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Wednesday, Jan. 19 9:00pm ET
Mihm scores 24 in losing effort | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Texas did its usual strong defensive job against most of Oklahoma State. The Longhorns (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 Associated Press) had no answers for Desmond Mason. Mason scored from all over the court Wednesday night and finished with 30 points in leading the 12th-ranked Cowboys to a 73-65 victory. Mason, who had totaled just 20 points in Oklahoma State's three previous games against Division I opponents, scored 14 straight during one stretch of the first half and opened the second half by scoring eight in a row. "A player like that's not going to slump too long," said Texas center Chris Mihm, who scored a season-high 24. "He came out and really lit it up." Texas (11-5, 3-1 Big 12) had been holding opponents to 39 percent shooting, and the players other than Mason combined to shoot just 32 percent (12-of-37). But Mason was 11-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and made all four of his free throws to finish two points shy of his career high. "Coach wanted me to be focused for 40 minutes," said Mason, who played every minute. "I've really been working on my shooting because it's been off. I've shot 1,000 shots two days in a row and it seemed to work." Mason's 14-point surge in the first half included 11 in a three-minute span during which the Cowboys (14-1, 3-0) turned a 17-10 deficit into a 21-18 lead. Mason didn't score over the final 9:16 of the half, when the Cowboys struggled to find open shots and made just three field goals. They trailed 30-29 at halftime. But Mason made sure to get the ball early in the second half. He opened with two free throws, added a baseline jumper off an inbounds pass, another baseline shot two minutes later and a jumper from the right wing that made the score 37-30. "Desmond played one of the best games I've had a player play for me since I came back to Oklahoma State," said coach Eddie Sutton, who is in his 10th year with the Cowboys. While Mason was heating up, Texas was going nearly four minutes without a basket -- three missed shots and three turnovers. Later, with the lead in single digits, Texas twice missed shots in transition after forcing turnovers. "You've got to capitalize on those open-court situations," coach Rick Barnes said. "You've got to do that, and we didn't." Glendon Alexander, who scored 15 of his 17 in the second half, had a 3-pointer in transition and two free throws to give the Cowboys their biggest lead, 54-41 with 6:36 to play. Texas got as close as five twice in the late going, but Oklahoma State sealed the victory by going 12-of-14 from the free throw line over the final 1:48. The 7-foot Mihm gave the Cowboys plenty of trouble, going 9-of-15 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line. Gabe Muoneke, coming off a 30-point effort against Oklahoma, and Darren Kelly each scored 13. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO   Desmond Mason takes the inbounds pass and throws it down.avi: 601 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 William Clay fires the alley-oop to Gabe Muoneke.avi: 613 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||