The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
Buckman leads Men's Basketball past Oklahoma State
03.05.2005 | Men's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Brad Buckman tied a career high with 27 points, and Texas beat No. 8 Oklahoma State 74-73 on Saturday night to put an impressive victory on its NCAA tournament resume.
The Cowboys' Terrence Crawford had a chance to tie it when Buckman fouled him on a desperation heave with 0.3 seconds left, but he missed the second of three foul shots.
The loss ended the Oklahoma State's homecourt winning streak -- the longest in the nation -- at 29 games. The Cowboys hadn't lost at home since Feb. 24, 2003, against Texas Tech.
Sydmill Harris fueled a 9-0 run midway through the second half for Texas (20-9, 9-7 Big 12). Jason Klotz scored on the left block to start the run that put Texas ahead for good, and Harris and Buckman added two free throws apiece before Harris sunk a 3-pointer from 24 feet to give the Longhorns a 60-56 lead.
The Cowboys (20-6, 11-5) got within 66-64 on John Lucas III's 3-pointer from the left wing with 2 1/2 minutes to play, but Buckman answered with a right hook shot in the lane and Klotz and Daniel Gibson each hit a free throw to extend the lead back to six.
Lucas' floater in the lane made it 71-68, and neither Kenny Taylor or Buckman could put the game away at the foul line. Taylor was 1-for-2 with 18.9 seconds left and Buckman missed both his free throws after grabbing the offensive rebound on Taylor's miss.
Crawford's 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left brought Oklahoma State within one point. After two free throws by Gibson put Texas up three, Buckman fouled Crawford from behind midcourt while he was attempting a desperation shot.
After missing the second of the three foul shots, it appeared Crawford -- a 78 percent free-throw shooter -- would try to intentionally miss his third. The Cowboys substituted their tallest players to apparently go after the miss for a game-tying tip-in.
But the free-throw hit the back of the rim and fell through, and Oklahoma State's chances to win fell, too.
Taylor finished with 11 points and was the only other Texas player in double figures.
Joey Graham scored 17 to lead Oklahoma State, Jameson Curry added 16, Lucas 13 and Ivan McFarlin and Crawford had 12 each.
Texas claimed its 20th win for a school-record sixth straight time and kept from falling to .500 in league play -- dangerous territory for a team seeking an NCAA tournament berth.
The Longhorns took momentum into the locker room after Taylor banked in a 3-pointer under duress from the right wing to give Texas a 33-32 lead at halftime.
Buckman hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and -- after a foul shot by Crawford -- added two free throws to put Texas ahead 47-43.
Oklahoma State answered with a 13-4 run and led 56-51 lead after Stephen Graham's 3-pointer from the right wing and Ivan McFarlin's fast-break layup.
