by STILLWATER— The Oklahoma State men’s basketball team fell, 69-63, in its conference opener against Iowa State on Wednesday night inside of Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Cameron McGriff earned a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. McGriff’s performance was his fourth-career double-double. He also posted a career-high in assists with five and he nearly earned another career high in steals with three.
Michael Weathers and Lindy Waters III (Kiowa/Cherokee) both posted double figures in the scoring column. Weathers scored 12 points and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Waters III scored 15 points and collected five rebounds.
Iowa State pulled away in the middle of the second half, going on a 14-4 run from the 13:08 mark until there was 7:18 remaining in the game. From then on, the Cowboys (6-7, 0-1 Big 12) and Cyclones (11-2, 1-0 Big 12) traded small runs and OSU cut the lead down to as little as three points in the final minutes.
Iowa State took an early lead behind a 15-3 run that spanned 3:24 and included a perfect effort from the field (5-for-5). The Cowboys responded with a 7-0 run of their own.
Heading into the halftime break, OSU went on a 9-0 run over the final 2:15 of the first half. Curtis Jones, Cameron McGriff and Thomas Dziagwa knocked down 3s to spark a momentum shift.
The Cowboy defense was also superb as the first half came to a close. They didn’t allow Iowa State to make a field goal for the final 4:58 of the first half.
OSU limited Iowa State to only 36 percent from the field, which was the Cyclones’ lowest mark of the season. Iowa State’s previous low in field-goal percentage was 41.9 percent.
The loss was the first under the Mike Boynton era against Iowa State. Boynton led the Cowboys to a season sweep during the 2017-18 season.
OSU returns to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they face off in the first Bedlam matchup of the season at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
