Cowboys overpower Iowa State Cyclones
Oklahoma State beat Iowa State 80-71 on the road Tuesday to earn its first victory in Ames since 2010.
In a game it needed to have any hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, Oklahoma State turned in one of its best performances of the season.
The Cowboys defeated Iowa State, 80-71, on Tuesday in Hilton Coliseum, the program’s first victory there since 2010. By completing a season sweep of the Cyclones, OSU improved to 17-13 overall and 7-10 in Big 12 heading into its regularseason finale.
Here are three observations from the Cowboys’ victory.
Solomon, Carroll achieve rare feat
Not since 1954 had an OSU basketball player accomplished what Cowboy seniors Jeffrey Carroll and Mitchell Solomon did Tuesday.
Carroll and Solomon have now won a game in each Big 12 arena. They became the first Cowboys to win in every conference venue since OSU’s 1954 senior class, Bob Mattick, Tom Fuller and Dale Roark, did so in the Missouri Valley Conference for Oklahoma A&M.
Solomon had his second career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. His second straight doubledigit rebound performance moved him into OSU’s alltime top 20 in rebounding. Carroll delivered a dagger 3-pointer among his gamehigh 21 points, adding eight rebounds and seven assists.
Another strong second-half start
Earlier in conference play, the first few minutes of second halves plagued OSU. That hasn’t been the case lately.
In each of the Cowboys’ past three games, the early portion of the second half has arguably been the best they’ve played. In their 79-71 upset of No. 6 Texas Tech last week, a 25-8 run out of the break gave the Cowboys enough distance for the victory. Even in Saturday’s 65-64 loss to Texas, OSU’s 17-2 start to the second half erased a five-point halftime deficit.
Up 48-43 at halftime, the Cowboys came out of Tuesday’s break with a 14-3 run, pushing their lead to 16. The Cyclones answered with nine straight points on three 3-pointers, of which they had 13 in the game. Seven points, however, was the closest OSU allowed them for the remainder of the game.
NCAA Tournament hopes on the line against Kansas
In a regular season of surprises, the Cowboys will try to add another.
OSU hosts Kansas, the Big 12 champion, in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Saturday. Since the conference went to 10 teams, no Big 12 team has made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team with a league record below 8-10.
The Cowboys beat the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse, but sweeping Kansas will be far from simple. In 102 home-andhome Big 12 series, no team has swept the Bill Self-coached Jayhawks.
OSU must achieve another first, as well: winning back-to-back Big 12 games. But in a roller coaster regular season, expect nothing less than a wild ride to end it.