Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
UTSA
Cowboy Defense Holds Against UTSA
December 05, 2009 | Cowboy Basketball
Dec. 5, 2009
Stillwater, Okla. — Marshall Moses recorded a double-double with 16 rebounds and 12 points while Keiton Page was on fire from the perimeter, connecting on 5-of-6 three-pointers, as Oklahoma State defeated UTSA 61-55 here Saturday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
“We're happy that we won this game against a well-prepared UT-San Antonio team," said OSU head coach Travis Ford. "Brooks Thompson has done a great job with this team and building it up. They did a great job of taking away some of our strengths as a team. It was an ugly game because we had 18 turnovers and gave up eight offensive rebounds in the second half. But as I told our team, our defense won the game for us.
"I thought we played great defense and we rebounded when we needed to," Ford said. "We didn't have a great rebounding night, not as well as I'd like after our last performance at Tulsa. But we did get the big ones when we needed them. We grinded it out. Nobody played particularly well, but Keiton (Page) shot the ball well and Marshall (Moses) made some shots."
Page finished with 15 points, all from beyond the three-point arc. His five treys were one shy of his career high. The Pawnee, Okla., native had struggled the last two games, scoring just six points on 3-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 0-of-7 from long range.
“You can tell a lot about a player when they're tested," said Ford. "We had conversations with Keiton challenging him to be better than he has been. I do think Keiton is one of the best players. He's a great player and can help us be successful in so many ways. He responded to our challenges and it says a lot about a player when his back is against the wall and he knew he hadn't been playing as well as he could. He came out tonight with a lot of confidence and more pep to his step. I'm glad to see how well he responded."
Moses has now scored in double figures in six of the eight games this season, and recorded his fourth double-figure rebounding game of the year. The 16 boards were one shy of his career high, and he also tied a career high with three blocked shots.
“By far, this was Marshall's best game of the year," Ford said. "He hasn't been playing terrible lately but he hasn't been playing 'Marshall Moses' basketball. He's been doing enough to help our team be successful. Even when we won games, I thought he could do a little bit better."
James Anderson led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor. He also extended his streak of consecutive games scoring double figures to 25, tying for the fifth-longest streak in school history.
Oklahoma State (7-1) will take eight days off for finals before hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-5) on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
