Cowboys Hold Off No. 15 Missouri

Oklahoma State blew by the Tigers' pressure to secure a 76-70 victory.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:11 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Feb 2, 2011 10:39 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Cowboys’ win against Missouri was not only hard earned, it was also much needed.

OSU beat the 15th-ranked Missouri Tigers 76-70 on Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys battled Missouri coach Mike Anderson’s patented full court press the entire game, exhausting themselves but managing to overcome it and turn the ball over a minimum number of times.

Oklahoma State had just 11 turnovers, a relatively small number considering the type of defense it was facing.

What the Cowboys did effectively was taking the ball to the bucket once the press was broken. OSU went to the line an incredible 43 times on the game as opposed to Missouri’s 16 attempts.

J.P. Olukemi was 12-of-14 from the stripe and Keiton Page hit 8-of-9 for OSU. Both scored 19 points to lead the Cowboys. Darrell Williams added 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Oklahoma State led almost the entire first half, including a nine-point margin at halftime.

The Cowboys extend their lead to 15 – their largest of the game – on a free throw from Darrell Williams with 10 minutes left in the game.

Mizzou (17-5, 3-4) began to chip away at the lead, however, and a jumper from Matt Pressey pulled the Tigers to within four with 1:28 to play.

OSU turned on the defense, however, and held the Tigers to just a single point the remainder of the game, securing the six-point victory.

The win snapped a mini losing streak for the Cowboys, for they had lost the past three straight coming into Wednesday night.

OSU (15-7, 3-4) will host the Bedlam game on Saturday, taking on the Sooners at 12:30 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena.