Texas A&M
(#7) Oklahoma State
Aggies Drop Regular-Season Finale to No. 7 Oklahoma State
Mar 06, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 06, 2004
John Lucas scored 20 points and Joey Graham had 14, helping No. 7 Oklahoma State claim sole possession of the Big 12 title with a 70-41 victory over last-place Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Cowboys (24-3, 14-2) clinched their first outright conference championship since 1964-65 in the former Big Eight. They also set a school record for most conference wins and finished 15-0 at home.
It was an anticlimatic finish to the regular season for the Cowboys, who earned a share of the league title with a 76-67 win over Texas on Monday night.
This matchup between the Big 12's best team and its worst was ugly from the start.
Texas A&M (7-19, 0-16) missed eight of its first nine shots, while Oklahoma State also got off to a sluggish start -- prompting coach Eddie Sutton to call a timeout two minutes into the game.
The Cowboys went on a 15-3 run midway through the first half, though, and essentially turned the game into a coronation ceremony from there.
The Aggies became only the second team in the eight-year history of the Big 12 to go winless in league play. Baylor did it in 1999.
For this game, at least, the Aggies succeeded in quieting the normally raucous Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd on a day when there was plenty to celebrate.
A&M rarely attempted a shot with more than five seconds on the shot clock, effectively slowing down the pace of the game and snuffing out any bit of enthusiasm from the fans.
The Cowboys finally seemed to snap out of their funk late in the first half when Lucas lofted a ball high to Tony Allen for a monstrous one-handed alley oop, giving Oklahoma State a 17-9 lead.
Texas A&M never got any closer the rest of the game.
Nick Anderson and Acie Law led the Aggies with 10 points each.
