Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Southern
Cowboys Run Away From Southern, 93-61
November 18, 2009 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 18, 2009
Stillwater, Okla. -- Oklahoma State junior James Anderson scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading six Cowboys in double figures as OSU past Southern 93-61 in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational here Wednesday night inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Marshall Moses added 14 points and 13 boards as both players recorded their second double-double in as many games.
"We're happy with a 32-point victory and I hate to be critical, but there are a lot of areas of improvement that we need to work on," said head coach Travis Ford. "It didn't seem like a 32-point victory; it seemed like we were grinding it out a lot and that's a product of a lot of fouling. When you're fouling a lot and you're not making shots, it puts a lot of pressure on your basketball team.
"That's what we were doing and that's why we were trying to grind it out in the first half and the beginning of the second half. We just couldn't get into a flow."
Southern kept the game interesting early, keeping it close throughout most of the first half. However, OSU went on a 31-12 run to take a 19-point lead just over a minute to go before halftime. Southern made a pair of free throws and a three-pointer in the final minute to trail 44-30 at intermission.
After a back-and-forth battle over the first nine minutes of the second period, OSU's lead was cut to 12 at 58-46 after a dunk by Quinton Doggett. Oklahoma State finished the game on a 30-12 run and despite sloppy play, picked up the 32-point win.
Senior Obi Muonelo scored 12 points and dished out five assists while committing just one turnover. Junior Matt Pilgrim, sophomore Keiton Page and freshman Ray Penn scored 11 points each. Pilgrim also had eight rebounds, all in the first half, while Muonelo added six as the Cowboys outrebounded the Jaguars 46-31.
The Cowboys were just 4-of-25 from beyond the three-point arc before making four of their last seven. OSU has made 10-of-48 treys in its first two contests.
"It doesn't concern me," Ford said regarding the Pokes' sub-par long-range shooting. "It surprises me. We have the ability to be a good shooting team, but we haven't shot it well the last two games. Our offense creates a lot of three's, and you need some of them to go down to give yourself confidence. We have the ability to make them and some day we will, but I'm, not worried about it."
Oklahoma State (2-0) will host North Texas (2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be televised locally by the Cowboy Sports Network.
