Tulsa World: Cowboys throttle Seattle, 86-64

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Cowboys throttle Seattle, 86-64

OSU's Ray Penn shoots around Gavin Gilmore of Seattle during their game at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater on Saturday. Nate Billings/The Oklahoman

By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Published: 11/14/2009 7:11 PM
Last Modified: 11/14/2009 7:11 PM

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s regular-season basketball opener was supposed to start at 1:30 p.m. The Cowboys didn’t surrender a basket until 3:17 p.m.

Spin it that way and OSU’s defensive performance in an 86-64 victory over Seattle University could be considered the best in the history of college basketball.

The rest of the story is the start of the game was delayed for more than an hour and a half because the officiating crew mistakenly believed tipoff was 7 p.m.

But the Cowboys fared well defensively when the game finally began, holding the Redhawks to two field goals on their first 28 possessions.

“Our defense is just way ahead of the offense right now,” OSU coach Travis Ford said, indicating that part of the reason for the offense lagging is because freshmen are manning the point guard position.

Consider it a good sign that Ford considered the offense to be lacking after a game in which three players — James Anderson, Marshall Moses and Obi Muonelo — produced double-doubles.

Anderson scored 22 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds. Moses posted 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Muonelo’s stat line was 12 and 11.

But, afterward, Ford said it was good to win on a night when his team didn’t play its best. What’s not to like? The Cowboys shot only 2-of-15 from 3-point range and starting forward Matt Pilgrim, who produced double-doubles in both exhibition games, scored only two points before fouling out in 10 minutes.

And then there’s this: OSU has developed a nasty habit

of building big leads and letting opponents sneak back into contention. It happened in both exhibition games and it occurred again Saturday. Seattle trailed by 27 points midway through the second half, but went on a 17-0 run and cut the margin to 10 three times in the last 5:27.

Shoudln’t folks be used to that because it happens every time OSU and Seattle cross paths? They met once previously, in the third-place game of the 1955 All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City, and Seattle rallied from a 22-point halftime deficit to get within six in the last three minutes.

Fast forward to the present and Ford isn’t blaming the let-leads-slip-away thing on freshmen. In fact, he did the opposite. He said upperclassmen need to be better leaders. Ford said former point guard Byron Eaton was very good at being a leader. Now Ford is challenging veteran players to “help me grab guys” and give them confidence and demand things from them.

Seattle is making the transition back to NCAA Division I after tours of duty at the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels. The Redhawks got 27 points and nine rebounds from Charles Garcia in an exhibition opener. The 6-foot-10 junior college transfer picked up three first-half fouls and managed 18 points and nine rebounds against the Cowboys. By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "OSU rolls Seattle," which was published on 11/15/2009. So far, 0 comments have been made.

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