 2-2 2
Phillip 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 21-64 8-15 61
KANSAS (18-2,3-1)
Player fgm/fga ftm/ta tp
Vaughn 2-9 0-0 4
Woodberry 6-12 0-1 17
Richey 1-4 4-4 6
Scott 0-4 1-4 1
Oortest 2-5 5-6 9
Pollard 3-7 0-0 6
Rayford 0-1 0-0 0
Gurley 0-1 0-0 0
Pearson 5-6 0-0 15
Williams 2-3 0-0 4
Totals 21-52 10-15 62
HalfTime Kansas 12, Oklahoma State 24,
3-point goals Kansas 10-16 (Pearson 5-
Woodbury 5-7, Richey 2-O, Vaughn 0-2),
Oklahoma State 11-23 (Thompson 6-
Rutherford 5-Burie 0-2, Sutton 2-O,
Roberts 0-2), Robbinsa Kansas 35
(Rutherford 11). Assateke Kansas 17 (Vaughn 6-
Woodbury 4, Rayford 3), Oklahoma State 16
(Thompson 4) Total fouls Kansas 12,
Oklahoma State 15. Attendance 15,500.
Streak of three-pointers in second half is a confidence builder for Jayhawk forward
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
On a night when some of the Big Eight Conference's best guards were knocking down three-pointers, sophomore forward Sean Pearson calmly made his presence felt.
Pearson hit five three-pointers, all in the second half, to help Kansas defeat Oklahoma State 62-61 in overtime.
"I was taking more open shots," Pearson said. "I was getting more involved and more enthusiastic."
Pearson, who was five for five from beyond the arc and is eight for 11 in conference play, did not surprise Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton.
"We knew he was a good shooter," Sutton said. "His three's were as important as Woodberry's."
Senior guard Brooks Thompson agreed.
"He got a couple quick looks at the basket," he said. "You expect him to make shots like that."
The question is whether Pearson expected to make those shots.
Pearson, who was only hitting 29 percent of his three-pointers coming into the game, was dealing with a confidence problem.
"Sean Pearson had not been the most confident player in the world," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "But he was five for five tonight."
Although his confidence may have been a factor, Pearson wasn't bothered by it last night.
"When my shots are going in, it gets me more into the game," he said. "But if my shots are not falling, then I don't worry about it as much."
Pearson didn't have to worry at all last night when he traded three pointers with some of the premier shooters in the conference, Thompson and junior guard Randy Rutherford.
"Every time he made one, then I did, it was feeling good," Pearson said of Thompson.
And what was Pearson's strategy against the Cowboy guards?
"they shot the ball really well," he said. "I was just trying to make them shoot over our hands and not let
them get a good look."
Rutherford and Thompson combined for 38 points on 12 of 27 shooting.
But Pearson held his own, and that impressed Williams.
"I think it was important for him to step up," he said. "It really kept the crowd in it."
Sutton was equally impressed.
"He had an outstanding evening as far as putting the ball in the hoop," he said.
Pearson, who averages only 6.4 points a game, leads all Kansas players in field goal shooting percentage in conference play at 64.7 percent.
"I wanted to go out there and just do the best I could," he said. "I want to keep getting better, especially in the big games."
Although Pearson's offensive showing was impressive, he was more concerned with the team's performance.
"I hope we keep getting better as a team and keep improving," he said.
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