Seniors Power Cowboy Charge

John Lucas scored 14 of his 21 points in the last 6 1/2 minutes of the first half, and Joey Graham got No. 7-ranked Oklahoma State off to a fast start after halftime in an 86-61 win at Texas A&M; Corpus Christi on Monday night.

The outbursts by the two seniors made sure that the Cowboys (10-1), coming off a loss that dropped them four spots in this week’s Associated Press top-25 poll, avoided a huge upset.

Corpus Christi (9-4), an NCAA independent in only its sixth season, played host to a ranked team for the first time and had a seven-point lead midway through the first half.

Graham scored eight points in a 13-0 run the first four minutes after halftime to push the Cowboys ahead, 44-28. That included his emphatic putback slam of a Lucas miss off the glass.

The Islanders had five turnovers in that stretch -- matching their first-half total -- and all but one led to points for Oklahoma State.

Graham finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for the Cowboys, who played their last non-Big 12 Conference game of the season. Daniel Bobik had 12 points and Ivan McFarlin 11.

Oklahoma State shot 65% (34 of 52) from the field.

Corpus Christi, already with victories this season over Baylor, Florida State and Texas Christian, was led by the Bailey brothers. Thomas Bailey had 21 points and Travis Bailey had 13.

A crowd of 8,431 filled the new American Bank Center sitting on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. The court was the same one used in the Alamodome last April when Oklahoma State played in the Final Four.

It was the 765th win for Coach Eddie Sutton, two shy of matching Henry Iba for seventh on the NCAA career list. Sutton played for Iba at Oklahoma State from 1955 to 1958.

OTHER GAMES

Utah 69, Louisiana State 55 -- Andrew Bogut scored 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead the Utes (11-3) over the Tigers (6-4) at Salt Lake City.

Kansas State 80, Central Missouri State 58 -- Fred Peete scored 25 points and Jeremiah Massey had 20 to lead the Wildcats (10-1) over the Division II Mules (9-2) at Manhattan, Kan. Kansas State is off to its best start in 11 years.

Air Force 69, Navy 46 -- Antoine Hood scored 23 points and the Falcons (8-5) routed the Midshipmen (4-8) at Air Force Academy, Colo., to win their 19th in a row at home, the fourth-longest streak in the nation.

Providence 79, Brown 63 -- Ryan Gomes scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Friars (9-4) over the Bears (6-6) at Providence, R.I.

Xavier 72, Iowa State 59 -- Justin Doellman scored 21 points and Brian Thornton led a 17-5 run that opened the second half to lead the Musketeers (6-4) over the Cyclones (8-3) at Cincinnati.