COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT : EAST REGIONAL : Suttons Extend Family Tradition

Before Oklahoma State beat North Carolina State, 73-64, Saturday, the Cowboys hadn’t made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament since 1958.

No one had to remind Eddie Sutton. The Oklahoma State coach played on that team.

“When I played, it was a little easier to get up the ladder because there weren’t as many ballclubs, and today there are so many college teams,” Sutton said. “But it has been a long dry spell for Oklahoma State University, and because it’s my alma mater, I guess it makes it something very special for me.”

Byron Houston scored 24 points to lead the Cowboys to the regional semifinals against Temple on Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

Sean Sutton, the coach’s son, scored 14 points and John Potter had 13 for third-seeded Oklahoma State (24-7), which made 15 of 16 free throws in the final three minutes.

“That’s the best we’ve been able to convert the free pitches,” the Cowboy coach said. “We got a good effort from our entire squad, but Houston had a great game.”

Houston, who had 21 points and 17 rebounds in the Cowboys’ opening victory over New Mexico, had 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks Saturday.

The Cowboys saw their 14-point lead cut to two in the closing minutes, but held N.C. State off with their free-throw shooting. Overall, Oklahoma State made 27 of 29 from the foul line.

“This game ended up to be a reversal of some of our games of late, where we’ve been in the lead and had to protect it in the end by hitting our free throws,” N.C. State Coach Les Robinson said. “Oklahoma State should be commended for doing just that--a good team makes their free throws.”

Rodney Monroe led the Wolfpack (20-11) with 19 points but missed seven of his eight second-half shots and was only four of 16 for the game.

Temple 77, Richmond 64--The Owls used their height advantage for several inside baskets during a 13-3 run to open the second half.

The Spiders (22-10), who made 12 of a school-record 28 three-point attempts, made five three-point shots during a 23-14 surge that trimmed Temple’s lead to 59-57 on Terry Connolly’s layup with 7:33 to play.

But the Spiders went 4:59 until their next field goal, missing four three-point shots in the process. Temple had a 66-57 lead with 2:49 to play.

Temple (23-9) was led by Mark Macon’s 20 points. Chris Fleming made seven of 10 shots from three-point range and led Richmond with 25 points.