Oklahoma State rolls over Houston Baptist

STILLWATER — Kendall Smith scored 16 points with five assists, and Thomas Dziagwa had a career-high 16 points as Oklahoma State rolled to a 101-74 victory over Houston Baptist on Sunday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Cameron McGriff added 14 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma State (5-1), which started a four-game homestand. The 101 points was the Cowboys' top offensive output of the season with five players scoring in double-digits. Two more had nine.

Jalon Gates scored 13 points and Josh Ibarra had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies (1-5), who lost their fourth straight contest.

This marked the first game this season that Oklahoma State has actually had its full lineup to draw from.

Star junior Jeffrey Carroll played his third game of the year, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds, after missing the first three due to an NCAA investigation, while junior guard Davon Dillard made his first appearance.

Dillard, who sat out the first five contests due to undisclosed disciplinary reasons, scored nine points and added three rebounds in 13 minutes.

Big picture

Houston Baptist: The Huskies didn't look like a onewin team from a smaller conference going against a power-five school for most of the night. They played a determined game and hung with Oklahoma State for most of the contest, pulling to within 20-19 on Will Gates' layup with 9:06 left in the first half. They stayed within 10 points until the final four minutes of the first half, but after that, fell hopelessly behind.

But they displayed a strong foundation early on if they can sustain it.

Oklahoma State: It took a while for the Cowboys to get going, not really taking over the contest until deep into the first half. But once they did find their rhythm, they excelled on defense, spread the ball around on offense, and overall controlled the tempo of the game.

Up next

The Cowboys remain home for the second of four straight home games, taking on Austin Peay on Wednesday.