Oklahoma State Wins on Senior Day Over Cincinnati, 78-67
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State, led by senior big man, Abou Ousmane, held off a streaking Cincinnati team to win on Senior Day, 78-67.
With the win, the Cowboys finished the regular season with a 15-16 overall record and 7-13 in Big 12 play.
Abou Ousmane led the way in scoring for the Pokes with 24 points on 50% shooting from the floor with eight rebounds.
Fellow senior Bryce Thompson finished with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
As a team, the Cowboys shot 47% from the floor, 78% from 3-point range and 76% from the free throw line.
They led in rebounds 41-37, 30-25 on the defensive side.
It was a close first half for the first 10 minutes of the half as it was just a two-point game at the 10:53 mark with the Cowboys leading 20-18. That’s when they started to pull away from the Bearcats thanks to Ousmane as he scored all 12 of his first-half points in the final 10 minutes. That followed Bryce Thompson scoring the Pokes first 10 points of the game.
The Pokes were up 18 points with just four minutes left in the half before the Bearcats started to claw back. Coupled with a quick 5-0 run, which led to a timeout from Lutz with 1:04 left in the half to try and settle his team back into things, the Pokes went into the break leading by just eight points, 44-36.
The Cowboys were blistering from the field in the first half as they shot 51% from the field and an insane 86% from 3-point range.
Ousmane turned it up to start the second half as he scored the Pokes’ first six points to make it a 12-point game, 50-38.
But the Bearcats stayed in the game for most of the second half, making it a six-point game, 64-58, with just seven minutes left in the game.
Less than a minute later, the Bearcats made it a two-point game, 64-62, following a 6-0 run. But Ousmane ended that with a put-back following two offensive rebounds.
The game started to get sloppy down the stretch, with the Cowboys going on a 6-2 run over a four-minute period, leading 70-65. A rebound from Newman at the 1:40 mark led to a Cincy foul on Ousmane, sending him to the free throw line where he both free throws to make it a seven points game.
Dean rebounded a missed Cincy bucket, leading to two made free throws from Newman, which effectively sealed the game as the Cowboys finished on a 12-2 run.