STILLWATER, OKLA. ? Eddie Sutton finally got a chance to cut down the nets at his alma mater.

Oklahoma State’s venerable coach eagerly climbed up the ladder with scissors and snipped at the final strand of net. He kissed the frayed piece of nylon, held it aloft for the roaring crowd, then stuffed it in his pocket.

Sutton’s 17-year wait — four as a player, 13 as a coach — was finally over.

“This is why I stay in coaching,” the 67-year-old Sutton said after the eighth-ranked Cowboys claimed sole possession of the Big 12 Conference title with a 70-41 victory Saturday over Texas A&M.

“It was a very special day.”

John Lucas scored 20 points and Joey Graham had 14, helping the Cowboys (24-3, 14-2) clinch their first outright conference championship since 1964-65 in the former Big Eight.

OSU also set a school record for most conference wins and finished 15-0 at home.

Texas A&M (7-19, 0-16) missed eight of its first nine shots, while Oklahoma State also got off to a sluggish start.

The Cowboys went on a 15-3 run midway through the first half, though, and essentially turned the game into a coronation ceremony from there.

Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton celebrates the Cowboys' Big 12 Conference title. OSU beat Texas A&M, 70-41, Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.

“The celebration was terrific,” said Tony Allen, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds. “That’s something that you can look back on later in life and know that you were a part of something.”

The Aggies became only the second team in the eight-year history of the Big 12 to go winless in league play. Baylor did it in 1999.

The six-year Melvin Watkins era at A&M will probably last only one more game, a first-round matchup against the sixth-seeded team in the Big 12 tournament. The Aggies haven’t won a game in the postseason since the now-defunct Southwestern Conference Classic in 1994.

Nick Anderson and Acie Law led A&M with 10 points each.