SportsLine.com Report
March 26, 2000

Regional final: Cowboys yield to Florida's pressure

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Like Duke and Illinois before them, the Oklahoma State Cowboys bowed to Florida's youthful energy.

But not before OSU had a second wind in the second-half.

The Cowboys, who struggled against the Gators' press early in the game and were in a hole because of it, were down by 17 shortly after halftime. It looked like a blowout in the East Regional final, but the senior-dominated Cowboys found enough energy to make it very interesting.

Taking advantage of a Florida team that was also tired, OSU surged to a 20-6 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Glendon Alexander, who made it 56-53 with just under eight minutes left.

"Our team came back, became competitive, had a chance … we just couldn't get over the hump," said coach Eddie Sutton.

"When you come back against a good ball club, it's sometimes hard to get over the hump. It wasn't one of our best games, and I'm sure Florida had something to do with that."

After OSU pulled within three, Florida's Teddy Dupay and Mike Miller made a pair of free throws and Miller drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key that pushed Florida's advantage to 63-53 with 6:16 remaining.

The closest the Cowboys got the rest of the way was eight points. Florida won, 77-65.

OSU leading scorer Desmond Mason scored nine points, about half his average. Oklahoma State finished with 18 turnovers after committing just 33 in the first three tournament games, including only six in the semifinal win over 10th-seeded Seton Hall.

"I didn't think it was their defense as much as just mistakes on our part," Sutton said.

Either way, Oklahoma State fell short of its sixth Final Four appearance and first since 1995.

"I told our team that 27-7 is a great record, and getting to the regional final is great," Sutton said. "I told our ball club that if we played Florida 10 times, we would split. It just so happened they won today."

Next season, Sutton has some rebuilding to do. He loses six seniors, including four starters, who were key players in the rotation.

Said Sutton: "I hope our rookies play as well as Florida's rookies."

Starting Lineup

• SF Desmond Mason (6-5, 215, Sr.) 18.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg
  Mason is one of the best athletes in college basketball, at his best when he is cutting and slashing to the basket. Mason has an all-around game, improving his long-range shooting to the point where he makes nearly 43 percent of his 3-pointers. Mason has been on target in the tourney -- nailing 16 of 27 shots.
• PF Brian Montonati (6-10, 220, Sr.) 12.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg
  Montonati shook off his inconsistent tag this season to become a solid scoring option on the block (he's had 11 in each of the first two NCAA games), and he is the Cowboys' leading rebounder. Foul trouble is often a problem for him -- he had four against Hofstra and hit the limit against Pepperdine -- because he's not strong enough to bang with the power forwards underneath.
• C Fredrik Jonzen (6-10, 230, So.) 8.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg
  The only underclassman to start for the Cowboys, Jonzen brings a strong, physical presence to the floor, not afraid to mix it up underneath. He was sensational in the Big 12 Tournament, with games of 13 and 17 rebounds. He's been the same in the NCAAs, compiling 34 points and 20 rebounds in two games.
• G Joe Adkins (6-1, 190, Sr.) 11.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg
  Adkins is a 3-point bomber who was cold from the outside through the first half of the Big 12 schedule, although he found the range more often in the last month. He is a streak shooter who must be watched at all times. Against Pepperdine, he got loose to make 4 of 6 from behind the arc.
• PG Doug Gottlieb (6-1, 180, Sr.) 6.2 ppg, 8.6 apg, 2.4 rpg
  At times Gottlieb can't shoot a lick, but he ranks among the top 10 assist men in NCAA history, so he stays in the lineup. Opponents some times back totally off, daring Gottlieb to shoot -- he's about 42 percent from the field, a miserable 18.8 percent from 3-point range. Worse, he makes less than half of his free throws, and is only 3 of 8 from the line in two tournament games -- something to keep in mind if the Cowboys are playing a tight game.

Keys To Success

The Cowboys need superstar Desmond Mason to stay on track. His 43 points in the first two rounds ranked third among all players in the tournament. He'd had some subpar efforts in big games down the stretch of the regular season, but if can stay within himself and score consistently (he had 30 against Hofstra, 13 against Pepperdine in a different sort of game), it turns a good team into a terrific one.

To help support Mason, the Cowboys can light it up from long range. In the last nine regular-season games, they nailed 46.6 percent of their 3-point shots. They were more human in two Big 12 tournament games (10 of 29), but have picked up the pace again, hitting 13 of 27 in the NCAA Tournament.

Brian Montonati is a solid post scorer, and the Cowboys must have him on the floor to win. That means staying out of foul trouble, and that means not picking up silly touch fouls, which he has a tendency to do.

The Coach

Eddie Sutton has secured his place in history by being the only coach to take four schools to the NCAA Tournament -- Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Sutton is 226-94 in 10 years at Oklahoma State and 656-258 overall in 30 seasons. Only three active coaches -- Bobby Knight, Jerry Tarkanian and Lou Henson -- rank ahead of Sutton in NCAA victories.

Sutton is 64 but he plans to coach four or five or more seasons. Despite the loss of the seniors, he's got an excellent recruiting class coming in including Victor Williams, arguably the best player in the Missouri Valley when he left Illinois State.

His son Sean, an OSU assistant, is expected to over for Sutton when he retires. Sean Sutton played for his father at Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Eddie says he has the ability to take over right now.

The Bench

The Cowboys have scoring punch off the bench in senior guard Glendon Alexander, averaging 12 points a game.

Senior Alex Webber is still the first big man off the bench, but freshman Andre Williams, a good jumper with shot-blocking abilities, often plays more minutes.

Offense

The Cowboys run the same motion offense that Eddie Sutton has been using for years. They love the 3-point shot and are an excellent team in transition.

Mason needs to get started early, and if he hits his first couple of shots from the outside then the Cowboys are rolling. The Cowboys are 109-9 under Sutton when scoring 80 or more points, 15-0 this season.

Defense

Oklahoma State prides itself on tough man-to-man defense.

The Pokes can be dominating on the perimeter, with Mason, Alexander, Gottlieb and Adkins hounding opponents. Jonzen is solid in the post, but Montonati struggles at times. Oklahoma State held 16 opponents under 40-percent shooting -- Hofstra and Pepperdine managed to beat that -- and forced at least 20 turnovers nine times.