January 23, 2007

X marks the Bedlam win

STILLWATER - When an Oklahoma State opponent successfully takes out JamesOn Curry and Mario Boggan early in the first half, who do you turn to keep up on the scoreboard?

In Bedlam: Round I, you go to Byron Eaton and David Monds, who posted big nights personally as the No. 13 Cowboys outlasted Oklahoma, 66-61, in front of a packed Gallagher-Iba Arena on ESPN's Big Monday.

Before the game, head coach Sean Sutton told his team that it's the role players that often make the difference in the Bedlam battles, not the big-name guys. And tonight, it was Eaton and Monds who stepped up, scoring 17 and 11 points respectively. Monds earned a double-double on the night with his 11 rebounds.

"In this series over the years there's been guys that were X factors," Sutton said. "Everybody focuses on the stars and certain guys come up big. So I challenged David, Byron and Kenny (Cooper) to make a huge difference tonight. And David probably played his best game in a month. Byron played one of his best games of the year. He didn't turn the ball over. That's a big improvement on his part from the way he's played at times."

Eaton, who scored 13 points in the first half, led the charge in the early going while Boggan and Curry were handcuffed by a tight OU defense. Curry didn't score until 9:36 was left in the first half, completing a free-throw three-point play. Boggan didn't make the scoreboard until nabbing a steal and posting a lay up at the 8:50 mark.

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