Oklahoma State overcame 28 turnovers to get a badly needed win, defeating in-state rival Tulsa 72-57 on Sunday evening in Oklahoma City.
Javon Small scored 18 points and Quion Williams added 12 as Oklahoma State (4-5) built a 19-point lead in the first half, lost much of it and rebuilt it as high as 18 in the second.
PJ Haggerty scored 13 points for Tulsa (5-3), although he made only 4 of 13 shots from the floor. Freshman Tyshawn Archie came off the bench to add 13 points and five steals for the Golden Hurricane, who were only slightly better at protecting the ball than the Cowboys, finishing with 20 turnovers.
The differences were that Oklahoma State shot 48.9 percent from the floor while Tulsa was at 37 percent, and the Cowboys dominated the boards 41-23.
Trailing 50-32 with 13:26 left in the game, the Golden Hurricane scored seven straight points but missed a chance to get their deficit down to single digits, as they had done in the first half, when Jesaiah McWright flubbed a dunk opportunity.
Jarius Hicklen’s 3-pointer and a free throw by Small then pushed the Cowboys’ lead back to 15.
The game, dubbed the Battleground 2k, was played at a neutral site, Paycom Center, where the Oklahoma City Thunder play their home games.
Tulsa, which came in averaging 79.6 points per game, made only 4 of 19 shots to start the game. The Cowboys took advantage, jumping to a 17-3 lead in the first seven minutes.
Williams’ three-point play capped another burst, this one 9-2, and the Cowboys led by 19 at 30-11.
The Golden Hurricane got back in the game thanks in large part to turnovers by Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had just one in the first nine minutes, but turned it over 13 times in the final 11 minutes of the half.
Archie came on and scored seven points in just over three minutes, and the Golden Hurricane had their deficit down to 35-26 at the break.
–Field Level Media