Oklahoma State Holds Off Grand Canyon for 84-78 Win in the Desert
Oklahoma State stays perfect on the season as they held off Grand Canyon 84-78. in the Jerry Colangelo Classic out in Phoenix, AZ.
With the win, they moved to 9-0 overall on the season. Their streak of at least 85 points in a game to start the season ends at eight games, a program record.
It was point guard Kanye Clary who called for the Pokes. The Antelopes made it a two-point game, 80-78, with just 37 seconds left in the game. Christian Coleman got the ball to Clary on the in-bounds play and Clary ran the clock down to 16 seconds left, five seconds on the shot clock, before hoisting up what appeared to be an ill-advised shot. Not the case. Clary drilled a 3-pointer to make it 83-78, before stealing the ball away from Brian Moore Jr. on the other end, leading to Christian Coleman being fouled on the other end.
“Obviously, we didn’t do a good job over here, and we didn’t get a rebound,” head coach Steve Lutz said on the CBS Sports broadcast of the last minute of the game. “I mean, we got the shot we wanted, we just didn’t get a rebound and [GCU] gets it to two [points]. Anytime you have a late game situation like that, and you have an opportunity to put the ball in one of your playmaker’s hands, I’m usually going to do it. Kanye made a really big three. I thought our guys fought and battled in the second half and were much better defensively in the second half. This was a heck of an environment; Grand Canyon has a ton of people here, a great program and were happy to get the win on the road.”
Clary finished with just six points on the night, three coming in the clutch late, with four assists.
It was Parsa Fallah who led the way in scoring with 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor, 9-of-10 form the free throw line. He also led the Pokes with six rebounds.
Christian Coleman finished with 16 points and Jaylen Curry and Anthony Roy each finished with 14 points.
It was a strange night though for the Pokes as they shot nearly 60%, but it was poor rebounding on the defensive end that kept GCU in the game as they hauled in 14 offensive boards, leading to 17 second-chance points. They also outrebounded OSU overall, 34-32, and it was 44-42 in favor of OSU scoring in the paint.
The Cowboys also struggled from the free throw line, going just 20-of-28, with three misses coming late.
It’s a week off for the Pokes as they’re back in action next Saturday against OU at Paycom Center down in Oklahoma City.
