COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Oklahoma State Stays Unbeaten

Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton called it his team’s best performance of the season.

The third-ranked Cowboys improved their record to 20-0 by shutting down No. 8 Missouri for an 84-61 Big Eight Conference victory Sunday at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma State, 4-0 in the Big Eight, has won 27 consecutive home games. The Cowboys are the first Big Eight team to win its first 20 games.

“Our defense was as good this afternoon as we’ve played all year,” said Sutton, whose team is tied with Kansas for the conference lead.

Corey Williams scored 22 points and Byron Houston had 19 for Oklahoma State, which made 63% of its shots against a Missouri team that had been holding opponents to a conference-low 39%.

Anthony Peeler, who entered the game averaging a conference-best 26.7 points, scored 18 points for Missouri (14-3, 2-2), which made only 38% of its shots.

“I thought experience was the difference between the two teams today,” Missouri Coach Norm Stewart said. “They have four seniors and they played like four seniors. We could not come up with any breaks. It seemed everything bounced their way.”

Williams scored 13 points in the first half when the Cowboys led by as many as 16 points. Houston, who had eight points and three fouls at halftime, scored four baskets in the first five minutes of the second half to help Oklahoma State maintain a comfortable lead.

No. 10 Ohio State 68, No. 15 Michigan 58--Jim Jackson scored 22 points and made Ohio State’s only field goal in the last nine minutes as the Buckeyes hung on for the Big Ten Conference victory at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ohio State (14-3, 6-1) led, 48-26, with 12:48 left after Michigan (12-5, 4-4) committed 18 turnovers and made only six of 23 shots in the first half.

Ohio State led, 57-52, with 2:24 left when Jackson scored after a missed free throw by Lawrence Funderburke.

Ohio State is tied for the conference lead with Indiana, which lost Saturday to Michigan State.

Mark Baker scored 16 points for Ohio State and Funderburke had 12.

Freshman Jalen Rose led Michigan with 15 points. Freshman Chris Webber had eight points and 11 rebounds.

No. 11 North Carolina 86, No. 20 Georgia Tech 76--Hubert Davis of North Carolina scored 10 of his 23 points during a 20-7 run that helped the Tar Heels win an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Atlanta.

North Carolina (15-3, 5-2), which has won five of six, blew a 12-point first-half lead.

Davis tied the score, 59-59, on his second three-point basket in under than 40 seconds.

North Carolina went ahead at 65-64 on Brian Reese’s layup with 8:31 left.

Freshman James Forrest scored 26 points for Georgia Tech (15-6, 3-4), which never got any closer than six points after Reese’s basket.

Louisiana State 74, No. 14 Kentucky 53--Shaquille O’Neal scored 20 points, had 20 rebounds and blocked six shots to lead the Tigers to a Southeastern Conference victory at Baton Rouge, La.

“Shaq is a franchise player,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “We tried to go inside on them a couple of times, and it went right back the other way.”

LSU (13-4, 6-1) made seven three-point shots, all in the first half, and led, 34-23, at halftime.

Jamal Mashburn scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds for Kentucky (15-5, 5-3), which made only eight of 44 three-point attempts.

OTHER GAMES

Sophomore guard Tracy Webster scored 20 points as Wisconsin (11-9, 2-5) ended a five-game losing streak with a 79-69 Big Ten Conference victory over Purdue (11-8, 3-4) at Madison, Wis. . . . Chris Leonard scored 26 points and West Virginia (14-5, 6-1) held off several comebacks by Rutgers (9-9, 2-6) for an 88-84 Atlantic 10 Conference victory at Piscataway, N.J.