STILLWATER, Okla. — How big a deal was Friday night's Cincinnati-Oklahoma State game around campus?

        Some students slept outside the arena Thursday night to be first in line just to get a seat. Thousands more — who already had tickets and were almost all wearing orange — were waiting outside every entrance to the arena more than four hours before tipoff. Oklahoma State Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips sent over doughnuts in the morning and 200 pizzas in the early evening hours.

        A column in The Daily Oklahoman called this “perhaps the most-anticipated basketball season in OSU history.” Another story said the game was “the most bally-hooed season opener in the Eddie Sutton era, probably Oklahoma State's biggest opener in decades.” Sutton told the paper, “Our players say the campus is alive with excitement.”

        The atmosphere in Gallagher-Iba Arena was tremendous. But one special effect backfired.

        OSU uncharacteristically turned off the lights when the Cowboys were introduced. Then a main bank of lights failed to come back on because of a computer malfunction, delaying the tipoff more than 20 minutes.

        NERVOUS "CATS:

The Sept.11 terrorist attacks. Monday's plane crash in New York. The Jan.27 plane crash that killed 10 members of the Oklahoma State basketball traveling party.

        They all added up to some anxiety for some of the University of Cincinnati players prior to their flight to Tulsa on Thursday.

        “It's going to make me even more jittery,” senior guard Steve Logan said. “I hate flying. It's something I don't deal with well. I watch what's going on in the world today. Planes are going down left and right. I see things like (Monday) and I just try to stay calm.”

        Logan said he calls his close family members “to tell them I love them” before leaving on each flight, then calls them to say he has landed.

        “I think we all get a little nervous about flying, especially going to Oklahoma,” senior Jamaal Davis said.

        Said junior Donald Little: “I try not to think about it too much.”

        MOST COURAGEOUS:

        Oklahoma State's team was awarded the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Most Courageous Award last spring for dealing with the adversity of the airplane crash.

        Coach Eddie Sutton, who accepted the award on behalf of his team at the Final Four in Minneapolis, said there are still lingering effects of the accident.

        “I don't think a day goes by when somebody doesn't think about what happened,” he said. “We lost 10 wonderful men, and they're dearly missed. The thing I try to promote to the team is all those guys would want you to go on, and life does go on. When it first happened, the first three or four days, I wasn't sure we would ever play a game. I just thought we might have to cancel the season. But they all pulled together, and we played pretty well down the stretch.

        “We still talk about it. The counselors have told us that's a healthy thing to do. I don't think it'll ever go away.”

        THIS AND THAT:

        UC had American flags sewn onto its jerseys. ... UC coach Bob Huggins was displeased enough with Leonard Stokes' play in the first half that he started sophomore Field Williams for the second half. ... With its 69-62 victory over UC, Oklahoma State has won 94 of its last 95 nonconference home games.

        TOUGH ROAD AHEAD:

        If you think UC made a sacrifice by opening on the road against such a tough opponent Friday night, consider this:

        Oklahoma State was so happy to have a quality opponent agree to play at Gallagher-Iba Arena that it accepted the game even though the Cowboys play again at 2 p.m. today against Austin Peay, then Monday (Providence), Tuesday (Siena) and Wednesday (TBD) in Las Vegas.

        That's five games in six days. They also play next Saturday against North Texas, giving them six games in nine days.

        INJURY REPORT:

        Freshman walk-on Jamaal Lucas did not make the trip to Oklahoma State with the Bearcats. He suffered a broken nose during Wednesday's practice. His status is day-to-day.

        NICE NUMBERS:

        Armein Kirkland, the 6-8 guard from Tyler, Texas, who signed with Cincinnati on Wednesday, had 40 points and 13 rebounds in Robert E. Lee High School's season-opening 85-66 victory over Chapel Hill on Thursday.

        UP NEXT:

        UC plays host to Wright State at 8:05p.m. Tuesday at Shoemaker Center. The Raiders open their season today at St. Francis (Pa.).

Bearcats win at Dayton No. 18 Oklahoma St. 69, Cincinnati 62 Oklahoma State tops Bearcats in opener UC notebook

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