Cowboys Notch First Big 12 Road Win With 64-59 Road Win Over Kansas State

Oklahoma State snapped a four-game losing streak to Kansas State with a 64-59 win in Manhattan. It also marks the Cowboys first road win in Big 12 play.

© Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

STILLWATER – It might not have been the prettiest of games, but Oklahoma State held on in a tough environment to snap a four-game losing streak to Kansas State with a 64-59 win. The win also marks the Cowboys first road win in Big 12 play and Mike Boynton's first win over Kansas State as the Head Coach.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 12-12 on the season and 2-9 in Big 12 Conference play.

"I remember walking out of here with my head between my legs last year," said head coach Mike Boynton on the Cowboy Radio Network. "In fact, I was joking with the staff that if I'm so lucky to get to Heaven, I'm gonna ask the good Lord that he sent me to Manhattan, KS in 2019 and what was that all about; because we were down 15-0 and 25 with 10 minutes left to go in the half and it was pretty tough to swallow. But I'm happy that we were able to put that one behind us and get a win over a very good defensive team and get back home, get rested and get ready for the next one."

It was a rather sloppy game for both sides as the score going into halftime was 27-21. However, the Cowboys were dominate in the paint as they hauled in 25 rebounds, with 19 of those coming on the defensive end. The Cowboys would go on to out-rebound the Wildcats 38-29, with 32 of the Cowboys’ rebounds coming on the defensive end. The Pokes were also solid on the stat sheet when it comes to fouls as they were called for only 18.

The Cowboys would finish the game shooting 51.2 percent from the field, a Big 12 season high for the Pokes. In fact, the Cowboy made 22 field goals on the night with 15 coming from within the paint.

"We were really conscience about trying to play inside first, and second and third," head coach Mike Boynton said of the Cowboy Radio Network. "Really wanted to just try to get the ball to the paint as much as possible, get ourselves to the free throw line as often as we could. I said it earlier, I like to think we're a good 3-point shooting team, but you've got to let the numbers tell you some of the story too and the numbers show we just haven't shot it well for whatever reason. So, we had to find other ways to try to have success and I'm proud that executed the game plan today."

As far as individual scoring went, it was sophomore center Yor Anei that led the way for the Pokes. He scored a season-high in Big 12 play with 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field, including his first-career 3-point bucket and 1-of-1 from the free throw line. Anei also hauled in seven rebounds, all on the defensive end.

"When the guy took the ball out towards half court, I saw the other end shot clock and I saw it was at five and I knew I had to get a shot up," Yor Anei said of his 3-point bucket on the Cowboy Radio Network. "I shot it with confidence and I hit my follow through.

"It felt good coming off. Just shot it, prayed, hit my follow through and it went in."

Three other Cowboy scores hit double-digits as the senior trio of Lindy Waters, Jonathan Laurent and Cameron McGriff scored 12 points, 11 points and 10 points respectively.

McGriff was also great on the defensive end as he hauled in eight rebounds with seven coming on the defensive end.

It was a very slow start the second half for the Pokes as they scored just one bucket, a Likekele layup, in the first six minutes. From there, the Cowboys turned up the heat. They’d go on to score 35 points on 81.3 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

The Cowboys will be back in action this coming Saturday as they play host to Texas Tech for a noon tip on CBS. Oklahoma State will also be honoring the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Final Four team.