Embracing Boynton’s fighter mentality

Oklahoma State is starting to adopt coach Mike Boynton’s hard-work mentality in his first season as the Cowboys’ head coach.

STILLWATER — Mike Boynton thinks his team might be starting to take on some of his personality.

And if he’s right, that could serve the Cowboys well through their increasingly tougher Big 12 schedule.

Boynton, in his first year coaching the OSU men’s basketball team, is a grinder, a fighter — qualities he learned growing up as a young basketball player in New York, then put to use to help him climb the ladder in college coaching.

Now, his basketball players seem to be finding those qualities in themselves.

As the Cowboys head to Kansas State for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, they can use any grit they can muster.

The Cowboys were projected as the bottomfeeder of the Big 12, but have shown more life than many outsiders expected.

But wins in the Big 12 aren’t easy, regardless of the competition, something the Cowboys learned in their overtime nail-biter against Iowa State last Saturday.

After his Cowboys let Iowa State go on a 16-0 run late in the first half, Boynton lit into his players in the halftime locker room — admitting it was the first time his team had seen him so animated.

And they responded to pull out the 96-87 victory in overtime.

“It wasn’t the halftime speech,” Boynton said. “Those kids won the game. They banded together and competed as hard as they could for 25 minutes. That’s what won.

“They just kept fighting, and that’s who we have to be. That’s who I am, so maybe they’re starting to take on my personality a little bit in that regard. I continue to preach that message to just be a fighter.”

It helps that Boynton has players who come by some of those qualities naturally.

Boynton continues to call Mitchell Solomon the team’s MVP because of his hard-work mentality and ability to breathe that desire into his teammates.

The Cowboys’ offensive stars, like Jeffrey Carroll and Tavarius Shine, maintain teamfirst attitudes. Graduate transfer Kendall Smith is working to find the best ways for him to lead the team at point guard.

“Every single play is competitive,” said Smith, who transferred from Cal State Northridge. “You can’t take plays off. And when you’re a leader on the team, you’ve got to come out and prove that every single night.”

Starting Wednesday at Kansas State, the Cowboys play three straight games against unranked opponents — with a home game against Texas on Saturday and a trip to Baylor next Monday — before back-to-back games against top-10 teams Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

So the next week could be an important one for building momentum.

“Winning is really

hard,” Boynton said. “You just have to figure it out as you go.

“It’s about making competitive plays, being tough and having togetherness that you can look to your right and left and feel good about the guys

who are out there with you. I think, collectively, we’re starting to buy into that, starting to understand it. And to win, it validates that, so hopefully it’s something we can build on moving forward.”