John Lucas III said he had never played in a game like this one.
You wouldn't know it from his performance.
Lucas' stellar first half ignited 10th-ranked Oklahoma State, which opened an early double-digit lead and coasted to a 80-60 win over No. 12 Kansas on Monday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Lucas, a junior transfer from Baylor, blossomed in the limelight of the national television stage, scoring 14 of his 21 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the first half as the Cowboys opened a 44-26 lead at the break and never looked back.
"We have a motto with this team that once we get a team down, make sure they stay down," Lucas said. "We weren't going to let down.
"We knew we had the advantage because we were playing at Gallagher."
Lucas, who was named Big 12 Player of the Week earlier in the day, hit his first seven shots and outplayed KU's Aaron Miles in a matchup of the top two point guards in the conference. Miles committed six turnovers, scored three points and was just 1-for-7 from the field, with his only basket coming with less than five minutes left in the game.
OSU (18-2, 8-1 Big 12) moved into sole possession of first place in the conference with its eighth straight win. Texas, which lost to the Cowboys in Austin two weeks ago, can tie for the lead with a win over Texas A&M tonight. The Longhorns visit OSU on March 1.
"Right now, we're in the driver's seat, and everybody has to come after us," OSU forward Joey Graham said.
OSU, which came into the contest shooting 52.3 percent from the floor, best in the country, made 10 of its first 12 shots, including an almost ridiculous six of seven from beyond the arc. Several of the long-range shots were virtual prayers as the shot clock dwindled down.
In succession during one early 13-2 run, the Cowboys got an 18-footer off the glass from inside scorer Ivan McFarlin, a long bomb from Lucas as the 35-second buzzer went off, and Daniel Bobik's desperation trey from the key that banged in off the glass.
It added up to a rude welcome home for first-year Kansas coach Bill Self, who lettered at Oklahoma State from 1982-85 and was an assistant at his alma mater from 1987-1993.
"[Coming back] felt good for about 2 minutes," Self said. "I hate to say [the first 10 minutes] was the ballgame, but that's how it turned out to be.
"We dug a hole, and it wouldn't have mattered if we played a 60-minute game. We weren't going to catch 'em."
Kansas (15-5, 7-2) entered with a three-game winning streak against the Cowboys and had claimed eight of the 10 games between the teams since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-1997.
But the Jayhawks, who never led, were out of this one from the start, with only Wayne Simien (25 points) and freshman J.R. Giddens (12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point land) having decent outings.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was