Cowboys Roll to 88-45 Season-Opening Win Over UT Arlington

STILLWATER – It was an easy night in the office for Oklahoma State as they rolled to an impressive 88-45 win against UT Arlington in the season opener.

The Cowboys face Oakland this coming Friday, November 12 with a 7 p.m. CT tip on ESPN+.

Moussa Cisse led the way in scoring for the Pokes as he finished with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, 3-of-6 from the free throw line, with nine rebounds and two blocks.

In fact, there were five Cowboys in double digits in the game: Bryce Thompson was second in scoring with 14 points, Avery Anderson III and MA Moncrieffe with 13 and Keylan Boone with 10.

It was a fast start for the Pokes as they jumped out to an 11-3 lead following a 7-0 run to the first media timeout just under the 16-minute mark. Both Keylan Boone and Avery Anderson III were hot out of the gates. Boone had eight points and six rebounds in the first half, including two 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the game.

As for Anderson III, he nearly scored as many points in the first half as UT Arlington; he went into the break with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

The Cowboys would finish the first half on a 21-7 run, going into halftime with a 43-14 lead, the Pokes’ largest lead going into the half since Nov. 16, 2016, against New Orleans. They’d go on to beat New Orleans 117-72.

The Pokes’ impressive first half run continued into the second half as it started with an impressive alley-oop from Isaac Likekele to Moussa Cisse, Likekele’s fourth assist of the game. They’d start the half on a 10-2 run before UTA called a timeout following a corner three from Donovan Williams.

That play was followed up by a steal by Anderson III and an assist oop to Cisse to put the Pokes up 57-16. Moussa would block the next two UTA shots.

The Pokes would stretch their lead over the next several minutes, including a 17-2 scoring run from the 10-minute mark down to the three-minute mark.

Boynton sent two of the walk-ons into the game with less than two minutes to go, with both of them scoring, Carson Sager with two free throws and Weston Church with a putback bucket just before the buzzer.

The Cowboys face Oakland this coming Friday, November 12 with a 7 p.m. CT tip on ESPN+.