Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Basketball: Next Day News & Notes
December 20, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball
SUNRISE, Fla – The trio of Leyton Hammonds, Jawun Evans and Jeff Newberry were tough to stop on Saturday night, but the Florida Gators made the plays down the stretch to fend off the Cowboys, 72-70, in the Orange Bowl Classic at the BB&T Center.
Cowboy Quick Hitters
• Evans piled up a team-high 17 points and five assists, while Hammonds and Newberry tallied 14 point each.
• Tied at 51 apiece with 10:21 left in the game, Florida reeled off a 9-0 run on a trio of three-point plays. The Cowboys cut it to a 2-point game at 66-64 with 3:51 remaining thanks to a Jeff Newberry 3-pointer that capped a 10-2 run. That was as close as OSU would come for the remainder of the night.
• The Cowboys dropped to 7-4 on the year. Of those four losses, one came in overtime and the other three have been by three points or less.
• OSU point guards Jawun Evans (5) and Tyree Griffin (2) combined for seven assists on the night. The pair has combined for at least five assists in all but one game this season.
• Anthony Allen rejected two shots against Florida tonight. It marks his fifth mult-block game of the season.
• Entering tonight's game, Florida led the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 2-0. The last meeting between these two programs was in the Elite Eight round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Syracuse, N.Y.
• The Cowboys posted a 9-0 run early in the first half. Leyton Hammonds fueled the run with a four-point play, followed by a 3-point play on OSU's next trip down the floor.
• Tonight was OSU's first appearance in the Orange Bowl Classic, and the program's first appearance on Fox Sports 1.
Quotable Cowboys
Head coach Travis Ford after the game …
On the positives from the game:
"No doubt, if you watch this game and see where we're at and who we just played. We've been through a lot of adversity. I thought you saw a bunch of guys come together tonight, and we took a step in the right direction, we took a step forward."
On Jawun Evans performance:
"Off the chart. I thought you saw from the time the ball was thrown up, you saw his game. He was shanking and backing and keeping them off balance. He was scoring and assisting. I've been saying it, he's been getting a little better every game."
Stars of the Week
Leyton Hammonds, Jr., F, North Richland Hills, TX
Hammonds continued his run of stellar play since returning from a bout with pneumonia with a career-high 22 points in the win over Longwood and 14 points against Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic. The junior averaged 18 points this week on 9-of-15 (.600) shooting from the floor, including a 6-of-11 (.545) mark from 3-point. Hammonds was even 12-of-13 (.923) from the free throw line. To put his new slashing role into perspective, Hammonds attempted three free throws in all of 2014-15.
Jawun Evans, Fr., PG, Dallas, TX
Evans continues to roll out highlight-worthy passes and even provide a scoring touch when necessary. The freshman posted a team-high 17 points and five assists to go with a career-high seven rebounds in a narrow loss against Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic. He was 8-of-19 (.421) shooting for the week thanks to a 2-of-4 (.500) mark from deep. He tallied eight assists to just four turnovers in 51 minutes of play, and also added four steals on the week.
Cowboy Quick Hitters
• Evans piled up a team-high 17 points and five assists, while Hammonds and Newberry tallied 14 point each.
• Tied at 51 apiece with 10:21 left in the game, Florida reeled off a 9-0 run on a trio of three-point plays. The Cowboys cut it to a 2-point game at 66-64 with 3:51 remaining thanks to a Jeff Newberry 3-pointer that capped a 10-2 run. That was as close as OSU would come for the remainder of the night.
• The Cowboys dropped to 7-4 on the year. Of those four losses, one came in overtime and the other three have been by three points or less.
• OSU point guards Jawun Evans (5) and Tyree Griffin (2) combined for seven assists on the night. The pair has combined for at least five assists in all but one game this season.
• Anthony Allen rejected two shots against Florida tonight. It marks his fifth mult-block game of the season.
• Entering tonight's game, Florida led the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 2-0. The last meeting between these two programs was in the Elite Eight round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Syracuse, N.Y.
• The Cowboys posted a 9-0 run early in the first half. Leyton Hammonds fueled the run with a four-point play, followed by a 3-point play on OSU's next trip down the floor.
• Tonight was OSU's first appearance in the Orange Bowl Classic, and the program's first appearance on Fox Sports 1.
Quotable Cowboys
Head coach Travis Ford after the game …
On the positives from the game:
"No doubt, if you watch this game and see where we're at and who we just played. We've been through a lot of adversity. I thought you saw a bunch of guys come together tonight, and we took a step in the right direction, we took a step forward."
On Jawun Evans performance:
"Off the chart. I thought you saw from the time the ball was thrown up, you saw his game. He was shanking and backing and keeping them off balance. He was scoring and assisting. I've been saying it, he's been getting a little better every game."
Stars of the Week
Leyton Hammonds, Jr., F, North Richland Hills, TX
Hammonds continued his run of stellar play since returning from a bout with pneumonia with a career-high 22 points in the win over Longwood and 14 points against Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic. The junior averaged 18 points this week on 9-of-15 (.600) shooting from the floor, including a 6-of-11 (.545) mark from 3-point. Hammonds was even 12-of-13 (.923) from the free throw line. To put his new slashing role into perspective, Hammonds attempted three free throws in all of 2014-15.
Jawun Evans, Fr., PG, Dallas, TX
Evans continues to roll out highlight-worthy passes and even provide a scoring touch when necessary. The freshman posted a team-high 17 points and five assists to go with a career-high seven rebounds in a narrow loss against Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic. He was 8-of-19 (.421) shooting for the week thanks to a 2-of-4 (.500) mark from deep. He tallied eight assists to just four turnovers in 51 minutes of play, and also added four steals on the week.
Players Mentioned
PG
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SF
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G
/ Cowboy BasketballFriday, June 05
Friday, May 29
Wednesday, May 27
Monday, May 18
