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Championship Week 2001

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Friday, Mar. 9 3:20pm ET
Texas to face Baylor in Big 12 semis

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma State started slowly in the second half and got knocked out of the Big 12 tournament.

Chris Owens scored 12 points, and Brandon Mouton made the defensive play of the game as No. 20 Texas slipped past the Cowboys 55-54 in the quarterfinals Friday.

"We didn't score in the first five minutes of the second half and we could not rebound from that," Oklahoma State's Fredrik Jonzen said. "We can't have that happen in a tournament."

The Longhorns (24-7) won their seventh game in a row and will face upstart Baylor in Saturday's semifinals. The eighth-seeded Bears upset No. 7 Iowa State earlier Friday.

Texas had its lead cut to one when Oklahoma State's Maurice Baker hit his fourth 3-pointer with 44 seconds to go. After Brian Boddicker missed from the baseline for Texas, Victor Williams got the rebound and passed to Baker.

But as Baker – who scored 20 points – drove in for the potential go-ahead bucket, Mouton tied up the Cowboys' All-Big 12 guard and the Longhorns got the ball on the alternate possession.

After a deliberate foul with 3.1 seconds left, Owens missed the front end of a one-and-one. But Baker's desperation heave from 35 feet was long as the buzzer sounded.

"Brandon's defense on that last shot was just tremendous," Texas guard Darren Kelly said. "He helped off on somebody and just made a great play. He won the game for us pretty much."

Texas, which beat Oklahoma State in all three meetings this season, shot only 32 percent but had just 13 turnovers to 21 by Oklahoma State, which shot 42 percent.

"We kept coming up empty," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Darren played well guarding (Baker). When we had to make plays, we made plays. It was fitting that the last play of the game was defensive."

The Cowboys (20-8), who are hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, are 6-5 since the Jan. 27 plane crash that killed two players and eight other members of their traveling party.

Maurice Evans, the Longhorns' leading scorer this season, fouled out with 11 points. Kelly had 10, including two key baskets that kept the Cowboys from drawing even in the last eight minutes.

Baker hit two 3-pointers, and Williams added a third in a 90-second span for Oklahoma State to cut the Texas lead to 50-48 with 2:44 left.

Thirty seconds later, Evans, who averaged 19 points and six rebounds during the six-game winning streak, was called for a charge – his fifth foul – with 2:14 to go.

The Cowboys trimmed the lead to just one before Kelly connected from 10 feet and Freddie Williams stole the inbounds pass and scored on a layup.

The Longhorns managed a 28-27 halftime lead despite shooting just 25 percent.

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Cyclones blown out of Big 12 tourney by Baylor


AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Maurice Baker scores two points for the Cowboys with a fadeaway jumper off the glass.
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 Fredrik Jonzen hustles to the rim and scores over two Longhorn defenders.
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 Longhorns' Darren Kelly drives to the rim and scores with the finger roll.
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 The Longhorns' Darren Kelly drives to the rim and scores with a finger roll.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1


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