Instacap: Oklahoma State Bounces Back with 73-67 Win over Pittsburgh

Oklahoma State bounced back with a 73-67 victory over Pittsburgh riding a career-high performance from Jeffrey Carroll, and a domination of the Panthers on the glass.

Talk about a tale of two games. Carroll, the Big 12’s leading returning scorer, looked more like himself in his second game back. After a 4-point, 2-of-12 debut, Carroll scored a career-high 29 points, shooting 10 of 17 from the field (2 of 5 from 3) and added nine rebounds and two assists.

The Cowboys started slow, falling behind 12-7 but used their length and on-ball defense to force seven Pitt turnovers in the first nine minutes of play. Takeaways led to transition points and a 7-2 run pushed the Cowboys to a 16-14 lead. The Cowboys would not trail the remainder of the game

? pic.twitter.com/IeLiow8eBz

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 21, 2017

Pitt made a couple of runs early in the second half but the Cowboys held the Panthers at bay and took a 51-42 lead in the middle of the second half with an 8-0 run. When a late surge by Pitt made it a bit too close for comfort, OSU leaned on its best player, and Jeffrey Carroll delivered.

Big time play from Carroll to put #okstate up 66-60 late. pic.twitter.com/rRJyfCwd2p

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 21, 2017

The Cowboys then sealed the deal making 10 of 11 in from the charity stripe in the last minute and a half.

Oklahoma State’s offense showed improvement from Game 1 of the Legends Class, albeit against a completely different defense than the one that shut down Carroll and Co. on Monday night. It followed an abysmal 3-of-24 performance by going 7 of 28 from 3-point range on Tuesday. That’s not where the Cowboys want to be but it’s a step in the right direction, and it was due to better ball movement and less length from Pitt.

The Cowboys cleaned up on the glass, out-rebounding Pitt 43-29 and grabbing 17 offensive rebounds to Pittsburgh’s six. That accounted for 13 more field goal attempts.

Thomas Dziagwa lit up from behind the arc going 4 of 7 for 12 points and Cam McGriff was active with 6 points and 8 rebounds.

The young Panther team was led by freshman Shamiel Stevenson with 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

Next up: The Cowboys head home to welcome Houston Baptist to Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m.