On a chilly Monday, December 29th night, the Oklahoma State Cowboys hosted the Bethune-Cookman Panthers for one last tune-up game before the gauntlet of the Big XII schedule begins. Six Cowboys scored in double figures as the home squad passed the century mark in a dominant 103-77 victory over the visitors. With the win, OSU improves to 12-1 and will enter conference play on a threegame win streak.

This high-scoring affair started with the Panthers connecting on their first three possessions and jumping out to a 7-4 lead two minutes into the game. A few possessions later, OSU would respond with an Anthony Roy three that gave the Cowboys a 9-7 lead, which they would not surrender for the rest of the night. Although the rest of the first half was a back-andforth affair with OSU clinging to a 4-10 point lead. In the closing seconds of the first period, the Cowboys got clutch buckets thanks to back-to-back blocks by Ben Ahmed, which led to an Isaiah Coleman alleyoop dunk and a Kanye Clary floater. With these two scores, the Cowboys had their largest lead of the game at halftime, 50-39.

The second half began with a new look of defensive intensity brought by OSU. The home squad was forcing turnovers left and right, leading to open shots and easy buckets. This fast-paced first four minutes saw the Cowboys score 17 points and build their lead up to 20, 67-47 at the under-16 media timeout. From there, OSU kept the Panthers at bay with their offense as the defensive side of the ball continued to raise questions and give up open shots throughout the second period. In the end, however, Head Coach Steve Lutz did not have much to complain about as his team secured the 103-77 win in their non-conference finale.

Anthony Roy was the main man for the Cowboys all night long. Roy made all 15 of his foul shots and scored a season high 27 points in just 25 minutes of action. Coming into the year, the Green Bay transfer was known for his scoring, so this outing comes as no surprise and showcased Roy’s ability to light up the scoreboard.

Cowboy big man Parsa Fallah had not played since leaving the Bedlam matchup early with a back injury on December 13th. Well, Monday night he returned and in a big way, putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds in a limited 21 minutes of action. With the Cowboys’ limited big-man depth, Fallah will have to play a major role in Big XII play.

Four other Pokes scored in double figures with Vyctorius Miller (18), Isaiah Coleman (12), Jaylen Curry (11), and Kanye Clary (10) all helping the home team pass the century mark in front of their loyal and true fans.

While defense has been a major talking point for Head Coach Steve Lutz and company, Monday saw the Cowboys force 19 turnovers, have 31 points off those turnovers, and out-rebound the Panthers by 7. “I thought that the guys, they are trying more to do what is asked of them defensively,” said Lutz after the game. A full 40 minutes of locked-in defensive intensity is what Lutz is still looking for, especially with non-conference play being over.

Now, an upcoming schedule of 18 straight Big XII games is the Cowboys’ reward for their 12-1 start. The first game of that slate is a trip west to Lubbock to battle the 15th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday, January 3rd. Tipoff is set for 12:00 PM.