NCAA Tournament 2000 - Oklahoma State missed 34 of 59 shots

Oklahoma State missed 34 of 59 shots
Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Doug Gottlieb had a simple explanation for Oklahoma State's loss to Florida in the East Regional final -- and it had nothing to do with the Gators' relentless pressure.

"We didn't hit shots," Gottlieb said after Florida beat Oklahoma State 77-65 on Sunday.

For the most part, Oklahoma State was able to break Florida's fullcourt press by throwing over the top or having Gottlieb dribble through it. In fact, the Gators finished with 22 turnovers compared to the Cowboys' 18. But the Cowboys were 25-for-59 from the field.

"Uptempo, it's not something we try to avoid. We averaged 75 points a game. It's just a different style than we usually see, and they run waves at you," said the senior point guard, who had just one turnover in 32 minutes.

"The big thing is when you play at that speed sometimes the same shots that you normally get, because you are moving so much, because you are going up and down so much, maybe your shots are out of rhythm."

Florida scored 33 points in the first 9{ minutes. Over the next eight minutes though, the Gators made just three baskets. During that span, Oklahoma State shaved a 15-point deficit to eight, but the Cowboys missed several layups and Andre Williams missed an uncontested dunk.

"We had a lot of chances to get ourselves back in the game and to make plays and we didn't complete those plays," said Desmond Mason, who finished with nine points, half his average, on 2-for-8 shooting.

"We missed easy shots. We missed wide open shots. We had our chances and we didn't take advantage of it," he said.

In the second half, the Gators built a 17-point cushion only to have Oklahoma State cut it to three at 56-53 with eight minutes to play. That was as close as the Cowboys got.

"We felt we were back in it," said senior guard Joe Adkins, who had 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting. "We were knocking down shots but we used a lot of energy. We got the same shots at the end but we missed them. That's their game plan, though, to wear you down."

Coach Eddie Sutton, too, thought his team handled Florida's press well, but made some foolish mistakes and missed easy baskets.

"They had 22 turnovers and we had 18, which is a little surprising. But at least six or seven were just our own doing. I don't think it was there defense as much as carelessness on our part," Sutton said.

"Missing those easy shot when you're in a big time game is going to come back to haunt you, and it certainly did."


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