DALLAS - Oklahoma State went into the Big 12 tournament knowing it was a long shot to get a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It sure made a convincing case.
Showing off their tenacious defense and athleticism, the No. 7 Cowboys beat No. 11 Texas 65-49 on Sunday.
"They play so hard, a high level of intensity that shows up in loose balls, rebounds, hustle plays," coach Eddie Sutton said. "I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of a basketball team than this one. They'll always be very special."
The Cowboys, the league's first winner of the regular-season title and conference tournament since Iowa State in 2000, forced the Longhorns into five turnovers and a blocked shot within six possessions during an 18-2 run.
Tournament MVP Tony Allen set the tone by shutting down Brandon Mouton, Texas' leading scorer. Mouton had four turnovers and one basket in the first half. He finished with six points on 3-of-11 shooting. Allen scored a game-high 21.
"I wanted to step up to the challenge," said Allen, who felt he needed to redeem himself for allowing Texas Tech's Andre Emmett to score 26 on 10-of-15 shooting in a semifinal.
Texas has lost three of five, twice to Oklahoma State, and was down by 12 and 11 in the victories. It has been held to fewer than 50 points twice in that span, nearly 30 fewer than its average.
"I'm just disappointed, really, with the way we started this whole tournament in terms of early in games getting down and getting ourselves in holes and have to fight back," Texas coach Rick Barnes said.
"Even with all of that, we put ourselves back in position to have a chance to win the game. But we didn't do what we had to do to get over the top."
Texas got within 42-39 with 14:48 left after two 3-pointers and a three-point play by Jason Klotz.
Oklahoma State, which won its first conference tournament since the Big Eight in 1995, responded by not allowing a field goal until a putback by James Thomas with 57 seconds left got the Longhorns within 63-47.
