STILLWATER, Okla. --- HCU dropped a Black Friday evening tilt to Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena, falling 92-65 to the Cowboys. A late first-half burst by the Cowboys and then another to start the second half put the game out of reach, as the Huskies dropped the first leg of a three-game road swing.
Pierce Bazil beat the press for a bucket with contact on the break, and that was followed by a driving score by
Marcus Greene, as the Huskies found themselves down just a bucket, 10-8 at the first media. A moment later out of the television break,
Jay Alvarez got a steal and a goaltending call on his fastbreak layup gave the Huskies a 12-11 lead.
OSU would answer with five straight to take a 17-12 lead, but HCU retaliated with a quick 8-0 run to go back in front. A loose-ball save on the baseline by Alvarez found
Tristan Moore for a mid-range jumper near the free-throw line, and back-to-back three-pointers from
Marcus Greene and Alvarez pushed the Huskies in front again 20-17.
The Cowboys would slowly creep back in front, with John-Michael Wright hitting a couple of three-balls in a 16-5 run that gave the Cowboys a 33-25 lead. The Huskies stayed with it however, and a triple from the right wing by Jacob Arnold cut the margin to six, 36-30 with 6:10 to play in the first half.
Connor Dow hit two free throws to give OSU it's first double-digit lead at the 4:06 mark, and his three from the right wing finished off a 13-3 burst that made the score 46-33 with 2:57 left before halftime.
Pierce Bazil scored on back-to-back trips with a jumper and a driving layup off the break to make cut the Cowboys lead to 52-37 at the intermission.
A backdoor layup and two free throws by
Michael Imariagbe highlighted the first four minutes of the second half as the two teams traded points. However, coming out of first media, the Cowboys stretched the lead out with a 14-2 run, as the Huskies went just 1-10 from the floor over the first eight minutes of the half. The OSU spurt was capped off by consecutive triples by Jarius Hicklen, forcing an HCU timeout with the Cowboys ahead 73-44. The Huskies would get no closer the rest of the way.
HCU shot just 37.5% on the night, including 3-10 from the arc. The Cowboys conversely knocked down 12-33 from long range en route to a 48.6% shooting evening overall. OSU out-rebounded the Huskies 47-38 and committed just nine turnovers to 14 for HCU.
The Huskies were led by
Marcus Greene's 16 points, two rebounds and two assists, while
Jay Alvarez went for 15 points.
Chigozie Achara matched his career-high with seven points along with four rebounds.
Bonke Maring once again led the Huskies on the backboards with 10 caroms, while also paced the team in assists for the third straight game with three.
Oklahoma State, now 3-3 on the season, placed six players in double-digits, led by Mike Marsh with 14. Eric Dailey Jr. and Jairus Hicklen each ad 12, while Brandon Garrison and Jamyron Keller each recorded 10. Dailey led the Cowboys with six rebounds, while Javon Small had eight assists.
HCU falls to 0-4 on the season. The Huskies will hit the highway for the second half of their Thanksgiving trip and middle leg of the road swing, heading to Fort Worth on Monday night to face off with TCU at Schollmaier Arena.
#DawgsUp
