A season and a half ago, Oklahoma State — a school accustomed to NCAA Tournament success — hired a basketball coach who had never won an NCAA Tournament game. C.M. Newton, the man who recommended Travis Ford to OSU athletic director Mike Holder, said in a telephone interview last week that it was not a risky hire. “I never really doubted Travis would be successful there,” Newton said. Ford celebrated his 50th game on the job when OSU gouged 22nd-ranked Texas Tech 81-52 in a Big 12 opener Saturday night.