Oklahoma State Clinches Big 12/Big East Battle With 85-76 Win Over Seton Hall

Oklahoma State dominated nearly the entire game, fighting off a late run by Seton Hall to beat the Pirates, 85-76, to clinch the Big 12/Big East Battle for the Big 12.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 6-2 on the season, are 6-0 on the season when holding opponents to under 80 points and now have more road wins than last year’s team with two.

“As well as we played in the first half, you can’t ever expect to go on the road and have an easy win or pretty win, you have to expect to have some adversity in the second half,” Steve Lutz said after the game on the Cowboy Radio Network. “We certainly self-induced some of that adversity. We didn’t implode but we did not handle their press, and we did not handle their zone the way that we should have.”

The Cowboys shot 57% from the field, 38% from 3-point range 89% from the free throw line. It was Jamyron Keller and Robert Jennings who led the way for the Pokes with 14 points apiece, Keller on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and Jennings 5-of-7. Keller set a career-high in scoring, while Khalil Brantley recorded eight assists. 

Both Abou Ousmane and Brandon Newman finished with 13 points apiece, while Arturo Dean finished with 11 points. 

The Cowboys jumped out to a 30-11 lead midway through the first half, before extending that lead out to 22 points six minutes later, 42-20.

It took a lot of resilience for the Pokes late in the second half to stave off a surging Seton Hall. A quick 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by Dean and a jumper from Pat Suemnick made it an 18-point game, 73-55, with just 4:35 left in the game.

That’s when Seton Hall turned up the pressure on both ends, going on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes to make it a 10-point game for the first time since just eight minutes into the game.

Keller ended the 8-0 run with a fast break layup, giving him a career-high at the time, 12 points. The Pirates turned it over on the other end, but the Pokes were able to capitalize.

The Pirates turned up the pressure on defense, forcing an in-bounds violation, leading to a free throw by Isaiah Coleman. After a jumper by Ousmane, the Pirates went on a 5-0 run to make it a seven-point game with just 57 seconds left, 77-70. Dean was fouled at the 40-second mark, in which he sank both free throws. After a fast break layup by David Tubek on the other end, Brantley was fouled 10 seconds later and hit both free throws to get it back to nine points, 81-72. Good defense on the other end for the Pokes led to two free throws by Keller to seal the game. 

The Cowboys are back in action this coming Saturday as they face Oklahoma in the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City for a new-look Bedlam. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNU.