By MARY FOSTER, AP Sports Writer
December 28, 2002
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mario Austin didn't have his usual game, but he had just enough.
Austin scored 18 points as No. 16 Mississippi State upset No. 5 Oklahoma 54-45 Saturday in the Sugar Bowl Classic.
``Down the stretch, I came up with big baskets for our team,'' said Austin, who was held below his 26-point average for the first time since Dec. 10 when the NCAA cleared him to play.
Mississippi State (8-1) shot 36 percent from the field (18-of-50) and was just 3-of-13 from 3-point range, but the Bulldogs made 15-of-19 from the free-throw line to stay ahead.
Oklahoma (6-2), had won its six games by an average of 23.7 points, but shot a dismal 31 percent (17-of-54) and hit just 7-of-24 from 3-point range.
``They're probably one of the best defensive teams we've played against,'' Oklahoma's Hollis Price said.
The Sooners were down 48-38 with 3:39 remaining. Kevin Bookout got an offensive rebound and scored to pull Oklahoma to 48-40 with 2:49 left. After Derrick Zimmerman missed the front end of a one-and-one for the Bulldogs, Price sank a 3-pointer for Oklahoma, then made two free throws to get to 48-45 with 1:23 remaining.
Austin was fouled on a layup and converted the free throw to make it 51-45.
``I ran the court, which made their big men run and tired them out,'' Austin said. ``That helped me.''
The Bulldogs scored the final three points of the game on dunk by Zimmerman and a free throw by Austin, sparking a chant of ``SEC, SEC, SEC,'' from the crowd. Oklahoma's previous loss was to Alabama.
Price led Oklahoma with 17 points. The Sooners had 17 turnovers to Mississippi State's 13 and outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-36.
``They have a superstar in Austin, and their team knows who their meal ticket is,'' Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. ``If you had told me before the game that we'd outrebound Mississippi State and hold Austin to 18, I would have thought we'd win.''
Michal Ignerski had 11 points for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs got only 11 points from their guards and none in the first half. Austin had 8 rebounds.
Mississippi State has not lost since dropping the season opener.
Both teams came into the game with long layoffs -- seven days for Oklahoma and nine days for Mississippi State -- and struggled early. It was over a minute before either team scored, and five minutes into the game Oklahoma led 5-4. The Sooners could not take advantage of a five-minute scoreless period by the Bulldogs and only led 10-4.
Both teams were rusty in the first half. The Sooners turned the ball over 10 times before halftime, the Bulldogs 11 times. The score was tied 23-23 at the half.
The Sooners pulled ahead 36-30 to open the second half. The 13-7 run was fueled by a trio of 3-pointers, two of them by Price.
The lead was short lived as the Bulldogs came back on an 8-0 run to take a 38-36 lead on a basket by Ontario Harper with 9:52 left.
Over the next 8:14, Oklahoma scored only once while Mississippi State stretched its lead to 46-38 with 4:43 remaining.
Updated on Saturday, Dec 28, 2002 4:07 pm, EST
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