Cowboys Down Red Raiders, Fall To Wildcats

1/21/14   Texas Tech Red Raiders @ OSU Cowboys

Le'Bryan Nash scored 16 points as Oklahoma State never trailed in defeating Texas Tech 63-43 Wednesday night.

Phil Forte added 15 points and Jeff Newberry had 13 points, six rebounds and three assists for Oklahoma State (13-5, 3-3 Big 12). OSU had lost its last two and gone three of the last four -- all against ranked conference opponents.

Keenan Evans scored a career-high 18 points to lead Texas Tech (10-9, 0-6), which has lost eight of its last nine. Evans, a freshman from the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, led the Red Raiders in scoring for the first time this season and became the ninth different player to at least tie for the Red Raiders lead in scoring. Evans, whose previous season-high was 10 points in the opener, is also the sixth different player in a row to top the team in points.

Oklahoma State's defense allowed its second-lowest field goal percentage of the season, limiting Tech to just 27.8 percent shooting (15 of 54). Take Evans out of the equation and the Red Raiders made just 19.5 percent of their shots (8 of 41) on the night. Leading 32-27 early in the second half, Oklahoma State went on a 19-6 run over the next eight-plus minutes to push the lead into double digits.

When Anthony Hickey made a perfect alley oop pass that Jeff Newberry slammed down with 9:51 to go, the Cowboys led 51-33. Michael Cobbins scored seven points, had a team-high eight rebounds and blocked five shots. Oklahoma State surged out to an 8-0 lead on Newberry's 3-pointer with 17:34 left in the opening half.

Texas Tech pulled within 11-8 when Evans hit a short jumper with 12:53 left in the half. OSU built its advantage back to 25-16 when Cobbins slammed home a pass from Hickey, but Evans continued his hot shooting by making three consecutive 3s to tie the game for the first time at 25-all with 4:29 remaining. The Cowboys scored the last five points of the half for a 30-25 lead. Texas Tech missed its final six shots before the break.

1/24/15   OSU Cowboys @ Kansas State Wildcats

Nino Williams would have fit right in during the era of short-shorts, when set shots were the norm and there was no such thing as a 3-point line. Then again, Kansas State's senior forward is doing just fine these days, too.

Williams kept pouring in jumpers while scoring 20 points, and the Wildcats led from start to finish in a 63-53 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday. Marcus Foster and Justin Edwards added 14 points apiece for the Wildcats (12-8, 5-2 Big 12), who avenged a loss to the Cowboys earlier this month by winning for the fifth time in six games. The Wildcats shot 57 percent from the field, going 12 of 16 in the second half.

Phil Forte scored 22 points and Le'Bryan Nash had 13, but the only other Cowboys player with more than one field goal was Michael Cobbins. He was 2 for 4 and had seven points. Williams had 12 points and Foster eight in the first half, nearly outscoring Oklahoma State by themselves. The Wildcats led the Cowboys 31-21 at the break.

The lead was a credit to Kansas State's defense more than anything. Foster spent the entire game in Forte's back pocket, preventing the Big 12's third-leading scorer from getting any open looks. The junior sharpshooter was 1 for 4 from the field in the first half, his only make a long 3-pointer, and managed just six points.

Things were a struggle for him right from the start. On the Cowboys' first possession, Forte threw up an off-balanced jumper as the shot clock expired. Realizing it was off line, he tried to jump into a defender, but the officials refused to call the foul. Ford exploded on the sideline, earning a technical foul less than a minute into the game. Foster made both free throws for the Wildcats, who were off and running.

Oklahoma State kept trying to whittle into its deficit in the second half, closing to 37-30 on Forte's 3-pointer with 15:47 left, then within 42-35 on Nash's jumper with 11:25 to go. The high-scoring duo didn't get a whole lot of help, though, and the more balanced Wildcats kept answering the call. Edwards continually got to the foul line, and big man Thomas Gipson's back-to-back dunks down the stretch create some breathing room. Nash's basket got Oklahoma State within 58-49 with 2:52 remaining, but a couple wasted chances followed by Edwards' 3-pointer with just over a minute left put the game away.

Oklahoma State (13-6, 3-4) still has not won at Bramlage Coliseum since 2010.

1/27/15   Baylor Bears @ OSU Cowboys

The Cowboys welcome the Baylor Bears (14-3, 3-3) to Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater Tuesday night. Tip-off time is 8 pm, and you can catch all the action, starting with Dave Hunsiker and the Cowboys Pre-Game at 7 o’clock on My107 and my1073fm.com.