Panthers lassoed by Cowboys

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Oklahoma State Cowboys advanced to the Elite Eight round of the… EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Oklahoma State Cowboys advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, while sending the Pitt men’s basketball team home from the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row.

“I’m upset. I had a good career, but never made it passed the Sweet 16,” Pitt guard Julius Page said. “It’s going to stick with me for a while.”

After trailing at halftime, 28-26, the Cowboys (30-3) found themselves tied with the Panthers with 7:53 left in the game. With the score knotted at 42, Oklahoma State went on a 21-9 run to propel itself to a 63-51 victory over the Panthers last night at Continental Airlines Arena.

Pitt (31-5) out-rebounded Oklahoma State 20-15, in the first half, and scored 10 second-chance points as compared to the Cowboys eight.

The second half was a different story, as Oklahoma State out-rebounded the Panthers, 15-13, and limited them to just four second-chance points.

“I thought in the first half they just beat us to death on the glass,” Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton said. “I think in order for Pittsburgh to win they have to get second shots.”

Oklahoma guard Tony Allen was responsible for 13 points in the game’s final seven minutes. Allen finished with 23 points and seven rebounds.

“I just took what the defense gave me,” Allen said. “I felt like if coach [Sutton] called my number, I’d come through.”

Oklahoma State forward Joey Graham, who scored nine points, began the Cowboys’ run with a layup. That was followed by another basket in the paint from Allen off a Chevon Troutman turnover that put them ahead 46-42. Troutman followed with a layup to cut the Panther deficit to two.

Graham scored another bucket for the Cowboys, which made the score 48-44. On Pitt’s next possession, Panther guard Carl Krauser, Pitt’s leading scorer with 15 points, stood at the foul line and missed both his free throws.

After Krauser’s missed foul shots, Oklahoma State was able to put some distance between itself and the Panthers. Graham nailed a jumpshot to put the Cowboys ahead by six, but Panther forward Jaron Brown hit a three-pointer to cut Oklahoma State’s lead to 50-47.

Allen responded at the other end, knocking down a three-pointer with Brown in his face. Brown spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. He did not start the second half, because he picked up three fouls in the first half.

“It was very frustrating,” Brown said. “When I picked up two fouls, it really frustrated me, [but] I tried to keep motivating my team.”

After a steal by Allen, which was converted into a basket by Janavor Weatherspoon, Allen, again, connected on a shot from beyond the arc that put the Cowboys ahead at 57-47.

“[In] the second half, because we took control of the boards a little better, we were able to run,” Sutton said.

The Cowboys finished off the Panthers with a jumper from guard John Lucas, which was followed by a basket by Troutman. Allen was intentionally fouled, but knocked down both shots from the charity stripe. Brown followed Allen’s free throws with a layup. Oklahoma State forward Ivan McSarlin capped the 21-9 run with a dunk.

“In the second half, they got a lot of layups when we were trying to overextend,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We gave them some layups that we normally would not [and] we were a step late on a couple of things.”

Pitt began the game trailing 7-2, as Allen scored four of the first seven points.

With Oklahoma State ahead 5-0, Troutman got the Panthers on the board with a layup. After several defensive stands by both teams, Pitt center Chris Taft cut the Cowboy lead to 7-4 by putting the ball back in off of a missed three-point attempt by Krauser. Krauser made the score 7-6 with a basket, but he fouled Weatherspoon on Oklahoma State’s next possession. Weatherspoon connected on both of his foul shots.

The score remained close with a couple of drives in the paint by Krauser that resulted in layups.

With the score tied at 13, Krauser gave the Panthers their first lead of the night at 15-13, with two converted shots from the free-throw line.

Both teams ended the first half scoring 13 points apiece and made the score 28-26 in Pitt’s favor.

“We thought we had them right where we wanted them,” Krauser said. “We out-rebounded them and we were shooting well.”