Boone, Williams, and Walker Lead Bench and Keep Negative Stats Down
Full transparency I sat down tonight to watch my first Oklahoma State basketball of the season and based on the results so far, including the home loss to Oakland 56-55 last Friday, I was charting two stats. Turnovers and my own made up stat of dumb shots. Early on the Cowboys did not disappoint as there were some dumb shots early and four turnovers before the first media time out. However, in the end this story is not about dumb shots and turnovers. Instead, it is about a bench that blew things up for North Carolina State and three players in particular that I think will be difference makers all season for a team that is trying to lock in on its’ identity.
Welcome back Kalib Boone from that preseason shoulder injury and you have gathered your sea legs just in the nick of time. Boone finished with 20 points including alley-oop baskets from fellow Tulsan and Kansas transfer Bryce Thompson and Ole Miss veteran Bryce Williams. Williams, like Boone missed some early games due to suspension from a DUI back in August. Williams connected with Boone right before halftime for an alley-oop that made it 36-31. In the second half and as part of a 12-0 run it was Thompson to Boone to make it 54-46.
“Yeah, the first half was really frustraing because I missed some easy ones that I knew I could hit,” Boone said. “All my teammates and my coaches, Coach Mike told me to keep going and take two breaths. Then I hit my first one. I said, ‘I got it, lets go off.’”
“This was mostly a really a bunch of athletic guys that could make plays,” Cowboys head coach Mike Boynton told John Holcomb after the 74-68 win that made the Cowboys 4-1 so far on the season. “Our defense was good throughout the game except for the excessive fouling. There were a lot of fouls.”
Boone also had five blocked shots in the game and was a controlling presence in the paint on both ends of the floor as Moussa Cisse sat in both halves because of foul trouble. With Boone’s 20, 10 points from Texas Tech transfer Tyreek Smith, and 16 points from defensive specialist Rondel Walker, including a pair of threes and one a dagger three from the corner during the late first half run that rescued the lead for the Pokes, the Oklahoma State bench outscored the NC State reserves 56-to-5.
“I’ve said that it might be a different guy for us each night and tonight it was most of the bench,” Boynton said to the Cowboy Radio Network. “Bryce Williams made big plays for us. Tyreek Smith was sensational and he was deserving of the MVP for the game. Rondel Walker made big plays and hit some big baskets for us. I’m really proud of our guys, two games in two days and one against an ACC opponent. That’s a championship we’ll take home.”
Boone was sensational. His late jump hook was key and he played strong on both ends of the floor when the Wolfpack came back and challenged the Cowboys leads late in the game. Williams and Smith were a steadying presence. Walker was electric with his bombs and his solid defensive play. Those four guys may keep coming off the bench and that’s fine just as long as they get major minutes.
Oh yeah, and those negative stats that I was working on. I kept them. The Cowboys were well below the ballooned average of 16 turnovers with just 12 in the game. The dumb shots only added to nine and that’s not bad.