THE UNIVERSITY DARLY KANSAN
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2008
OSU 61, KU 60
5B
OSU point guard is Eaton up the competition
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Oklahoma State guard Bryon Eaton tries to get the fans at Gallagher-iba Arena pumped up after drawing a charge during the first half. Eaton scored 26 points, hitting 16-of-18 from the free-throw line including the one that gave the Cowboys a 61-60 lead with nine seconds to go in the game.
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton calculates his players' greatness in a unique way.
After a 61-60 victory against Kansas, Sutton said he used beating the Jayhawks as a measuring stick to judge his players' legacy.
"The good players that have been in our program have beaten Kansas here," Sutton said. "And it's been so important to their career."
Sutton's formula might work. Recent Cowboy greats Desmond Mason, Doug Gottlieb and Bryant Reeves all beat the Jayhawks at least once in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It's time to add junior point guard Byron Eaton to that list, who beat No. 4 Kansas practically single-handedly Saturday.
Eaton set a career-high in points with 26, and 16 of them in free throws in the victory against Kansas. He missed only two free throws all afternoon and blew by the Jayhawks' vaunted backcourt with relative ease.
one was open for a potential shot, he found them and recorded four assists. Sutton thought it was about time for the breakout.
Eaton acted as the floor general that he said his coach asked him to. When a teammate was in the wrong place, Eaton told them. When
"I thought it might happen midway through his sophomore year," Sutton said. "But I'm just happy he's playing as well as he's playing right now."
Eaton's career had been widely regarded as a disappointment through his first two-and-a half years in Stillwater. As a McDonald's All-American out of high school, Eaton was supposed to be the Cowboy's immediate star.
But Eaton said he just wasn't doing the right things. He struggled to keep his weight down, listen to his coach's criticisms and give full effort everyday in practice.
With the departures of Oklahoma State's two leading scorers, Mario Boggan and Jameson Curry at the end of last season, Sutton told Eaton he had to become a leader. He wasn't ready. Oklahoma State limped out to an 11-12 overall record with Eaton shooting barely more than 35 percent from the field.
Then, something clicked. Two weeks ago Eaton scored 25 points and dished out eight assists in a victory against Baylor. It was his
signature game in orange. That was until Saturday, when he put up similar results against one of the nation's top-ranked teams.
"This is what coach Sutton wanted when he recruited me," Eaton said. "I just started doing some things that I should have been doing a long time ago."
And a lot more than that. The Jayhawks were stealing the momentum in the first half when they took only their second lead of the game at 21-18. Eaton answered by hitting two three-pointers in less than two minutes right in the face of Kansas guard Brandon Rush.
Eaton also set up the biggest basket of the game. Cowboy senior forward Marcus Dove nailed a wide open three-pointer with a minute remaining after Eaton penetrated the lane and dished the ball off to him.
To Kansas coach Bill Self, there's no mystery why his team left his alma mater with a loss.
"From my perspective, he (Eaton) would be the primary reason as an individual why they're playing better," Self said. "Because he's playing like one of the guards in the league, which he is."
HIGH low
HIGHS
COACH GUNDY IN THE HOUSE
The funniest moment of Saturday occurred when Oklahoma State's football team took the floor during a first-half time-out. Coach Mike "I'm a man, I'm 40" Gundy and his team was on hand to accept its trophy for winning the Insight Bowl.
What was Gundy going to say?
No?
In a scene straight out of an awkward reality television show, the chairman of the Insight Bowl said: "Coach Gundy, Will you accept this trophy for your great Insight Bowl victory over Indiana?"
UNRULY FANS
The second funniest moment of the day came when a front-row Oklahoma State fan was booted out of Gallagher-Iba for allegedly grabbing a referee.
After the game, Sutton said he was unhappy about the ejection and noted that the fan was a close friend of his and an avid supporter of Oklahoma State athletics.
"It's ridiculous," Sutton said.
BRUCE PEARL AND ERIN ANDREWS
This event happened hundreds of miles away at the Memphis- Tennessee game, but it deserves a mention. ESPN's Erin Andrews' half-time interview of Tennessee
coach Bruce Pearl is sure to become a YouTube classic — right up there with Suzy Kolber's sideline interview of Joe Namath on Monday Night Football.
LOWS
GALLAGHER-IBA ARENA
For being considered one of the loudest college arenas in the country, Gallagher-Iba was noticeably un-raucous on Saturday. The atmosphere picked up in the second half, but the High/Low believes that the atmosphere at Gallagher-Iba was a distant second to the intense crowd the Jayhawks experienced at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan earlier this season.
KANSAS THREE-POIN1
SHOOTING
After quick reprieve against Colorado last Saturday, Kansas was back to chucking ip bricks from long-distance against Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks were 2-11 from three-point range.
Kansas now needs some help to win a share of the Big 12 title. Kansas has to win out, and hope Texas trips up in one of its remaining games. Texas plays K-State tonight, and has games against Texas Tech, Nebraska and Oklahoma State on its schedule.
BIG 12 TITLE RACE
—Rustin Dodd
Kansas
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebounds Points
Darrell Arthur 1-3 0-0 2 6
Darnell Jackson 5-6 0-1 10 16
Russell Robinson 3-8 0-2 3 9
Mario Chalmers 4-10 1-3 3 11
Brandon Rush 5-16 1-4 6 12
Sherron Collins 0-1 0-1 0 0
Rodrick Stewart 0-1 0-0 1 0
Jeremy Case 0-0 0-0 0 0
Sasha Kaun 2-3 0-0 5 4
Cole Aldrich 1-1 0-0 1 2
Oklahoma State
Player FG-FGA. 3FG-3FGA Rebounds Points
Marcus Dove 1-4 1-3 0 5
Ibrahima Thomas 1-2 0-1 7 2
Byron Eaton 4-10 2-3 3 26
Obi Muonelo 3-8 3-5 4 12
James Anderson 3-7 1-3 3 7
Terrel Harris 1-2 1-2 0 4
Tyler Hatch 0-0 0-0 1 0
Martavius Adams 2-4 0-0 2 5
Nick Didorakis 0-0 0-0 0 0
Marshall Moses 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Junior guard Brandon Rush gets ready to take a shot to the basket during the second half. Rush struggled in the game shooting 5-for-16 from the floor, including 1-of-4 from three-point range, for 12 points. One of Rush's three missed three-pointers was a last second attempt that rimmed out.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur reacts after fouling out of the game with 6:04 left in the game. Arthur recorded six points, two rebounds and three turnovers. He played just 17 minutes of the game because of foul trouble.
Basketball Notes
MILESTONES
Junior Brandon Rush eclipsed former Jayhawk Jerod Haase to jump to 26th on the all-time scoring list at Kansas. Rush, who had 12 points, now has 1,273 career points, passing Haase, who scored 1,264 points from 1995-97.
Junior guard Mario Chalmers had one steal on Saturday. Chalmers, who has 248 career steals, is now two steals from
tying Danny Manning for third on Kansas' all-time steals list.
CROWD REACTS TO SELF
If Oklahoma State fans are really ga-ga about Bill Self returning to coach at Oklahoma State, they sure didn't show it on Saturday. The Oklahoma State fans gave Bill Self a polite ovation when Self was announced before the game, but nothing overly exuberant.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Kansas still leads Oklahoma State 101-52 in the all-time series between the schools, but the Cowboys closed in on Kansas' lead for games played in Stillwater. Kansas now has a 33-30 lead in Stillwater.
Rustin Dodd