STILLWATER – In a game Oklahoma State was favored to win by more than 20, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies poured in 17 three-pointers to hang around until the end, but the Cowboys had enough in the tank to hold them off for the 84-71 win.
With the win, the Cowboys move to 4-0 on the season. Another impressive stat about the win makes the Cowboys 8-0 dating back to last season, marking the first time the Pokes have won eight-straight games since the start of the 2006-07 season when they opened the season 11-0.
“I was really concerned about this game because of [Oakland’s] record to be honest,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton. “I know how hard that is for young guys to understand how a team can be good if they don’t win, but I watched the tape, their coach has been coaching there almost as long as I’ve been alive. So, he’s not guessing out there, he knows what he’s doing. He’s got an experienced group of guys and they’re just trying to find their rhythm. I knew they’d be a tough team to play against. Then percentages, I couldn’t speak to the things that I knew about to my team, I knew [Oakland] was going to shoot a lot of threes, but their percentages coming into the game, I mean it’s hard to tell a bunch of freshmen these guys can shoot when they’re percentages are 20 percent or 17 percent. They showed tonight what they’re capable of doing and a team I think’s going to be really good. Hard fought win for us, one where we can learn a lot from. The urgency that we’ve got to play with consistently on the defensive end wasn’t there tonight and I look forward to using this opportunity for us to build on and be better next time out.”
Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele led the way for the Pokes with 18 and 16 points respectively. Cunningham also dished out a career-high eight assists. Oh, and he also recorded the sequence of the season so far for the Pokes.
As for Likekele, he posted a season-high 16 points, as well as seven rebounds and three assists. Boynton and Co. also had three other players post double-digit points, Kalib Boone with 13, Ferron Flavors Jr. with 12 and Bryce Williams with 10, marking a season-high for the Cowboys with double-digit scorers.
It was an up and down first half for the Cowboys as led the Golden Grizzlies by just one going into the half. It appeared to not matter to Oakland that they came into this game 0-5 on the season as they poured in the three-pointers and forced Cowboy turnovers. By the end of the first half, the Golden Grizzlies had posted 21 points from beyond the arc, however the Cowboys forced them to shoot 21 first-half threes.
As far as the first half Cowboy turnovers went, the Pokes were a little sloppy and turned the ball over eight times, but the Pokes defense also forced eight turnovers as well.
It was junior point guard Isaac Likekele that led the way for the Cowboys in the first half with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. He also hauled in four rebounds, two on both ends of the court.
Turnovers were still an issue in the second half, the Cowboys had enough to hold off the Golden Grizzlies. The Cowboys used a three-minute 11-0 run early in the second half, an 8-0 and a 6-0 run, all in the second half, to extend the Cowboys lead.
The Grizzlies would go on a 10-0-run of their own to cut into Oklahoma State’s lead 79-71, but the Cowboys put five quick points in the board and then freshman Rondel Walker recorded a steal and ran out the clock to seal the deal.
The Cowboys turned the ball over 17 times, eight in the first half and nine in the second half, but out rebounded the Golden Grizzlies 42-31 and shot 71 percent from beyond the arc. On the other side of things, the Pokes also forced 17 Oakland turnovers as well and they scored 18 points off of turnovers and 44 points in the paint, compared to 25 points off of turnovers and just 12 points in the paint for the Golden Grizzlies.
The Cowboys will face Oral Roberts next on Tuesday, Dec. 8 in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
