Eddie Sutton had planned on being at the game that featured two schools he coached to Final Fours because there was a moment of silence for the 10 Oklahoma State players and personnel associated with the basketball program 15 years ago who died in a plane crash.
That was a horrible night, and it was an event that changed college basketball travel forever. The twin engine King Air crashed shortly after takeoff while the jet carrying the rest of the party from Boulder, Colo., had an uneventful trip. Both planes were privately owned. Now schools use charter jets.
When news finally got to Stillwater about what had happened, Sutton, then the head coach of OSU, was still at the airport, and after a few minutes he began to call the families, all 10 of them, who had lost loved ones.
Sutton couldn't make the trip Saturday because of health reasons.
Sutton, who won 260 games at Arkansas, 368 at Oklahoma State and a total of 806, missed seeing OSU, his final NCAA Tournament team and alma mater, dominate from start to finish on Eddie Sutton Court at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys scored first, last and more than enough in between to post a 99-71 victory over the Hogs. They never trailed.
OSU came into the game averaging 88 points per game and hit that mark with 7:19 to play; their next field goal was a three-pointer by Phil Forte, his school record 300th three.
It seemed like he made most of those three-pointers Saturday afternoon, although he only had four.
The Hogs allowed the most points they've given up all season, and it could be an even more damaging loss on NCAA Tournament selection Sunday.
Oklahoma State's RPI was 42, but it is 2-6 in Big 12 games so far.
Things were in a downward spiral from the start for the Razorbacks, and with 5:33 to play in the first half Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson got called for a technical foul.
Oklahoma State was headed to the free-throw line to shoot its 11th and 12th free throws, compared to 1 attempt for Arkansas.
Anderson had every right to be unhappy with the 12-1 disparity in free throws.
His rare tech was probably encouraged by the fact that his team was shooting badly, not playing much defense and the only thing challenging in the SEC/Big 12 matchup was his not getting technical fouls for yelling at his team.
The Razorbacks played the first 20 minutes like it was 1-on-1 against a team and the team was in orange and white.
At the break OSU had 19 free-throw attempts to 7 for the Hogs, and the Cowboys also led 19-4 in points off turnovers -- and defense was supposed to be their weakness and Arkansas' strength. OSU outscored Arkansas 26-14 on points in the paint and outrebounded UA 24-12.
Anderson's starters were 6 of 21 from the field at halftime.
Probably the most frustrating thing, though, was Arkansas' lack of defensive effort. OSU made uncontested layups, jumpers from all over the floor and seemed to dunk at will.
Things like free throws and rebounding evened out a little in the second half but what didn't was the team effort.
OSU finished with 24 assists, Arkansas had 7, led by Jaylen Barford with 2. Barford also led the Hogs in scoring with 21 points playing perhaps his most complete game as a Razorback.
The Cowboys had four players with at least three assists.
This was a game the Hogs needed to win, and probably had the talent, but after winning four consecutive they picked up their fifth loss. Three of those losses were to Minnesota, Kentucky and Florida, all schools who look like locks to make the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma State won't, but on this day on its home court, it dominated as a team.
Sports on 01/29/2017