Notebook: Cowboys Steamroll Waves of Pepperdine

The Mike Boynton era tipped off on Friday night, and the rookie head coach was (and will be) without some of his best players. Regardless, the Pokes got a big win at home.

Let’s jump into the notebook.

• Since Henry Iba took the reins in 1934 (we’re in 83 A.I. by the way) OSU head coaches were 8-2 in their debuts before tonight. Boynton faced plenty of additional obstacles of his own but is now 1-0 in his own.

• OSU was without Jeffrey Carroll, Davon Dillard and rookie guard Zack Dawson and will be for the foreseeable future. A team that was picked to finish last in the Big 12 might be without three of its best five players to start the season.

• Absolutely zero disrespect intended here, but when you are scheming Tavarius Shine into the four so you can keep his scoring on the floor, as Bryndon Manzer pointed out, you’ve got problems on offense.

• The Cowboys fell in love with the 3-pointer shot too much and too early. The Cowboys were 3 of 13 from 3 in the first half. Luckily, they were a much better 7 of 16 in the second. But that number will not hold up in league play.

• Speaking of that, Thomas Dziagwa was 4 of 9 from beyond the arc. He only took nine shots. Dizzy gonna Dizzy and at this point, shoot your shot.

• Brandon Averette was aggressive once he hit the floor and didn’t look back. He may be the backup PG behind Cal State-Northridge transfer Kendall Smith, but he’s taking a backseat to no one. In 19 minutes, the sophomore scored 11 points, dished out five assists and zero TOs. He forced the issue but was still 5 of 7 from the field. If he keeps this up, he’ll be a luxury for Boynton at PG2.

• Early in the game, Cam McGriff tried to save a loose ball and flung it over his shoulder off the eye socket of one Mitchell Solomon and Crime Dog couldn’t look any more annoyed that Mitch didn’t catch it. Did I mention that I love me some Crime Dog?

• I didn’t even have to watch this game to grade OSU’s offensive play calling. Based on my Slack notifications, Thomas Fleming was somewhere in a very dark place watching this game.

• Related: Pepperdine might stink is the worst team in college basketball.

• Lindy Waters needs to assert himself like he did tonight. With Carroll, Dillard and Dawson out for the time being, he might be OSU’s most skilled offensive player.

At some point this season, we're getting this from @LindyWatersIII #LindyChitwood #okstate pic.twitter.com/qOHdLOnhQ9

— Kyle Cox (@KyleCoxPFB) November 12, 2016

• I’m here for all of the McGriff transition slams.

• Since 1989, OSU is 205-7 (.967) in non-conference games in GIA.

• I have to talk about the new uniforms. I am not going to pretend to have a valid opinion on duds but I do know what I like, and I didn’t like the first pics I saw of these.

But seeing the new kit in action last week in the exhibition game and again tonight, I might like these home duds. The paisley trimming might need to grow on me and Pete is probably too big but that football font looks pretty mean across the chest.

• What did we learn from this game? Not a lot. Pepperdine is not good and OSU might not be either. But you can only play the games on your schedule and you can only enjoy your most recent win. The Cowboys handled business and Oklahoma State head coaches are now 9-2 in debuts.

Let me challenge you as OSU fans. This team isn’t winning the Big 12. It’s not making a deep run into the NCAA. It’s very young, especially with some of the recent suspensions, but there are definitely some guys who are fun to watch.

Next up: The Cowboys welcome Charlotte on November 13.