Eaton Up The Competition

Monday, February 25, 2008

STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton calculates his players’ greatness in a unique way.

After a 61-60 victory against Kansas, Sutton said he used beating the Jayhawks as a measuring stick to judge his players’ legacy.

“The good players that have been in our program have beaten Kansas here,” Sutton said. “And it’s been so important to their career.”

Photo by Jon Goering

Oklahoma State guard Bryon Eaton tries to get the fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena pumped up after drawing a charge during the first half. Eaton scored 26 points, hitting 16-of-18 from the free-throw line including the one that gave the Cowboys a 61-60 lead with nine seconds to go in the game.

Sutton’s formula might work. Recent Cowboy greats Desmond Mason, Doug Gottlieb and Bryant Reeves all beat the Jayhawks at least once in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It’s time to add junior point guard Byron Eaton to that list, who beat No. 4 Kansas practically single-handedly Saturday.

Eaton set a career-high in points with 26, and 16 of them in free throws in the victory against Kansas. He missed only two free throws all afternoon and blew by the Jayhawks’ vaunted backcourt with relative ease.

Eaton acted as the floor general that he said his coach asked him to be. When a teammate was in the wrong place, Eaton told them. When one was open for a potential shot, he found them and recorded four assists. Sutton thought it was about time for the breakout.

“I thought it might happen midway through his sophomore year,” Sutton said. “But I’m just happy he’s playing as well as he’s playing right now.”

Eaton’s career had been widely regarded as a disappointment through his first two-and-a-half years in Stillwater. As a McDonald’s All-American out of high school, Eaton was supposed to be the Cowboy’s immediate star.

But Eaton said he just wasn’t doing the right things. He struggled to keep his weight down, listen to his coach’s criticisms and give full effort everyday in practice.

With the departures of Oklahoma State’s two leading scorers, Mario Boggan and Jameson Curry at the end of last season, Sutton told Eaton he had to become a leader. He wasn’t ready. Oklahoma State limped out to an 11-12 overall record with Eaton shooting barely more than 35 percent from the field.

Then, something clicked. Two weeks ago Eaton scored 25 points and dished out eight assists in a victory against Baylor. It was his signature game in orange. That was until Saturday, when he put up similar results against one of the nation’s top-ranked teams.

“This is what coach Sutton wanted when he recruited me,” Eaton said. “I just started doing some things that I should have been doing a long time ago.”

And a lot more than that. The Jayhawks were stealing the momentum in the first half when they took only their second lead of the game at 21-18. Eaton answered by hitting two three-pointers in less than two minutes right in the face of Kansas guard Brandon Rush.

Eaton also set up the biggest basket of the game. Cowboy senior forward Marcus Dove nailed a wide open three-pointer with a minute remaining after Eaton penetrated the lane and dished the ball off to him.

To Kansas coach Bill Self, there’s no mystery why his team left his alma mater with a loss.

“From my perspective, he (Eaton) would be the primary reason as an individual why they’re playing better,” Self said. “Because he’s playing like one of the premier guards in the league, which he is.”

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