Cowboys Roll To 99-55 Victory

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State Cowboys got just when they needed in their final exhibition tune up heading into Friday night’s season opener against Florida Atlantic. The Cowboys scored the game’s first 18 points and had five players score in double figures en route to a 99-55 victory over Oklahoma Baptist University at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys jumped on the Bison, an NAIA school with an enrollment of just 1,600 from Shawnee, Okla., in the first four minutes and the outcome was never in doubt. OSU led 18-0 at the first media timeout with 15:44 showing on the clock. OBU had attempted just four shots – missing all four – and committed four turnovers in the first few minutes.

OBU’s first basket didn’t until the Bison’s Mike Fraser scored with 14:09 on the clock, and by that time the Cowboys were up 19-2.

“One of the keys was to jump on them early and not give them any confidence that they could come in here and win, and I thought we really established our defense early, and played hard. I was pleased with how hard we played,” said Cowboy head coach Sean Sutton.

Sutton started two sophomores – guard Terrel Harris and center Kenny Cooper – and freshman Obi Muonelo for the first time in Tuesday night’s exhibition game.

“They played well. I thought Terrel Harris had his best game since he’s been at Oklahoma State,” said Sutton. “In my eyes, we’ve got eight players and all eight of them have a chance to start. I’m going to play the guys that play the best in practice, and that’s going to determine everything for a while. How you produce on the practice court is going to determine who starts the next game. I felt like those three guys deserved to start tonight based on how they played the last two days in practice. I felt they outplayed the other three (Marcus Dove, Byron Eaton and David Monds).”

JamesOn Curry, who started at point guard, put up the kind of numbers that Cowboy fans have expected in recent seasons. He scored a game-high 23 points – making 8 of 9 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 three-pointers – and also contributed six assists and three steals. Harris finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Boggan’s line read 18 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and three assists. Also scoring in double figures were David Monds with 11 points and Cooper with 10.

“I thought we played a lot better tonight,” Sutton said. “It looked more like an Oklahoma State-type performance. I was really pleased with the way we came out to start the game. We were active defensively, got our hands on a lot of balls and were able to turn that into easy baskets in transition and build that lead. It was a pretty solid performance. We didn’t play what I would call a great game, but played pretty well. I’m a lot more encouraged tonight than Friday night. I really felt like we played better tonight.”

The Cowboys open regular season play Friday night when Florida Atlantic, coached by former Kansas guard Rex Walters, visits Gallagher-Iba Arena.