Eaton Chews Up Bears

The hallmark of Oklahoma State’s basketball teams when that have won conference titles and made deep runs into the NCAA Tournament was outstanding guard play. The Cowboy guards have struggled for much of the 2007-08 season, and it’s evident by a .500 record. Point guard Byron Eaton played the best game of his career Wednesday in leading OSU to a 93-83 victory over Baylor at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The 5-foot-11, 213-pound Eaton was outstanding in leading his team to the victory over a Baylor squad that had defeated Oklahoma State 79-71 on Jan. 15 in Waco, Texas. In the loss to the Bears, Eaton scored just 11 points with five turnovers and only one assist in 35 minutes of play.

But it was a different story Wednesday night as the junior point guard tied a career high with 25 points -- including making 14 of 16 free throws -- and added a season-best eight assists in 35 minutes of action to lead the Cowboys to their best victory of the season.

Eaton also had three steals and just two turnovers in the game as the Cowboys improved to 12-12 overall and 3-7 in the Big 12. Baylor saw its record fall to 17-7 and 6-4.

But Eaton wasn't the only guard who played outstanding against the Bears. Freshman James Anderson finished with 17 points -- the most he's scored in the last six games -- and junior Terrel Harris contributed 15 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds.

The Cowboys got out of the gate fast rushing out to a 16-2 lead, and the Bears could never recover. Baylor never got closer than eight points the rest of the night.

Oklahoma State shot 53 percent from the field and was 31 of 40 from the free-throw line (both highs for the season). The Cowboys turned the ball over just 12 times, just one off their season low.

The Cowboys will be back in action Saturday when they travel to College Station, Texas, in hopes of ending a 19-game road losing streak which dates more than two years. The game against the 16th-ranked Aggies (20-4) will be televised nationally by ABC Sports.