Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Missouri
Cowboys Drop Conference Opener at Missouri, 69-61
January 08, 2006 | Cowboy Basketball
McKinney's point total was a career best fueled by 15 points in the first half, and he had five points in the final 2:18 after struggling much of the second half. Gardner, who leads the conference with a 19.9-point average, scored 16 of his points in the second half.
Gardner missed a pair of bonus free throw opportunities in the final minute to help Oklahoma State crawl to four points down before finally hitting a pair with 20.7 seconds left that iced it, giving Missouri a 67-61 lead.
Those two, who each had three 3-pointers, were the only players in double figures for Missouri (8-4), which shot 53 percent to win its eighth in a row at home before a season-best crowd of 10,171. The Tigers have won 12 of their last 13 at home, and coach Quin Snyder is 7-0 in conference home openers.
Mario Boggan had 14 points and JamesOn Curry 13 for Oklahoma State (10-5), which has lost four of its last six to Missouri. The Cowboys, who made eight of their first nine shots in the second half and led by five points early after the break, faded with a lineup that included three freshmen and a sophomore.
Oklahoma State shot 55 percent overall but was just 3-for-12 from 3-point range, including 1-for-7 by Curry. Torre Johnson added 12 points for the losers.
McKinney's best half perhaps of his career, 15 points in 6-for-8 shooting, helped Missouri keep it close in the first half after the Tigers squandered a 7-point lead. McKinney, who had only two points in the final nonconference tuneup against Louisiana-Monroe, had nine of the Tigers' first 11 points.
A 12-2 run punctuated by four straight points from Boggan had put Oklahoma State ahead 27-24 with 1:40 to go, and the Cowboys took a 29-28 lead into the break after McKinney's basket from the wing with 3 seconds left.
