Kansas City, Mo. ? Happy birthday, Eddie Sutton.

“I’ve have had a lot of disappointment on my birthday,” Sutton said Saturday, “but today is one I’ll never forget.”

Oklahoma State’s players brightened their head coach’s 69th birthday with a spine-tingling 78-75 victory over Kansas University in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament at Kemper Arena.

“That was a great present for these guys to play like they did,” Sutton said.

Sutton particularly was pleased the Cowboys were guilty of only five turnovers, just one in the second half.

“Our team has not been playing that well, but they did today,” Sutton said. “When you only turn the ball over four or five times … because Kansas plays excellent defense.”

Sutton also was delighted that Joey Graham, who led the Cowboys with 25 points, scored 10 of those points at the free-throw line.

“The first seven games in conference play, Joey was 45-out-of-47 at the line,” Sutton said, “and the last part of the season he was 10-out-of-12. What that shows is you’re being passive.”

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Graham took it to the rack time and again against the Jayhawks.

“When he drives, he’s going to get fouled because he’s so strong, and he’s got the athletic ability,” Sutton said, “and he’s such a great free-throw shooter.”

Graham, a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, missed only one charity Saturday and has made 92 of his last 98 foul shots.

Graham mentioned that Sutton had caught his attention when he told him that he and teammate John Lucas were a combined 112-of-117 at the free-throw line.

“When he said that,” Graham said, “that just told me I’ve got to stay aggressive and get to the free-throw line as many times as possible.”

Graham also mentioned he was caught up in the atmosphere of playing a ranked opponent in a tournament setting.

“This is pretty much what college basketball is all about,” said the 6-foot-7 senior. “If you can’t get up for a game like this … I think it’s one of the best college basketball games in the country.”

Oklahoma State barely had escaped Colorado in Friday’s opener, hanging on for an 87-85 victory.

Oklahoma State almost certainly clinched an NCAA assignment to nearby Oklahoma City by knocking off the Jayhawks. Sutton, for one, won’t be smiling if the Cowboys are sent somewhere else.

“We have been East 11 out of 12 times,” the OSU coach said, “so I don’t want to show (the NCAA committee) favoritism, but I think we earned the right to go to Oklahoma City by winning this afternoon.”