Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Notes: Oklahoma State 83 Oklahoma 81
January 20, 2018 | Cowboy Basketball
OSU has now earned back-to-back home victories over Oklahoma for the first time since 2012 and 2013. OSU has taken three of the last four Bedlam games overall. The win is its biggest Bedlam upset since an unranked Oklahoma State squad took down No. 1 Oklahoma, 77-73, on Feb. 4, 1989 in GIA.
OSU currently now has 13 all-time wins over ranked OU teams. OSU picks up the program's 50th all-time win over a top-10 opponent. It gives the Cowboys a second win over a ranked team this season. The win gives OSU its highest ranked win since taking down No. 3 Kansas, 86-67, on Jan. 19, 2016 in GIA. OSU closes the gap in the overall series with Oklahoma to 137-98, and strengthen its home record against OU to 63-45.
Mitchell Solomon got a huge steal where he dove on the floor to prove why he is the team's MVP with 45 seconds to go.OU ran off a 7-0 run late in the second half to take a 56-53 lead with 7:01 to go. It was OU's first lead of the game after OSU led for more than 30 minutes.
The Cowboys got off to a hot start in the game. They forced the Sooners into three early turnovers and turned those into five easy points to lead 15-6 at the first media timeout.
The combined duo of Brandon Averette and Kendall Smith helped propel the Cowboys to victory. Averette finished the game with eight points and seven assists, while Smith used some hot shooting to tie his career-high with 20 points.
The Cowboys held the Sooners scoreless for over seven minutes in the first half, which contributed to their lead at the time.
OSU's largest lead in this one was 19 points, which is OU's biggest deficit of the season. OU's second largest deficit was 18 points at Kansas State.
Jeffrey Carroll surpassed his scoring total against Baylor in the first 10 minutes of today's game. He finished the game with 23 points. The last seven times he was held under 10 points he responded with monster performances, including six 20-point games in his next outing. In fact, in those games he is now averaging 22.9 points on 51.6 percent shooting.
Carroll also pulled in 13 rebounds, a career-high, giving him a double-double. This now gives him eight career double-doubles.
Tavarius Shine hit some big shots late in the second half for the Cowboys. He also filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Yankuba Sima recorded six points, five rebounds and three blocks. This is now back-to-back games with three blocks for Sima.
The Bedlam matchup has had its fair share of close games in Stillwater over the last four years. After today's game, the average margin of victory in Stillwater has been 3.8 points.
The Cowboys have been tough at home even as the competition ramps up in Big 12 play. In its three home conference games, OSU is now 3-1 and is averaging 80.75 points on 45.6 percent shooting as a team. The Cowboys are forcing 8.5 steals.
OSU took a 12-point lead into halftime against OU. It's the first time OSU led by double digits at halftime in Bedlam since Jan. 9, 2012 (led by 13, won game by 7).
Solomon has been a rebounding machine in his time at OSU. He pulled in six rebounds, which gives him 507 for his career. He passed Clayton Carter and Randy Rutherford to sit at 24th in OSU history for career rebounds. He also dished out five assists, which is a career-high for him.
OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 566 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001, which is the 24th longest current streak in college basketball.
Today's attendance is 13,611, which is the 48th sellout since the GIA expansion.
