ALL TIME TOURNEY GAME RECAP: '00 Cowboys 67, '83 Cowboys 50

At the under 16 timeout, you could see the scowl on Eddie Sutton's face.

To everyone's surprise, the 1983 Cowboys, who played in an era of no shot clocks or 3pt lines, looked far more comfortable flying up and down the court early in this contest, zipping to a 12-4 lead and looking every bit the worthy adversary of Sutton's 2000 squad.

Unfortunately for Matt Clark, Leroy Combs, and the rest of OSU's '83 team, they would manage just 10 more points the rest of the half, while the chemistry between Doug Gottlieb and Desmond Mason was on full display. Clark struggled to contain Doug on the perimeter, Combs was stifled by Jonzen and Montonati inside, and neither Andrews nor Atkinson had an answer for Mason's athleticism on the wings.

After that timeout, Sutton had the 2000 Cowboys take a page out of 1983 Princeton's playbook, slowing things down tremendously, regularly holding the ball to the 10 second mark on the shot clock before pulling the trigger, and forcing the '83 Cowboys to play a LOT of defense. Eddie's group would close the half on a 10-0 run, highlighted by two monstrous Mason dunks, both courtesy of Gottlieb. The first came when Atkinson got caught overplaying on the wing, and Doug easily fed Mason at the rim for the finish that brought the GIA crowd to its feet. The second, however, might be the play of the tournament. After a missed jumper from Joe Adkins, Brian Montonati tipped the rebound from Leroy Combs hands. The ball came directly to Gottlieb just under the FT line, where he simply redirected it to a streaking Mason who literally jumped over Combs for the slam. The 2000 Cowboys would go to halftime with a 33-23 lead, and everyone watching knew they were in complete control.

The second half would be a bit of a drag, as Eddie's boys continued to grind out the clock. Paul Hansen had no viable outside threat that could fill it up from deep, and Gottlieb easily handled any pressure the '83 Cowboys attempted to apply. The lone 2nd half highlight was Bill Self, whose only shot was a Phil Forte-esk 3 from right in front of Eddie Sutton that cut the lead to 13, but that was a close as Paul Hansen's bunch would get, as Gottlieb continuously penetrated the perimeter and dished for easy baskets.

While Mason provided the highlights, it was Doug who showed the way. Although he only contributed 10 points, his tournament record 15 assists, along with no turnovers and 4 steals, clearly led the way for the 2000 Cowboys. Mason led all scorers with 22 points...Jonzen with 8 and 10 boards...Montonati with 11 and 8...Glendon Alexander with 10...and Joe Adkins with 6.

The 1983 Cowboys were led by Leroy Combs with 13 points and 12 boards...Clark with 12 and 8 assists...Crenshaw with 8 and 8 boards...Lorenza Andrews with 8...Joe Atkinson with 6...and Bill Self with 3.

Eddie's boys will need to quickly refocus as next up will be the tourney's top seed, the 1946 two time NCAA champion A&M Aggies, led by the legendary Bob Kurland and Henry Iba.