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Oklahoma State tops Texas A&M to end road struggles

Feb 17, 2008 - 4:06 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Byron Eaton got Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton a long-awaited win on the road.

Eaton scored 17 points as the Cowboys snapped a 19-game road losing streak in the Big 12 Conference with a 59-54 victory over 16th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday.

Obi Muonelo had 15 points and seven rebounds for Oklahoma State (13-12, 4-7 Big 12), which also snapped a 0-5 showing against ranked opponents this season.

The road struggles for the Cowboys dated to February 2006, when Eddie Sutton was still working the sidelines. Taking over the program after his father's difficult retirement following a DUI charge, Sean Sutton could not break through on the road - until now.

"I'm happy for our guys. I'm very proud of them," Sutton said. "I know that they were tired and our fans were tired of this losing streak on the road. It's a big burden to finally get behind us."

In a close contest throughout, Oklahoma State turned around its luck on the defensive end, holding Texas A&M (20-5, 6-4) to just one field goal over the final six-plus minutes.

"I thought the second half was about as good as we've played on the defensive end all season long," Sutton said. "We came up with some key stops."

"They played well and we just could never get it going in the second half," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "We couldn't put together enough stops and rebounds or control their penetration. It's disappointing."

Holding a 53-50 lead with less than 3 1/2 minutes left, the Cowboys saw the Aggies hit the offensive boards on three different occasions before Bryan Davis' tip shot was successful to cut their deficit to one point.

Despite shooting just 42 percent (22-of-52) from the field, Oklahoma State got a jumper from Terrel Harris to make it 55-52 with 2:12 to play.

Texas A&M got no closer than two points thereafter, as the Aggies missed their final three shots and split four free throws.

Muonelo made his only attempts from the stripe with 16 seconds left to give the Cowboys a 57-53 advantage.

Also not attempting a free throw until the closing moments, Eaton sank a pair with nine seconds left to cap the scoring.

Following up on a 25-point effort in a 93-83 win over Baylor on Wednesday, Eaton went 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. He also had five assists.

"On the offensive end, I thought Byron (Eaton) was tremendous," Sutton said. "We felt like we could expose them a little bit forcing their big guys to come out and try and contain him. I thought he made good decisions with the basketball."

Freshman DeAndre Jordan scored 15 points for the Aggies, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Sutton felt that Texas A&M was ripe for an upset as it was playing for the first time in a week and had a big matchup at Texas on Monday.

"We might have caught them at a good time," he said. "They've won five straight, had an off week, and have a big rivalry game Monday night."

Joseph Jones added 13 points for Texas A&M, which went 6-of-20 (30 percent) from the field in the second half.