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Oklahoma State 77, Tennessee 75

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 21, 2009

Updated: 03/21/2009 12:46 am

DAYTON, Ohio - Looking at the thicket of bodies clogging the middle of the floor, Oklahoma State's Byron Eaton wasn't sure how he'd create his final shot. So, he kept dribbling.

Stunningly, after 40 minutes of give-no-ground basketball, everything opened up right in front of him.

The Cowboys' barrel-chested point guard found a clear path to the basket for a 3-point play with 7.2 seconds left Friday, lifting his team to a victory against Tennessee.
Oklahoma State (23-11) will play Pittsburgh, the top seed in the East Region. The Panthers sprawled across the first three rows of seats behind the Oklahoma State basket for the start of the second half, doing a little firsthand scouting.

They were gone long before Eaton - a five-sport star in high school who also played a little football - gave the game its final shoulder-down nudge.

Tennessee (21-13) got caught flat-footed, allowing Eaton to drive the lane untouched. Tyler Smith came in late and unsuccessfully tried to block the shot, which fell through the net as Eaton tumbled to the floor after the contact.

"He just gave me the middle," Eaton said. "I was looking for the contact. I knew it was coming. I just tried to concentrate on making the basket."

Smith had a chance to win it for Tennessee, but his jumper from behind the arc hit the side of the rim and bounced up to the top of the backboard as the buzzer sounded. Smith led all scorers with 21 points.

The Associated Press

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