Cowboys Shoot Down Grambling State

Terrel Harris, James Anderson and the Oklahoma State Cowboys did not hesitate to put the basketball up from behind the three-point line Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena, while Obi Muonelo contributed the first double-double of his career as Oklahoma State improved its record to 4-0 with a 91-60 victory over Grambling State.

Harris, who had taken just nine three-point shots in the Cowboys’ first three games, was 4-of-9 from behind the three-point arc Sunday afternoon en route to a game-beset 23 points, while the 6-foot-6 Anderson was 5-for-9 on three-pointers – and the Cowboys tied a single-game record with 15 made treys and broke the school record for most three-pointers attempted with 39.

Anderson finished with 22 points, point guard Byron Eaton contributed 11 points, five assists and three steals, Keiton Page added 10 points and three steals, while Obi Muonelo had the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford was pleased with the play of Anderson, who added six rebounds, three assists and two steals while playing a team-best 33 minutes.

"(James) is doing a lot of hustle play, and he's doing a lot of things to help our basketball team win right now," said the first-year Cowboys head coach. "He's not just shooting threes ... but he can really, really rebound and crash the glass. He's doing a lot of things that may now show up no the stat sheet.

"I've also been really excited with how Obi has played the last two games. I'm excited with how he has accepted his role and really played to that role. If we continue to get that effort out of him it's going to continue to make our team better," Ford said of Muonelo, who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in just 24 minutes of play.

The Cowboys only led the Tigers 41-28 at halftime but opened the second half with a 28-4 run to push their lead to 37, and began thinking about this week’s trip to Orlando, Fla., to play in the Old Spice Classic, which includes teams like No. 5 Michigan State, No. 9 Gonzaga, No. 14 Tennessee and No. 22 Georgetown.

The 15 three-pointers against the Tigers ties the single-game record set nearly four years ago in OSU’s 92-35 victory over Northwestern (Okla.) State on Dec. 21, 2004, and the 39 trey attempts breaks the record for most tries (34 vs. North Texas, Nov. 11, 2007).

The Cowboys’ average margin of victory has been 20 points in their first four games, and their closest contest was a 100-88 win over North Texas. But Ford’s team will find out just how good it is this week when it travels to Orlando, Fla., to participate in the Old Spice Classic. OSU will face ninth-ranked Gonzaga in a first-round game Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) at Disney World (to be shown on ESPN2) and could then play No. 5 Maryland in a second-round contest.