Cowboys run winning streak to 4

Sunday, December 31

Stillwater

2:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

7-5,0-0Big 12

South Carolina State

4-12,0-0MEAC

South Carolina St.

Oklahoma St.

December 31, 2023 | Cowboy Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Press Conference Video Postgame Notes

STILLWATER -- Bryce Thompson's 17 points and double-doubles from Brandon Garrison and Quion Williams helped Oklahoma State shake loose from South Carolina State, 86-70, Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Knotted at 38 near the 19:00-mark of the second half, OSU (7-5) mounted a 19-2 run to pull away for its fourth consecutive victory.

The Cowboys turned the ball over 23 times against SCSU's pressure defense but often exploited it for easy looks, shooting 53.6% from the field with help from seven dunks. They also knocked down 13-of-27 (.481) threes, led by Thompson's 4-of-9 effort.

Williams finished with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and gathered 10 rebounds.

Garrison set his own personal best with 11 points to go with 10 boards and three blocks.

Small added 12 points and a team-high five assists.

Dailey scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including back-to-back dunks to cap OSU's big run. The latter made it a 57-41 lead with 13:11 to play. He added another at the 4:37-mark to give the Cowboys their largest lead at 22.

Jordan Simpson led SCSU (4-12) with 16 points and accounted for four of the team's 18 steals.

The Bulldogs shot just 35.2% but turned 17 offensive rebounds into 25 second-chance points.

QUOTABLE:

Mike Boynton Jr. on Williams' performance:
"I don't think there's any question who our emotional leader is and who drives the energy of our team. It's Q. And it's good that it's Q, because we ask him to play a role that needs to be played that way, in terms of being a defender, a hustle guy, and a rebounder on both ends of the floor. I'm glad he's embraced that, because it's not a role many people want to embrace. Everybody wants to be the guy that's creating the shots and making threes, but he's starting to find that he can have success doing those things without necessarily having a bunch of plays run for him. Getting a double-double and being our highest plus-minus guy without us really running any plays for him is pretty impressive and it's something that we need him to continue."

NOTABLE:

OSU has posted 20-or-more assists in each of its last three games – the program's longest such streak since November of 1999.
The Cowboys are also in the midst of the best three-game shooting stretch in program history, hitting 42-of-90 threes (.467) in wins over ORU, Wofford and SCSU. Thompson (13/25), Hicklen (8/15) and Small (8/15) have been the main catalysts.
The previous record for threes in a three-game stretch (40) was set during the 2009-10 season against Oklahoma (14/27), Iowa State (12/35) and Baylor (14/40).
Garrison became the fifth different Cowboy to post a double-double this season, joining Williams (2), Eric Dailey Jr. (2), Mike Marsh and Javon Small.

UP NEXT:

OSU plays host to Chicago State on Wednesday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+) before opening up the Big 12 slate Saturday against Baylor Bears (2 p.m. CT, ESPN+) inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Reserve your seats today at okstate.com/tickets.