Mike Boynton: Crowd Was ‘Tremendous’; Wants More in GIA on Wednesday

Oklahoma State held on and outlasted Stanford 71-65 on Monday night thanks to a late-game surge, some hot shooting from Jeffrey Carroll and Co. and an especially rowdy crowd inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“It was unbelievable,” Mike Boynton called the crowd of officially 9,635 in attendance. “They kind of willed us through some not-great minutes. They were energetic and lifted our guys up. Our guys are certainly very thankful that they all came out and supported us tonight.”

Pretty solid crowd for a Monday 6pm tip. #okstate pic.twitter.com/LT2durtWyw

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) March 19, 2018

“I was pretty shocked, honestly,” said Jeffrey Carroll who extended his college career with a season-high five makes from beyond that experimental FIBA-length 3-point line. “We knew the students were gone for break, but we had a great crowd tonight.”

Kendall Smith, who knocked down the late 3 that pushed OSU’s lead out of the Cardinal’s reach, says that rowdy inside GIA gives the Cowboys that extra push they need.

“No matter who [we] play, you can look at the team and we’ve beaten them,” said Smith. “No disrespect to Stanford or anything like that, but when we’re playing in Gallagher-Iba Arena and we have our fans on our side, that really uplifts us. I knew if we took care of what we needed to take care of on the defensive end, then we were going to come out with a win.”

I mean, it’s pretty full. pic.twitter.com/Houj3Q5ydj

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) March 19, 2018

Boynton appreciated the turnout, especially for an early week night game during spring break.

“The crowd was tremendous,” Boynton continued after the game. “Really, really good energy from start to finish. I was very pleased considering the circumstances. We’re on spring break, it’s a Tuesday [Monday] at 6 o’clock. You never know what kind of crowd you’ll get for that game. But hat’s off to our fans for showing up and being really, really into the game for 40 minutes.”

The Pokes have not only kept their season alive but with the 1-4 upset of Western Kentucky over USC, they’ve earned one final home game inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. With that, they have a chance to earn their school record 16th home win of the season and win No. 800 all-time inside GIA.

Boynton is hoping for an even bigger crowd as the Cowboys look to close down Gallagher-Iba the right way and punch their ticket to Madison Square Garden.

Tickets for tomorrow are officially available. @okstate STUDENTS, just bring your ID for free admission ???. Also, another special announcement coming this afternoon. #LetsWork #GoPokes

— Mike Boynton (@thacoachmike) March 20, 2018