Cowboys Win Two And Open Big 12 Play

12/30/14   OSU Cowboys @ Missouri Tigers

Oklahoma State’s Phil Forte III and Le'Bryan Nash scored 21 points apiece, including all 12 of the Cowboys' points in overtime, as the Cowboy’s held-off  an old rival and earned a 74-72 victory over the Missouri Tigers in a matchup of former Big 12 rivals. Anthony Hickey Jr. also had 12 points for the Cowboys (10-2), who rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit and then had to withstand the Tigers' own feverish comebacks.

Missouri (5-7) had a chance to take the lead late in overtime, but Tramaine Isabell - whose 3-pointer with 2-tenths of a second left forced the extra session - turned the ball over. Nash made two fouls shots with 5.4 seconds to go, and Oklahoma State fouled to prevent the Tigers from getting off another tying 3. Johnathan Williams III made the first of two free throws with 3 seconds left, and missed the second intentionally. The ball was gathered in by the Tigers, and freshman D'Angelo Allen had a clean look at the basket as the buzzer sounded, but his tying floater bounced over the rim and harmlessly to the floor

Williams finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers, while Montaque Gill-Caesar added 15 points and Wes Clark had 12 before fouling out.

Both teams got off a sluggish post-holiday start; Missouri's only field goal through the first 8 minutes came on a thunderous put-back dunk by freshman forward Jakeenan Gant. Eventually, the Tigers were able to capitalize on the Cowboys' frigid outside shooting, going on a 10-0 run late in the first half. Gant's basket with 4:41 left gave Missouri a 27-17 lead. The Tigers still led 31-24 at the break, then pushed the advantage to 38-26 early in the second half. But Oklahoma State finally caught fire after a 3-pointer by Hickey, triggering a 15-2 run over the next 5-plus minutes and allowing the Cowboys to briefly take a 41-40 lead.

Oklahoma State had a chance to put the game away in regulation, as the Cowboys were clinging to a 61-59 lead and the Tigers were inbounding under their own basket with 8.8 seconds left, but Clark's pass was intercepted. Missouri quickly fouled Oklahoma State guard Christien Sager, but he could only make the first of two free throws. Missouri gathered the rebound off the miss and Isabell raced up court, unloading a tying 3-pointer that splashed through to force overtime.

Oklahoma State extended its lead to 61-56 on Forte's free throw with 19 seconds left, but the Tigers made a mad dash through the closing seconds to force overtime.

''It's momentum, a big win against a former Big 12 team, an SEC team. That's a big win for us,'' Nash said. ''It's great to get a good road win like we did today."

1/03/15   Kansas State Wildcats @ OSU Cowboys

Former Oklahoma State star Bryant `Big Country' Reeves sat courtside Saturday as the Cowboys raised the level of its defensive pressure in the second half, leading to offensive success for the Cowboys and a victory in their first Big 12 Conference contest of the season Saturday.

Reeves, who led Oklahoma State to the Final Four in 1995, where they have been just once since (2004) watched as Phil Forte scored 20 points, seven of those during a decisive seven-minute stretch in the second half and Oklahoma State sealed a 61-47 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats. Le'Bryan Nash scored 11 points and had six rebounds for the Cowboys (11-2, 1-0), while Thomas Gipson scored 14 points to lead Kansas State (7-7, 0-1), which lost its third straight contest.

Trailing 29-27 at halftime, Oklahoma State made a strong push early in the second half, going on a game-changing 25-4 run that included 15-straight points. The Cowboys built up a 54-37 lead after Jeff Newberry connected on a 3 from the left baseline with 11:16 to go. During that dominating stretch, Anthony Hickey scored seven consecutive points for the Cowboys and helped lock down the defensive side of the ball.

Hickey finished the day with 10 points, four rebounds and four steals. Newberry added seven points during the early portion of the second half, including two free throws after he was knocked to the floor with a flagrant foul by K-State's Malek Harris with 15:51 remaining. Kansas State went ahead 14-11 with 6:11 gone in the opening half when Nigel Johnson connected on a 3-pointer from the right baseline, but Oklahoma State reeled off a 12-3 run over the next four-plus minutes.

Back-to-back 3s from Forte, including one he lofted up from significant distance just as the shot clock expired, put the Cowboys up 23-17 with 9:42 left. The Wildcats responded with eight consecutive points, retaking the lead at 25-23 when Justin Edwards slammed home a 2-on-1 pass from Wesley Iwundu as part of a 12-2 run. Kansas State led by two points at halftime.

1/06/15   OSU Cowboys @ Iowa State Cyclones

Next up for the Cowboys, a trip to the Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa as they continue their Big-12 schedule Tuesday night, by taking on the 10-2 Iowa State Cylclones. Tip-off time is 8pm and you can catch all the action, starting with Dave Hunsiker and the Cowboys Pre-Game at 7 on My107 and my1073fm.com.