Cowboys Lose Cobbins For Season

Oklahoma State received devastating news on Tuesday that starting center Michael Cobbins is done for the year with a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

Cobbins was injured in Monday night's 92-66 victory against Robert Morris in the Cowboys' final nonconference game. He played just three minutes of the contest before hobbling off the floor and never returned.

The information surrounding the injury was cryptic on Monday night but coach Travis Ford and the Cowboys made the news official on Tuesday.

"Our thoughts are with Michael, and we pray for a successful recovery," Ford said in a statement. "We know Michael will work extremely hard and be back next season, better than ever!"

Cobbins, a 6-foot-8 junior, is a key part of the Cowboys' interior defense and has a team-leading 19 blocks so far this season. He was averaging 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

The team announced that Cobbins will undergo surgery on Thursday.

"Nobody is going to sit around and feel sorry for us," Ford added. "We can all be sad for Michael, and we should be, and hold our head down for him. But we don't need to hold our head down for our team. Everybody's going to have to step it up. And we've got some options. We've got some guys who can do some things.

"It may not be a big guy, but it may be somebody else having to do something. And that's the way we'll approach it if that's the case."

It is likely that sophomore Kamari Murphy will move into the starting lineup. Murphy is also 6-foot-8 and is averaging 6.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game off the bench.

The No. 6 Cowboys open Big 12 play on Saturday at Kansas State at 3 p.m.