Cunningham Scores 21 In First Game Back In Cowboys' 81-77 Win Over Arkansas

STILLWATER – In a fast-paced Big 12/SEC Challenge game between Oklahoma State and Arkansas, the Pokes were able to overcome 19 turnovers and a very back and forth second half to beat the Razorbacks in Stillwater, 81-77.

The Pokes are now 14-4 over Arkansas in Stillwater and move to 11-4 on the season with the win over Arkansas, and they remain at 4-4 in conference play.

The Cowboys and Razorbacks Remembered the Ten and honored Eddie Sutton before the game with special shootaround shirts, and the athletic department honored coach Sutton by revealing 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame decals under his name on the court prior to tipoff.

“I thought it was a great college basketball game,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “I feel better saying that now after a win then if I had been on the other side. Both teams played really hard; there’s a lot of talented young guys out there making plays on both sides of the floor. Like we thought, it was an exciting game where there’d be a lot of points scored and you’d have to figure out how we could get one more stop than the other team late and we were able to do that. So, I’m pleased with how we responded, specifically in the second half as far as taking care of the basketball. Obviously, Kalib Boone’s performance was tremendous. He’s now put three consecutive games together where he’s been very, very productive and, obviously, it didn’t hurt having Cade [Cunningham] back.”

After a very back and forth last 10 minutes and several lead changes, it came down to the final 30 seconds of the game. In his first game back since the win over Kansas on Jan. 12, Cade Cunningham rose up and nailed a mid-range pull-up to put the Pokes up 79-77 with 21-seconds left in the game.

Isaac Likekele was called for his fifth foul of the game with 13.2 minutes left in the game, but after a missed three-point attempt by Arkansas’ Vanover, Cunningham hauled in the rebound, was fouled and nailed both free throws to put the Cowboys up 81-77 with just 3.8 seconds left in the game. On the ensuing inbound play, Cunningham recorded a steal to seal the deal.

Cunningham posted seven first half points, six rebounds and two assists. He started the second half with a huge three out on the wing and turned it up even more with less than six minutes left in the game. With a strong second half, Cunningham posted 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Likekele finished the game with just seven points, four rebounds and five assissts.

It was a rather sloppy first half for the Cowboys as they turned the ball over 15 times and were called for eight fouls, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe had five fouls and Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele had four apiece. However, they still went into halftime with a 38-34 lead over the Razorbacks.

The Cowboys turned the ball over in the first 15 seconds of the season half, but really took care of the ball until the end of the game and finished the game with just four second-half turnovers for a total of 19 overall.

It was Kalib Boone who led the way in scoring for the Pokes in the first half as he went 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points and hauled in nine rebounds. He also had two first half blocks. By the end of the game, Boone had score six more points and hauled in three more rebounds to give him his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

As a team, the Cowboys out-rebounded the Hogs 39-32 and held them, a team who’s a very fast-paced team, to just 13 fastbreak points compared to 24 by the Pokes.

The Cowboys travel to Fort Worth Wednesday, Feb. 3 to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.