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Cowboys' tragedy still fresh

Oklahoma State senior forward Fredrik Jonzen can't believe it has been a year since tragedy struck the program and rocked college basketball.

After a game at Colorado Jan. 27, a small plane carrying 10 people associated with the team crashed outside of Denver. All 10 -- players Daniel Lawson and Nate Fleming, student manager Jared Weiberg, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes, publicist Will Hancock, trainer Brian Luinstra, radio broadcaster Bill Teegins, radio producer Kendall Durfey, and pilots Denver Mills and Bjorn Fahlstrom -- died.

In a scheduling quirk, the No. 11 Cowboys host Colorado tonight. A moment of silence will be observed at halftime, the lone public acknowledgment of the anniversary.

"You have to deal with things and it's up and down," Jonzen said in a news conference Monday. "But it is tough, of course, playing Colorado the day before. It will be an emotional game, but we are in the middle of a season right now and we are focusing on basketball."

At least, he, his teammates and coaches are trying to do that.

But

"You can't help but think about it because we were so used to seeing different things," junior forward Andre Williams said. "Nate hustling after balls. ... Dan (his roommate and best friend) smiling and laughing on the end of the bench. ... Jared working hard in practice. ... Pat running around doing things for Coach. We miss them every day."

Last year, the Cowboys played well down the stretch and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They looked emotionally spent, however, in falling behind Southern California by 30 in the first half of their first-round game and losing 69-54.

"They'll never put it behind them, but they've done a good job in trying to focus on the future, at what's at present," said coach Eddie Sutton, who wears a pin on his lapel out of respect for the 10 men. "For the first few days after the accident, I wasn't sure we could finish the season. They were really in shock and hurting. The thing I tried to drive home to them was the fact that your teammates would want you to go on with your lives and live every day as if it would be your last."

It's a message the players cling to still. In good times and bad. The Cowboys' confidence had ebbed after two losses last week. What helped them was remembering their friends and priorities.

"It definitely puts life back into perspective," Andre Williams said. "Just a year ago, Nate, Dan and Jared were here and now they're not. We have to realize that we need to take each day as it comes and not take for granted the little things."

So, they play on and they play all out.

ARC OF TRIUMPH: St. Bonaventure has hit 201 of 524 3-point attempts, leading the nation with an average of 11.2 made a game..

"A lot of times, I've given one or two players the green light," coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. "On this team, we actually have five players who have the green light. ... They all have that freedom and that adds to their confidence."

NINE THE HARD WAY: Arizona meet its ninth ranked opponent today when No. 25 Connecticut comes to Tuscon. The Wildcats are 6-2 in those ranked showdowns with wins against Maryland, Florida, Texas, Illinois, USC and UCLA.

HAT(TEN)'S OFF: St. John's junior guard Marcus Hatten looks to be the next star from Tallahassee Community College. He was just named the Big East player of the week after averaging 23.5 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals in wins against Villanova and Boston College.

HE SAID IT: "We don't need bulletin board material to get ready to play." -- Maryland coach Gary Williams on whether last season's embarrassing home loss to FSU will be a factor in today's game against the visiting Seminoles.

- Brian Landman covers men's college basketball. He can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or at (813) 226-3347.

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