Oklahoma State charged by son of a Terrapin

John Lucas is a business major, so he understood the number crunching Saturday night: III + 3 + THREE = Final Four. Following a lineage of basketball excellence, John Lucas III was one
win away from returning home to Texas with his father, former NBA player and coach John Lucas, Jr. But following a dismal first half that saw the Oklahoma State transfer point guard loft up three air balls, it was really time to take care of business.

"I think we were just too excited to be playing. I know I was. I had a
horrible first half, absolutely horrible," he said. "And I could not let my teammates down, so I stepped up and I just played."

All Lucas did was hit the biggest shot of his life and of this year's NCAA Tournament. A busted play for Cowboys teammate Joey Graham turned into a quick look at a clutch shot for the man who's been knocking them down all season, and with 6.9 seconds left to play, Lucas added an exclamation mark.

One big miss by Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph's and one big hug from Dad later, Lucas was ready to lead No. 2 seed Oklahoma State from New Jersey back down to the heartland for an emotional trip to the national semifinals. Lucas is with the Cowboys after leaving Baylor due to last summer's Patrick Dennehy shooting. This squad carries the last players remaining from a 2001 team devastated by a plane crash. Also, despite several opportunities, long-time head coach Eddie Sutton has never led a team to a national championship.

"It's one game, and you don't play well, you get beat," Sutton said. "That's why getting there for the third time is very special. And especially going back to October when we started practicing, if
somebody told me we were going to be in the Final Four and win 31 games, I would say, 'You're crazy. I mean, you're nuts. You've been drinking or something, because there's no way this team can do that.'"

But where there's a will, there's a way, and now that way goes through Georgia Tech, which will pit red-hot Jarrett Jack against Lucas. But the Cowboys' three-guard starting lineup of Lucas, super scorer Tony Allen and defensive specialist Daniel Bobik could cause trouble for anyone left standing. Graham is a versatile forward and also completes the quartet of transfers in Sutton's starting lineup.