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Instacap: OSU Holds Off Stanford 71-65 to Advance to NIT Quarterfinals

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The Cowboys survived a physical, sometimes chippy and often ugly Round 2 matchup with the Cardinal to advance to the third round of the NIT.

Mitchell Solomon picked up his first foul before one minute had passed and was held to just five minutes of play in the first quarter. Enter Yankuba Sima and a little hope for the future. Sima’s length really bothered first-team All-Pac-12 big Reid Travis, and held him to a 1-of-7 start.

Waters continued his hot shooting from deep. OSU started 3 of 5 from 3-point line, with Waters and Carroll connecting early. The Cowboys went on a 9-0 run late in the first and took a 19-10 lead into the second.

It really seemed like the Cowboys had a chance to blow this one open in the second quarter. But a 1-for-11 stretch from the field (including countless point-blank misses) meant the Cowboys could not the keep the Cardinal at bay for long. Stanford finished the period on a 10-1 run to head to the break down a point, 30-29.

The first three minutes of the third quarter took about 20 on the wall clock. The Cowboys suffered through a 4-of-18 period and came and fell behind 47-42 going into the final frame.

The Cowboys came out with energy to start the fourth quarter and quickly erased a 5-point deficit. It was a slugfest the rest of the way. The Cowboys found their shot from deep, scored 29 points in the fourth quarter on 53 percent shooting and made the hustle plays down the stretch to hold off the Cardinal and advance.

When it was over

After Daejon Davis hit a deep 3 to pull Stanford within 4 with just over a minute left, the Cowboys had to answer, and did in a big way. The offense that looked stagnant for most of the middle quarters, all of the sudden resembled the San Antonio Spurs circa 2014.

The ball swung around the floor when Jeff Carroll (at that point 5-of-6 from 3) made the extra pass to Kendall Smith for the corner 3 that pushed the lead to 68-61, just out of reach of the Cardinal.

Player of the Game

Jeffrey Carroll played like he wasn’t ready for his college career to be over. He led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting (5 for 7 from 3) and led the Cowboys with seven boards and three assists.

Stat you should know

Although the Cardinal out-rebounded the Cowboys 55-40, the Cowboys righted the ship on the offensive glass. After getting beat 10-5 in the first half, OSU ramped up the effort, winning that battle 12-9 in the final three quarters. The fact that the Cowboys were able to do that against the likes of Reid Travis (six of his 11 boards were offensive) while Mitchell Solomon, Yankuba Sima and Cam McGriff all dealt with foul trouble down the stretch was really impressive.

What’s next

The Cowboys face the winner of 1-4 matchup between USC and Western Kentucky, time and date to be announced. If USC wins, the Cowboys will head to the West Coast. If Western Kentucky wins, we’re looking at one more game in Stillwater.

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