In Oklahoma State’s first NCAA tournament game since 2017, the Cowboys fought off a tough Liberty team and found a way to win 69-60. It was the Pokes’ first win Tournament win since the 2009 season when they beat Tennessee in the opening round, 77-75.
With the win, the Cowboys move to 21-8 overall on the season and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament where they’ll face Oregon State on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT in Hinkle Fieldhouse and will be televised on TBS.
After a rather weird first half, the Cowboys turned the pressure up and played considerably better in the second half. And they did so while struggling from beyond the 3-point line. They’d jump out to their largest lead of the game just under the six-minute mark of the second, nine points at 56-47.
But Liberty just wouldn’t go away. Elijah Cuffee nailed a big three, his fourth of the game, to get the Flames back within six just a few seconds later. They’d cut the Pokes’ lead down to just four points, 58-54, but fouls were an issue for the Flames as the Pokes were in the double bonus the final eight minutes of the game. Cunningham hit two free throws putting them back up six, 60-55, just over three minutes to play.
Cade would score five more points to end the game and take his point total up to 15-points.
It was sophomore guard Avery Anderson III who led the way for the Pokes as he finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds and four steals.
Freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Isaac Likekele finished with nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Cowboys finished the game shooting 40% from the field, however they shot just 20% from 3-points and 69% from the free throw line. They did outrebound Liberty 37-36, but the Flames found a way to bring in three more defensive rebounds than the Pokes, 28-25.
The Cowboys also found a way to limit their turnovers as they finished with just 13 on the day, compared to forced 18 on the other end.
It was a rather strange first half for the Cowboys. They started the game with a 6-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game but had committed four turnovers as well. They wouldn’t hang onto the lead for much longer as Liberty’s Darius McGhee scored five quick points to put the Flames up 9-8.
They’d forced nine Liberty turnovers, while committing seven on the offensive end. They shot 40% from the field, as did Liberty, but the difference came from the 3-point line. The Pokes shot just 12% from beyond the arch, while Liberty combined for 45.5% and five made 3-pointers. The Cowboys were also outrebounded in the first half 18-16, including 15-11 on the defensive end.
The Cowboys would trail for the remaining of the half as they entered the break down 30-27. Cade Cunningham went 0-5 from the field, 0-3 from 3-point range and spent the final six minutes of the first half on the bench as he had picked up his second foul of the half.
It was Avery Anderson III who kept the Pokes in the game in the first half as he finished with 14 points and five rebounds. He’d start the second half with a block.
The Cowboys took their first led in nearly 17 minutes with an alley-oop layup by Kalib Boone from Isaac Likekele at the 18:14 mark. Likekele then hit a bucket to put the Pokes back up 33-32 just a minute later, 33-32.
Cunningham hit his first field goal of the game at the 15:25 mark of the second half with a chance to make it a three-point play after the foul. He’d miss the free throw, but the Pokes were up 37-35.
It seemed the Cowboys were finally able to wear the Flames down defensively as they took their largest lead of the game at eight points, 47-39, with an and-one by Moncrieffe, taking the Pokes up to an 8-0 run.
The Flames would go on a quick 5-0 run getting back within three, 47-44, but Anderson ended that with an and-one putting the Pokes back up six, 50-44.
The Flames were able to keep it close until the very end, but foul trouble put the Pokes in the double bonus for the final eight minutes of the game and allowed them to pull away late.
