STILLWATER, OKLA. — Kansas University junior guard Kirk Hinrich said he still had nightmares about a 33-point loss at Oklahoma State two years ago.
Now it will be the Cowboys who are tossing and turning after the No. 4-ranked Jayhawks handed No. 6 OSU a 79-61 thumping Tuesday night at recently renovated Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"I saw in the paper about the game from two years ago, Hinrich still has nightmares," OSU coach Eddie Sutton said. "We'll have nightmares for a while after that first half that we played tonight. I think that's about as poorly as I've had a team play for a half, especially at home."
It's also the largest margin of defeat in Stillwater under the 12th-year head coach, eclipsing the former mark for futility at home under Sutton a 17-point defeat against Texas in 1997.
"They're the best Kansas team we've seen since the days of (Paul) Pierce and that group," Sutton said. "Those two big guys, (Nick) Collison and (Drew) Gooden, are probably the best 1-2 punch you have in college basketball as far as your frontline is concerned. They're terrific.
"Then you throw in Hinrich and (Jeff) Boschee and (Aaron) Miles certainly is a bright young player I think they're a legitimate team to go a long way in the NCAA Tournament."
Propelled by an early 21-2 run, the Jayhawks led by as many as 24 points in the first half, much to the dismay of a raucous crowd of 13,611. KU was 21-of-31 shooting from the floor (67.7 percent), including 4-of-6 from three-point range.
"They had control from the first jump ball," OSU senior Fredrik Jonzen said. "We were never in the game. They beat us in every way you can. That effort that we had tonight is going to get us nowhere."
One certainly can't fault the 6-foot-10 forward's effort. Jonzen finished with a game-high 21 points including a 9-of-12 performance from the free-throw line and added 10 rebounds. He didn't have much help, though.
Pestered by KU's backcourt, Oklahoma State starting guards Maurice Baker, Victor Williams and Melvin Sanders combined for 20 points on a mere 7-of-28 shooting.
"I thought our guard play tonight at both ends of the floor probably was the difference in the ball game," Sutton said. "When your starting guards go 6-for-23 (not including Sanders' rare start as the third guard) from the field, offensively you're not performing very well."
The Cowboys mounted a miniature comeback of sorts, pulling within 18 briefly at 57-39 with 16:16 remaining. But the Jayhawks had pushed their advantage back to 24 by the 8:08 mark and never really were threatened again.
"I think we have to rededicate ourselves," Jonzen said. "We have half a season left now and we're in the Big 12 conference play. We need to rededicate ourselves and practice harder every day, do the little things so we can put that 40-minute effort together. We haven't had that dedication and discipline and that's what we need to change."
The was the Cowboys' second straight loss at home to open conference play and also just their second overall.
"We started off against two good ball clubs and we didn't respond against either on of them," Williams said. "For us to be a good team like Fred said we're going to have to rededicate ourselves. If we want to advance far in the NCAA Tournament we're going to have to do a lot of improving in a lot of areas."
Oklahoma State (15-2 overall, 2-2 Big 12) first will have to deal with Saturday afternoon's game at Texas Tech.
"Fortunately we had already decided that (today) would be an off day," Sutton said. "It'll probably be good for them to get away from the coaches and Thursday we'll regroup. It's one game and hopefully they can learn some lessons from it."
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