Acie Law IV was supposed to bring out the best in A&M, not Oklahoma State, on Sunday.

The Aggies honored the greatest player in school history with their worst performance of the season in a 59-54 loss Saturday at Reed Arena.

It must have been painful for Law to watch the Aggies get outhustled by a team that had lost 19 straight road games overall and its last 16 conference battles away from Stillwater.

Instead of building on a five-game winning streak, the Aggies took two steps backward with their second league loss at home.

A school-record crowd of 13,584 at least got to hear Law speak at halftime when a replica of his No. 1 jersey was raised to the rafters. They should have left after that.

A&M scored just 18 points in the second half, looking more like the 0-16 team in league play that Law played on as a freshman than the 16th-ranked team in the nation.

The Aggies were outworked by the Cowboys, who had a knack for coming up with loose balls and rebounds while playing with a passion. That was painfully evident in the closing minutes when it appeared that A&M might salvage Acie Law Day.

Oklahoma State's Marcus Dove blocked Derrick Roland's layup attempt with 3 minutes, 14 seconds left to keep the Cowboys' lead at 53-50. Terrel Harris later sprinted back to block Donald Sloan's layup try with 38 seconds left.

Harris' spectacular block prevented A&M from tying the game.

"I'd already counted it," A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "It was a heck of a block. They made some nice plays."

No player made more plays than Oklahoma State junior point guard Byron Eaton.

He was unstoppable against a team that prides itself on defense.

He took only 10 shots, hitting six, but he constantly hit the big shots, including a trio of 3-pointers.

His first 3-pointer stopped a 5-0 run to start the game by A&M and prevented the crowd from becoming a factor early in a listless first half. His second 3 cut into a 20-11 lead, which matched A&M's biggest lead. And his final 3 gave the Cowboys the lead for good at 48-46.

But he did so much more than score.

He controlled the game with his ability to handle the basketball for 36 minutes. He made great decisions -- five assists and only two turnovers -- and he played with poise.

He was the show.

"Byron Eaton was in total control of the game," Turgeon said. "We couldn't stop his penetration. They were able to use every second of the shot clock, then we couldn't get a rebound."

Turgeon said it felt like A&M was on defense for 14 minutes in the second half, as the Aggies looked helpless while the 5-foot-11 guard directed traffic.

A&M's guards failed to show up for the big day. Dominque Kirk and Donald Sloan combined were 1-of-9 shooting with four turnovers. Forward Josh Carter didn't score a point in the second half, missing three shots.

Thanks to Eaton dictating the tempo, the Cowboys were able to play great defense inside on Joseph Jones and DeAndre Jordan in the second half. The two were held to a combined six points after each had 11 in the first half.

It all added up to a dreary, disappointing day on what was supposed to be a coronation. It was reminiscent of the Aggies' 57-56 loss to the Cowboys in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals last season.

Only this time, it was at Reed Arena, and when you hang someone's jersey you are supposed to win. Then again, this is something new for the Aggies.

It was somewhat ironic that Turgeon, who is in his first season, opted to honor Law, a player he never coached. Yet, Turgeon knows how much Law meant to his program.

If Turgeon had a chance, he could have looked up at the Jumbotron during the game and seen many of Law's highlights, which were featured.

Then again, all Turgeon had to do was gaze out on the floor and watch Eaton, who did the day's best Acie Law IV imitation -- including pulling off the upset.

• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.