Oklahoma State Holds off Tulsa to Get Important Road Win Without Jawun Evans

In a game without their best player and with senior sharpshooter, Phil Forte banged up and coming off the bench, Brad Underwood’s Cowboys got a big win in Tulsa.

Evans, the Big 12’s leading scorer, was a game-time decision and is listed as day-to-day with a shoulder injury he sustained during practice this week. Forte, who was hampered with a bruised tailbone (also occurring during practice) had a rough night, going 1 of 7 for three points.

With Evans out, Underwood rode his freshman point guard Brandon Averette who led all players with 37 minutes logged. Averette was rushed and had turnover issues early but soon settled down and was the best player on the court for big chunks of the game.

Averette also led all scorers with 17 points. He was relentless on both sides of the court. He also added three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Mitchell Solomon had a very good game (7 points and 7 rebounds) before fouling out an a very Mitch-Solomon play in which he fouled a Tulsa player on a fast-break bucket with over six minutes remaining. This forced Underwood to go small for much of the end of the game and the lack of size allowed the Golden Hurricane to climb back in it.

Thomas Dziagwa was huge off the bench including three second-half three-pointers (including two in a row) and the game-sealing free-throws he made with 1.0 second remaining to give the Cowboys a 71-67 lead.

Additional Notes

• Lindy Waters had some good looks tonight, including a clutch step-back jumper late in the second half. He still has some room to grow on defense and looked hesitant at times.
• Jeffrey Carroll again was great. 13 points and eight rebounds. He was missed when not on the floor.
• Davon Dillard saw the floor for a total of two minutes. He got one rebound. There must be some reason he is not seeing the floor. It’s not like Underwood doesn’t go deep into his bench. With the glimpses we’ve seen from Dillard in the past, you really hope he gets it figured out soon.
• Underwood left four freshmen out there in crunch time. I’m glad that he has confidence in those guys. I think it will pay dividends later this season.
• As Kyle P. brought up in our slack conversation, this would have been a bad loss. I agree. But, simultaneously, I think winning a close one, on the road, without your best player, makes this a good win. We can all remember when any road win would be cause for celebration.

Next Up

The Cowboys welcome Arkansas-Pine Bluff to Gallagher-Iba Arena Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m.