Cowboys Recapture Past Glory Oklahoma State Drubs Massachusetts To Claim East Regional Championship

It’s a long way from Gans, Okla., to Seattle. For Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, the trip took four years and covered more improvement than many ever imagined possible.

Reeves has made the trip from freshman project to big-time center and, in doing so, ended Oklahoma State’s 44-year absence and coach Eddie Sutton’s 17-year wait to get back to the Final Four.

Reeves had 24 points and 10 rebounds Sunday as the fourth-seeded Cowboys beat second-seeded Massachusetts 68-54 in the East Regional final. The Minutemen tried everybody against Reeves, the 7-foot, 290-pound center from the town of 300 people.

“Not in my wildest dreams,” Sutton said when asked if he thought four years ago that Reeves could lead a team to the Final Four. “He’s a terrific college center.”

The Cowboys (27-9) are in the Final Four for the first time since 1951. Sutton, the only coach to take four different schools to the NCAA tournament, becomes the 11th coach to take two schools to the Final Four. He went with Arkansas in 1978.

“It’s been a long while,” Sutton said. “I wasn’t sure the opportunity would come again, but this team has maturity from its senior leadership. I told my wife as we came to New Jersey, I would hope to get back one more time before I quit coaching. I’ll tell you, this is the biggest thrill I’ve had in thirty-some years of coaching.”

The thrill came courtesy of Sutton’s trademark defense, one that held Massachusetts (29-5) to its lowest point total of the season and worst shooting effort of the season (16-for-58, 28 percent).

“Oklahoma State banged us and was physical and did the things they had to do to slow us down,” Massachusetts coach John Calipari said. “We didn’t get a clean shot without body contact. That’s the way they play.”

The Cowboys will play top-ranked UCLA, which beat Connecticut 102-96 in the West Regional final, next Saturday at Seattle.

Oklahoma State has two national titles, one-fifth of what UCLA has, and both were won under Henry Iba, Sutton’s coach when he played at Oklahoma State.

“The man I played for was one of the greatest coaches in the sport and I know he’s looking down with a smile on his face,” Sutton said. “There have been just so many great coaches who have never been able to go one time to the Final Four - Ralph Miller, Jack Hartman, my former assistant Gene Keady. There’s so much luck involved. I told John after the game I hope his chance will come.”

Reeves was a big part of keeping him from it, and he did it all with little flair. Massachusetts tried everybody on him and nothing worked. He scored on turnarounds, rebounds and short jumpers.

And when the Cowboys needed something from the outside, Randy Rutherford gave it to them. After going 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half, the senior guard made his first three from behind the arc in the second half and finished with 19 points.

Rutherford’s first 3-pointer gave the Cowboys their first lead of the second half, 36-34, and helped start a 27-9 run that turned a 34-31 deficit into a 58-43 lead for the Cowboys with 6:25 left.

Massachusetts scored the next eight points, five by Derek Kellogg, to cut the deficit to 58-51, but Oklahoma State then had a 10-0 run - with Rutherford scoring six points - to increase the lead to 17.

“In the second half we defended much better and kept them off the boards,” Sutton said. “At the other end we displayed more patience and got the ball to Bryant and worked to get Randy open for some easy shots.”

As Rutherford heated up, Massachusetts stayed stone cold. The best shooting by any of the starters was Carmelo Travieso’s 4-for-10 as he finished with a team-high 11 points. Fellow guard Derek Kellogg added 10 points and the much-acclaimed frontcourt duo of Lou Roe and Marcus Camby were a combined 5-for-21 for 15 points.

“I didn’t play particularly well and we lost,” said Roe, the senior leader of the Minutemen as they won the Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament titles the last four years. “I was trying to use my quickness on Reeves, but he’s so big they kept passing the ball over me to spots where he felt comfortable.”

Camby covered Reeves for a few possessions early and was never a factor.

“Usually we play the physical game,” the sophomore said. “They took it to us, and we backed off.”

The Minutemen played without starting guard Edgar Padilla, who sprained his foot in the semifinal win over Tulsa.

“The team I had is the team I played,” Calipari said. “The guards were not the problem today. We missed one-footers today.”

This regional final appearance was the furthest Massachusetts had gone in an NCAA tournament, and the Minutemen won their first three games by an average of 21 points, the closest a 17-point win over St. Peter’s in the opening round.

“We did what they had been doing to people,” Sutton said. “This is a team that makes other people play ugly because of the defense.”

Oklahoma St. 68, UMass 54

OKLAHOMA STATE (27-9)

Pierce 6-8 0-0 12, Collins 1-3 0-1 2, Reeves 10-21 4-6 24, Rutherford 7-14 1-2 19, Owens 2-9 1-5 5, Miles 0-0 0-0 0, Roberts 2-5 0-2 4, Skaer 1-3 0-0 2, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 6-16 68.

MASSACHUSETTS (29-5)

Dingle 3-10 3-6 9, Roe 3-11 3-4 9, Camby 2-10 2-3 6, Kellogg 3-10 2-2 10, Travieso 4-10 0-0 11, Bright 0-4 3-5 3, Weeks 0-2 3-4 3, Meyer 0-0 0-0 0, Nunez 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 16-58 16-24 54.

Halftime-Massachusetts 32, Oklahoma State 27. 3-Point goals-Oklahoma State 4-12 (Rutherford 4-10, Roberts 0-1, Collins 0-1), Massachusetts 6-17 (Travieso 3-8, Kellogg 2-6, Nunez 1-1, Bright 0-1, Dingle 0-1). Fouled out-Roberts, Camby. Rebounds-Oklahoma State 49 (Reeves 10), Massachusetts 39 (Roe 7). Assists-Oklahoma State 16 (Owens 5), Massachusetts 11 (Kellogg 6). Total fouls-Oklahoma State 18, Massachusetts 18. A-19,689.