Oklahoma State Holds Off Surging Southern Illinois for 85-78 Win

It took Oklahoma State a bit of time to get settled in, but they jumped out to an 18-point lead in the second half, then held off a surging Southern Illinois team late for a 85-78 win in the program’s 3,000th game.

With the win, the Cowboys moved to 3-0 to start the season, finally getting past the Salukis. 

The Cowboys really started to pull away just past the midway point of the second half. Following two-straight missed free throws from Kennard Davis Jr., Brandon Newman hit a driving layup to make it a 13-point game, 69-56. The Salukis got two back, but the Pokes went on a quick 7-0 run, putting the Pokes up 76-58. 

The Salukis went on a quick 8-0 run of their own to make it a 10-point game, 80-70, with just two minutes left. Abou Ousmane had a chance to end the run, but missed a free throw, leading to an OSU foul and two made free throws on the other end, making it an eight-point game with 1:48 left. 

Robert Jennings II hit two free throws to get it back to 10 points, 82-72, just over a minute left. 

However, the Salukis cut the Pokes’ lead down to just four points, 82-78, with 24.8 seconds left in the game following six-point run. 

But two free throws from Arturo Dean and a travel by the Salukis sealed the game for the Pokes.

It was Abou Ousmane and Brandon Newman who led the way in scoring for the Pokes with 18 points apiece, Ousmane on 8-of-10 shooting, Newman on 7-of-9. Chi-Chi Avery had 11 points and Bryce Thompson had 10 points. 

As a team, the Cowboys shot 48% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 75% from the free throw line. They were outrebounded 36-33, but scored 57 points off the bench and had 44 points in the paint.

One stat Cowboy fans should be happy about is the Pokes had just seven turnovers on the game, while forcing 18 and scoring 30 points off those turnovers.

OSU tied the game at 16 with 10:10 left, which was followed by a missed SIU bucket on the other end. Brantley recorded the defensive rebound, but Keller fouled on the other end. Newman was called for a defensive foul on the other end, before Newman recorded a steal, a turnover, then a jump ball to give the Pokes the ball on possession.

Nearly two minutes later, Bryce Thompson hit a corner three to give the Pokes their first lead of the game, 19-16. 

One of the pivotal sequences of the first half came following driving layup from Jamyron Keller, tying the game up at 31. On the ensuing trip back down the court, Patrick Suemnick recorded a turnover just before the timeline, leading to a 3-pointer from Newman off an assist from Keller. 

A few plays later, the Cowboys took their largest lead of the first half with just under two minutes left in the first half, 36-31. That was after he drilled a 3-pointer less than 20 seconds earlier, a part of a seven-point run by the Pokes.

But two 3-pointers in the final 11 seconds of the half from The Salukis cut the Pokes lead, and then tie the game up at 37. However, during the break, the officials went back a ruled a two-point basket from the Pokes as a three, making it a 38-37 game going into the second half.

It was all Pokes out of the break, scoring six-straight points, making it 46-39, the largest lead of the game up to that point for the Pokes, which was capped by a travel by the Salukis and a timeout. 

Thompson came out of the timeout and immediately drilled a three to put the Pokes up 10, but a few turnovers in a row from the Pokes killed the momentum going into a media timeout.

The Salukis got right back into the game with a quick 8-0 run over the course of a minute, cutting the Pokes’ lead to just two, 49-47, before tying the game with a back door layup just over 13 minutes left in the game.