Tulsa World: Hot offense cooks Mercer

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Hot offense cooks Mercer

Oklahoma State guard James Anderson pulls down a rebound past a pair of Mercer defenders in the second half Wednesday. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Published: 12/18/2008 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 12/18/2008 2:32 AM

STILLWATER — Terrel Harris excelled at give and take Wednesday night.

The take? Harris registered seven steals, one shy of a school record, and Oklahoma State matched a school record with 19 steals in a 104-74 win over giant-killer Mercer at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The give? Harris gave Keiton Page a new nickname. "Little microwave," Harris said. "He brings instant offense, instant oatmeal."

Page, a 5-foot-10 freshman guard, came off the bench to score 11 consecutive points in a 185-second span of the first half and Mercer, which owns road victories over Auburn and Alabama, was cooked.

The Bears never got within single digits after Page's eruption and had their most lopsided defeat since a 36-point loss to Lipscomb in the final game of the 2006-07 season.

First-year Mercer coach Bob Hoffman, a former University of Oklahoma assistant, said the Cowboys "didn't give us a chance really to survive."

First-year OSU coach Travis Ford said he started to see glimpses of players buying into his system.

He sounded rather predatory when he said the Cowboys should be like a pack of wolves once they start getting steals and "want more and more."

Mercer, which ranks 322 out of 330 Division I teams in turnover margin, gave OSU plenty of opportunities to smell blood. The Bears' 25 turnovers were a season-high for an OSU opponent. The Cowboys converted them into 41 points and made 14 3-pointers, one shy of a school record.

OSU got team-wide contributions in improving to 7-3. Five starters reached double figures for the first time since a Jan. 2, 2007, win over Southwestern State. Page scored 13 in 21 minutes as a sixth man.

James Anderson led OSU with 20 points in 23 minutes. Obi Muonelo scored 19, Terrel Harris had 18, Byron Eaton had 12 and Malcoln Kirkland scored 10 second-half points for the second consecutive game.

Junior guard James Florence led Mercer with 27 points, most by an opponent at Gallagher-Iba Arena this season.

At one point in the first half, Ford yelled, "Somebody stop him, please. He's got 14 of their 19 points." But Ford said afterward that Florence "is doing it to everybody else too." Two seasons ago, Florence joined Texas' Kevin Durant and Davidson's Stephen Curry as the only freshmen in Division I to lead their conferences in scoring.

Jimmie Tramel 581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

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