When Oklahoma State updated its roster last week, there was a lot of legacy on it.

Gunnar Gundy, son of coach Mike Gundy, returns for his sophomore season. The Cowboys also added brothers Elijah and Solomon Wright, son of former OSU linebacker Kenyatta Wright. But there is also another name that stood out: McQuarters.

Rylan McQuarters, son of former OSU wide receiver/defensive back/return man R.W. McQuarters, joins the Cowboys from NEO. OSU’s roster lists Rylan as a 5-foot-7, 173-pound receiver.

A dangerous return man in his own right, Rylan had 192 kick return yards and 120 punt return yards for the Norsemen in 2021.

Out of Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Rylan was a three-star recruit in the 2018 recruiting class. He held offers from North Texas, Utah State and Stephen F. Austin before going to junior college route.

OSU lists him as a redshirt senior. Spring ball hasn’t even started yet, so it’d be hard to say whether OSU’s new McQuarters will factor too much into things in the 2022 season. But it’s cool regardless. It also serves as an opportunity to remind ourselves just how good R.W. was.

R.W. is tied for fifth in program history with 630 punt return yards and is fifth in OSU’s history with 1,186 kick return yards. He had an 82-yard punt return against Northeast Louisiana during the 1997 season, tied for the ninth-longest punt return in OSU’s history.

He was a First Team All-Big Eight defensive back in 1995 and a First Team All-Big 12 defensive back and returner in 1997. The San Francisco 49ers selected McQuarters with a first round pick in 1998. He played 11 seasons in the NFL, finishing his career with 483 total tackles, 14 interceptions (including three pick-sixes), 2,020 punt return yards, three punt return touchdowns and 1,369 kick return yards. He won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2008.

The post Rylan McQuarters, Son of R.W. McQuarters, on Cowboys’ Spring Roster appeared first on Pistols Firing.

By Cassie Mitchell

Nothing to play for — How many times have we seen that phrase this year, particularly as it relates to 2021-2022 Oklahoma State men’s basketball team? 

The NCAA ban does mean OSU men’s basketball will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Life is not always fair. But is there really nothing to play for? I own a basketball that says that our beloved hall of fame coach, Coach Eddie Sutton, would beg to differ.

***

The alarm goes off. My groggy eyes read the large, red digital print: 5:30 a.m. I sleepily pull on my boots to do my morning farm chores. Then, I throw on my gear for high school basketball practice. As my father drives me to the 7 a.m. practice, he sarcastically asks, “Why do you do this? You have nothing to play for.” 

I arrived for practice, took my three required asthmatic inhalers and put in my special contact lens for my single functional eye. It was a good day. I only got hit on my blind side three times during cross-court passing drills. Plus, it was a running day, and as a track-first and basketball-second athlete, I had great fun racing to be first in “suicide” sprints. 

On game nights, the rural Warner, Oklahoma, gymnasium was bursting. The Chicago Bulls’ Sirius song blasted from the speakers during pregame. As the game went on, my bright red face dripped with sweat … from cheering on the bench. I never played a meaningful full minute in a varsity high school basketball game. 

***

Another day, another alarm clock. I was awake and yet my body felt asleep. Thinking I had laid wrong, I wiggle until my floppy lower body is half-way off the bed. Holding my nightstand, I attempt to rise, only to collapse on the floor.

I later learn I was paralyzed from a really rare, progressive autoimmune disease. The out-of-state college track athletic scholarship I had earned vanished overnight.

By fate, I landed to the much-closer-to-home Oklahoma State University on a full academic scholarship … and in a wheelchair. It appeared there was nothing to play for.

My first week in OSU’s Drummond Hall was a disaster. I still had tubes hanging out of my body. My personalized manual wheelchair had been ordered but would take months to arrive. Thus, on Day 1 at OSU, I was in an old, borrowed electric wheelchair that promptly broke in the Drummond elevator. I rode that elevator for 2 hours before someone kindly pulled me out. On Day 4, there was a dorm fire that required evacuation. Two strong girls carried me downstairs from the fourth floor where I resided. However, in the chaos of students fleeing from smoke, my wheelchair was left atop the fourth-floor stairwell. It was 2:30 a.m., and the dorm crowd quickly dissipated to crash with friends elsewhere. Alone, I was beached on a curb as fire truck sirens pierced through the chilly night air. I heard a cop on the intercom, “We are looking for the person in a wheelchair on the fourth floor.” In my pajamas, I literally butt-scooted a block down the street to flag down a fireman who retrieved that second borrowed wheelchair.

Due to various required surgeries, I was delayed in getting to watch OSU basketball in person. My first time to Gallagher-Iba Arena was for the Remember the Ten ceremony. Hearing Coach Sutton and stories of those lost in the plane crash was one of the most inspirational and motivational events in my life. Little did I know that I, too, would soon be part of the beloved OSU basketball family.

Finally, my wheelchair arrived — a lightweight electric green manual wheelchair with a rock shox. Watching my reaction in my first test drive, you would think I had just gotten a brand new Camaro. With my custom, properly fitting wheelchair came freedom. And my ability to maneuver that wheelchair across water hoses and other obstacles as I raced from the Student Union to Engineering South, caught the attention of OSU wheelchair basketball coach, Ken Lee. Coach Lee asked me to try out for the team. Maybe I did have something to play for.

***

Alarm clock goes off at 5:30 a.m. Now the girl that never played a meaningful minute of HS basketball was readying herself for a 6:30 a.m. college basketball practice. As I pushed down the sidewalk from Drummond to the Colvin Center annex for practice, doubt clouded my head. I left that first practice physically spent but emotionally vibrant as I sped to my 8 a.m. engineering class.

The court, 3-point line, free-throw line, goal heights, rules, etc. is the same for wheelchair basketball as regular or “able-bodied” basketball. However, the larger space taken by the sports wheelchairs means athletes have to really think about angles, execution and, most of all, teamwork. Basketball IQ is more important to success than raw talent. And teamwork extended off the court as well. My teammates taught me how to do a “wheelie,” hop a curb, and most importantly, re-find my identity and confidence.

It was a long 16-hour drive to the University of Wisconsin for the Central Intercollegiate Conference wheelchair basketball tournament. The OSU wheelchair basketball team lived on a shoe string budget. We had a white van with no wheelchair lift. All the van seats were taken out and two air mattresses inserted on the floor for we disabled athletes to ride on. The wheelchairs were stowed in a two-stall white horse trailer, a hand-me-down from the OSU Equestrian team, which was pulled by our converted van.  

Alone in the women’s locker room, I proudly pulled on my No. 24 Oklahoma State basketball jersey. It was a way-too-big, hand-me-down from the able-bodied men’s team. It looked like a sackcloth on me, as I tucked the armpit holes into my waist band. Yet, I felt like Cinderella. Not only was I a student athlete for Oklahoma State basketball, I played for the team. Though I was a starter, I was one of only two girls playing wheelchair basketball in the entire CIC, which was a mixed-gender league. The other teams treated me just like one of the guys, and they fouled me just as hard. Fortunately, despite my smaller stature (even by wheelchair standards), I was a better than 80% free-throw shooter. 

Frankly, our very small and under-funded OSU wheelchair basketball team was not ultra competitive. Certainly, there was no NCAA Tournament equivalent to motivate our play. Yet, we were genuinely thankful to be student-athletes at one of only eight universities at that time with a wheelchair athletics program that gave us this wonderful, life-changing opportunity. Given the long travel, we played seven games in two days at each tournament. It was grueling, yet magnificent.

My senior year, I was named a Wheelchair Basketball All-American and played in the All-Star game. Once again, the Bulls’ Sirius song streamed from the loud speakers in pregame. After the opening tip, I took the ball down court and hit a contested 3-pointer to the ferocious cheers of the crowd. I still remember the large blond-headed male, whose hand was directly in my face during the shot, sheepishly shrugging and smiling as the ball swished through the net.

***

I had everything to play for, even if it was not always obvious. God blessed me with a tenaciously persevering spirit, which enabled me to literally keep pushing onward. I was so blessed to be at Oklahoma State, which happened to have both a wheelchair athletics program and an engineering program, that positively changed my life forever. 

To celebrate my Oklahoma State success on the basketball court as Basketball All-American and off the court as National Goldwater Scholar and OSU’s first USA Today Collegiate Academic All-American, Coach Eddie Sutton signed a basketball for me that said, “Always have faith in God, yourself, and the Cowboys.” If we all lived by Coach Sutton’s wonderful pearl of wisdom, would we never, ever say we had nothing to play for … in sports or in life.

Cassie Mitchell graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2004 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. She tried out to be a member of the Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team to compete in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, but narrowly missed making the team. Unfortunately, Cassie’s disability progressed shortly after her graduation, rendering her a quadriplegic (impairments in all four limbs) and unable to play elite wheelchair basketball. In an ironic circle of life, Cassie returned to track & field, competing in the female quadriplegic division. Cassie competed in Paralympic Track and Field in the London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, becoming a three-time Paralympic medalist for Team USA and currently holds six world records in the women’s quadriplegic T51/F51 classification. In 2016 and 2020, Mitchell won Paralympic medals despite training and competing through a leukemia diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Cassie S. Mitchell is now a professor in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

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Spring is the time when college football coaches start to learn what they actually have on their roster. How they fill the holes left by outgoing playmakers and which former fringe contributors might turn into key cogs or even stars.

Possibly the biggest question facing Oklahoma State’s staff is who should back up No. 3.

But before we get into the QB2 conversation, one Oklahoma State quarterback heads into 2022 with unfinished business.

In his first appearance in the Big 12 Championship, Spencer Sanders made history. Just not the kind he planned on. Demons of his past came calling, and Sanders threw a career-high four interceptions in a losing effort — the most ever thrown in a Big 12 title game.

With some help from his defense, Sanders almost made amends for his foibles. He led the Cowboys on a late-game, 89-yard drive to earn a chance at the walk-off win. But in four tries, the Cowboys could not gain the two yards needed. If he wouldn’t have been otherwise adequately motivated for 2022, Sanders has now stood on the precipice of Big 12 glory (and more). He just needs to take the next step.

Who is returning: The Cowboys are top-heavy when it comes to QB experience this spring. Last year’s All-Big 12 First-Team passer is back for his third year at the helm. Thanks to COVID eligibility, Sanders still has two years left to play if he so chooses. So QB1 is set.

But more significant than who is returning is who is not. Former four-star prospect— and Sanders’ promising backup — Shane Illingworth transferred to Nevada this offseason. The Shane Train headed west leaving the Cowboys without any real experience behind Sanders.

Gunnar Gundy saw garbage time against TCU, but didn’t throw a pass. The only other returning quarterback on the roster is fellow walk-on Peyton Thompson who has yet to make an appearance. I can already imagine a meeting between dual-threat quarterback and head coach in Mike Gundy’s office. The latter points to a whiteboard and a step-by-step illustration on the proper procedures and merits of the QB slide.

Who is entering the mix: Mike Gundy, offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn and quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay will keep a constant, watchful eye on Garret Rangel. The four-star prospect — and No. 22 passer in the 2022 class according to 247 Composite ranking — enrolled early, giving himself the best chance to work his way into the conversation for clipboard duty.

Illingworth worked his way into the No. 2 spot early as a rookie so — as much sleep as it steals from Mike Gundy — a true freshman being one play away from shouldering a season’s stakes is not unheard of nor out of the question. This will be a huge a spring for each of the four below.

Pre-spring depth chart prediction

QB1: Spencer Sanders
QB2: Gunnar Gundy
QB3: Garret Rangel
QB4: Peyton Thompson

If you haven’t already, be sure you check out our spring running back preview.

The post Spring Preview: Cowboys Top-Heavy in QB Experience Heading into 2022 appeared first on Pistols Firing.

Yesterday marked five years of writing the Bullets – thanks for stopping by and giving me the opportunity to do it.

Scores

Men’s Golf: In the lead at Cabo Collegiate after Day One
Softball: Cowgirls 5, Tennessee State 0 and Cowgirls 2, Texas A&M 1
WBB: West Virginia 60, Cowgirls 56
Baseball: Pokes 26, Wright State 3 and Pokes 7, Wright State 6

OSU Bullets

• What a run in the 9th by the Pokes last night in the second half of the doubleheader with Wright State – clinching the win in extra innings

• The Cowgirls killed it this weekend in College Station – sweeping the host and finishing 4-0 at the Reveille Classic

• Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are 100-1 odds to win the CFP this winter:

After being literally inches away from the Big 12 title, Oklahoma State is hungry for redemption. The Cowboys went 11-1 in the regular season and got stopped just shy of the goal line in the Big 12 Championship Game on what would have been a game-winner. 

[247 Sports]

• Derek Mason loves spinning records on his turntable like Jim Knowles enjoys cigars

• Pokes shot out some offers to defenders recently

• It feels like on any given year this will be the ranking outside the top-five of college football as well. It’s wild that USC hasn’t made a playoff! They feel more and more like the “Texas” of the Pac-12 if anybody wants to research that comparison.

Non-OSU Bullets

• How does each NBA team introduce players?
• What a CEO does

My little guy and I had a blast watching this preview yesterday:

The post Daily Bullets (Feb. 28): Cowboy Baseball Wins Home Debut While Cowgirls Sweep appeared first on Pistols Firing.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE

GAME 2 BOX SCORE

STILLWATER — A win is a win whether it’s by double digits or a single run in extra innings; the Cowboys did it both ways Sunday.

The Oklahoma State baseball team walloped Wright State 26-3 in Game 1 of the teams’ Sunday doubleheader in O’Brate Stadium. Game 2 was a different story with the same ending. The Pokes won 7-6 after true freshman Cayden Brumbaugh hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning, scoring John Bay from second after a fielding error.

The wins pushed the No. 4 Cowboys to 4-2 on the season. Here are a few takeaways from the day.

26 Runs Against a Solid Program

Run rules in college baseball only come if the coaches agree to put one in place. There wasn’t an agreed upon arrangement.

The Cowboys blasted Wright State in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, winning 26-3. The Pokes scored nine runs in the first and 12 in the seventh.

With the bad weather already canceling one of the series’ games and Wright State bussing down from Dayton, Ohio, the thought was to get as much baseball in as possible.

“We’re here to play ball,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “We’re here to play baseball. We’ve been sitting around for four days. You don’t move snow and ice and heaven and earth to run rule. They want to play, we want to play. We have a lot of players that want to play ball. We need the innings. We need the opportunities for people to get on the field.”

It’d be easy to look at the opponent and say it’s a total mismatch, but Wright State is a decent squad. The Raiders won the Horizon League regular season and tournament last season, making it to an NCAA Regional. Six of the nine players in Wright State’s Game 1 lineup got a significant amount of at-bats last season.

The Raiders didn’t schedule easy in 2022. They dropped three games to No. 11 Georgia Tech last weekend before heading to Stillwater to face the No. 4 Pokes.

McLean Plays Better

One of the most hyped players of the preseason, Nolan McLean struggled in the Cowboys’ first four games.

After a series against Vanderbilt and a game against Sam Houston, McLean entered the weekend hitting .067, just 1-for-15 at the plate.

The No. 46 prospect in the MLB Draft rankings, McLean had a better day at O’Brate. McLean went 2-for-4 in Game 1 with two RBIs and a solo home run, his first bomb of the season.

He started Game 2 with another RBI, singling down the right-field line to score Roc Riggio. McLean finished that game 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.

A multitool guy, McLean went from third base to the mound in the eighth inning of Game 2. His first two pitches were 96 MPH fastballs. His first outing on the mound this season didn’t exactly go as planned. In one inning, he surrendered a pair of runs off two hits while walking two and striking out two.

“Obviously, Nolan has really high expectations for himself, and we do too because he’s a gifted player,” Holliday said. “I think maybe a little early season over-swinging right now, but I thought today was better. As he relaxes into his swing, he’s a really special talent.

“… I think he’s just maybe seeing the ball and wanting to hit it 800 feet instead of just trying to hit it 400 feet.”

Doersching Leaves Game 1 in Boot

Griffin Doersching has been a rock star for the Pokes this season after transferring in from Northern Kentucky.

The Cowboy first baseman entered the weekend hitting .467 with a team-best four RBIs and four doubles. In the sixth inning of Saturday’s first game, though, Doersching came up hobbled after an unsuccessful slide into third. He subbed out of the game and reemerged in the dugout wearing a walking boot. He didn’t play in Game 2.

After the game, Holliday said there wasn’t an update available.

“I don’t know,” Holliday said. “Not able to play. We’ll see where [Doersching and Hueston Morrill] are at, but the doctors have to take care of those guys. You go with who’s ready and just let them get as healthy as they can.”

Josh Holliday’s Postgame News Conference

Up Next

The Cowboys head to Arizona for a pair of midweek games against Arizona State at 6 p.m. Tuesday and 2 p.m. Wednesday. OSU hosts Gonzaga next weekend in a three-game series.

The post OSU Baseball Notebook: Cowboys Sweep Wright State in Doubleheader appeared first on Pistols Firing.

In four games this weekend, the Cowgirls gave up a single run.

The Oklahoma State softball team defeated Tennessee State 5-0 and Texas A&M 2-1 on Sunday at the Reveille Classic in College Station, Texas. It’s the second time the Cowgirls beat each of those teams this weekend, also beating the Tigers and Aggies on Friday.

OSU moves to 10-4 on the season.

Here are recaps from Sunday’s games.

Oklahoma State 5, Tennessee State 0

In two games against the Cowgirls this weekend, the Tigers didn’t score a run.

Kelly Maxwell continued her dominant form, throwing another complete game shutout. OSU’s ace allowed no runs off two hits while walking one and striking out 13. The closest Tennessee State came to scoring was in the first inning when Peyton Fointno had a two-out single before Kayli Mothershed walked. But Maxwell got out of trouble with her third strikeout of the frame.

On the season, Maxwell has faced 123 batters — 67 have struck out.

The Cowgirls got on the board in the first inning when Kiley Naomi hit a leadoff single, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored off a Julia Cottrill sacrifice fly. Naomi then had an RBI in the second inning when she tripled to right-center, scoring Morgan Wynne.

Taylor Tuck drove in two runs in the third inning with a single to right. Then Chyenne Factor had the final RBI of the day with a solo home run, her fifth round-tripper of the young season.

Oklahoma State 2, Texas A&M 1

Down a run, the Aggies had the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, but Miranda Elish got out of the jam with a strikeout.

It was one of 11 strikeouts Elish threw against the Aggies, going a full seven innings in the circle where she allowed on run off four hits while walking five. In a tight game, Elish left six Aggie runners on base.

The winning run crossed the plate in the sixth inning. Tied at 1, the bases were loaded with two outs for Naomi. The Cowgirls’ senior shortstop singled to right field, allowing Hayley Busby to score. That set up Elish’s three-stranded bottom of the frame.

In the seventh, Elish struck out Koko Wooley, forced Haley Lee to groundout to third and struck out Makinzy Herzog to end the game.

OSU at the Reveille Classic

OSU at the OSU/Tulsa Invitational

The post OSU Softball: Cowgirls Go 4-0 at Reveille Classic appeared first on Pistols Firing.

Recruiting doesn’t stop regardless of sunshine, rain, sleet or ice. That’s a slogan few outside of Oklahoma would follow, but Mike Gundy gets it.

During a week with all three weather variations, Oklahoma State extended a handful of high-end offers to try to retool its stout defense under new defensive coordinator Derek Mason.

Ashton Porter | | DL | 2023

On Friday, the Cowboys extended an offer to the Cypress Ranch (Texas) defensive end who already boasted 25 offers including Texas, Baylor, Arkansas and Michigan State. He’s a 6-foot-4, 240-pound edge, but Cy Ranch moved him around the line because of his ability to shed blockers. He logged double-digit tackles for loss each of the last two seasons, combining for seven sacks in his sophomore and junior campaigns. Porter is the No. 30 defensive lineman in 2023 class according to 247’s Compositing ranking and the No. 37 overall prospect out of Texas.

Chance Rucker | | CB | 2023

Oklahoma State offered another four-star defender in Denton Ryan (Texas) cornerback Chance Rucker. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound multi-sport star now holds 19 offers including Florida State, Miami, Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. Rucker can cover a lot of ground and close windows for QBs. He competed in the 200 meter and high jump. But most importantly, he can cover dynamic receivers. Rucker was named Texas District 5-5A-I Defensive Newcomer of the Year last year as junior. He’s the No. 24 cornerback in the cycler and No. 41 overall Texas prospect according to 247 Composite ranking.

Mateaki Helu | | LB

The Cowboys continue to try to build their pipeline of Polynesian talent from Utah, and this time they’re going right to the Utes. This week, OSU offered Helu, a 6-foot, 200-pound athlete who the Cowboys are recruiting as a linebacker, who also starred for Tooele High School toting the rock for over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns as a running back. He committed to the University of Utah last summer and also holds offers from BYU and Baylor. He’s the No 57 athlete in 2023 according to the Composite ranking and the eighth-ranking player out of Beehive State.

The post Oklahoma State Extends Handful of High-End Defensive Offers appeared first on Pistols Firing.

The Daily Bullets are brought to you by Hoboken Coffee: Get 20% off your first order. 

Oklahoma State fell to Oklahoma in overtime in Norman in overtime, breaking a four-game win streak against the Sooners.

OSU Bullets

• If you haven’t, check out Marshall Scott’s Five Thoughts on the overall all ugly outing. [PFB]

• Berry Tramel had some harsh words for a Bedlam game that was, for the majority of regulation, unwatchable.

This was not the street fights of Eddie Sutton vs. Kelvin Sampson. This was not the defensive suffocation of Henry Iba vs. Bruce Drake. This was a 14-14 team (OU) vs. a 13-14 team (OSU), fighting all the forces that have conspired to make college basketball uninteresting, if not unwatchable. 

[The Oklahoman]

• Hear from Mike Boynton after the loss. [PFB]

• Moussa Cisse was late on Saturday morning, but he still found a way to shine. [Tulsa World]

• Fun to see Lindy Waters getting a shot with OKC. He hit two (!) buzzer-beater 3-pointers on Friday night.

• Cade’s coming for Stephen A.

• PSA: Make sure you get Scott back on yo timeline.

• The Pokes have got a double header on Sunday to open O’Brate.

• The Cowgirls took care of Wake Forest on Saturday.

Non-OSU Bullets

• On the importance of a second opinion. [Seth’s Blog]

The post Daily Bullets (Feb. 27): Cowboys Come Up Just Short in Norman appeared first on Pistols Firing.

NORMAN — Oklahoma State lost to Oklahoma 66-62 in overtime on Saturday in Lloyd Noble Arena. After the game, OSU coach Mike Boynton met with reporters to discuss his team’s struggles.

The post Video: Mike Boynton Recaps Cowboys’ Bedlam Loss appeared first on Pistols Firing.

BOX SCORE

RECAP

NORMAN — Basketball is an artform, but Saturday’s game won’t be hanging in a museum any time soon.

Oklahoma State fell to Oklahoma 66-62 in overtime Saturday in Lloyd Noble Center. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Just Ugly

OU’s game-winning points came off a foul about 94 feet from the Sooners’ basket. That almost perfectly encapsulates this game.

Moussa Cisse was whistled for an over-the-back foul on Tanner Groves near the OSU basket, sending Groves to the foul line in OT with the game tied. That wasn’t the only perplexing play of Bedlam Round 2, though.

How about when Jalen Hill bobbled a ball he was trying to throw inbounds resulting in an OU turnover just for Bryce Thompson to throw the inbound pass right back to OU?

Then at the end of OT, Avery Anderson nearly recreated Thompson’s turnover with the Cowboys down two with 19 seconds to play.

It felt like OSU should’ve been down by 30, but they hung about 10 points behind for most of the second half. The Cowboys shot 38% from the field and had 16 turnovers. The Cowboys haven’t shot a lower percentage since their 56-51 loss in Austin on Jan. 22.

The Cowboys scored just 19 points in the first half, making the 35 they scored in the second half seem like a Golden State game.

It wasn’t easy on the eyes, that’s for sure.

2. Cisse Provides Spark Off Bench

Moussa Cisse was late for the bus down to Norman, resulting in him coming off the bench for the first time since Jan. 4.

But when he did get on the floor, Cisse showed the continued growth as a player he has gone through this season. He recorded his third double-double in the past five games, scoring 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. He also had a trio of stuffs.

The most telling stat of how good Cisse was is that he was +13 in a game his team lost. That means during the 22 minutes Cisse was on the floor (before his unceremonious foul out), OSU outscored OU by 13 points.

For fans looking for growth throughout the season, look no further than Cisse. In his first 22 games as a Cowboy, Cisse had two double-digit rebound games. He has had four such games in OSU’s past five.

He has been more aggressive on the glass and in the post. He’s always been a lob threat, but his pick-and-roll game has improved. He has also improved with his back to the basket. He’s progressing past just a 7-footer with a 7-6 wingspan.

And who the heck ties a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation with a ferocious lob jam?

“I think he’s earned the respect of his teammates because of the way he works and the way he allows us to coach him,” Boynton said. “That kid’s got a bright future if he continues to be about the right things and allow himself to be coached. The thing I keep pointing to, he’s just 19 years old. His best basketball is certainly in front of him. Guys like that have a chance to play this game for a long time and make a nice living doing it.”

3. The Mysterious Case of Keylan Boone

Keylan Boone scored 10 points on the Sooners in Stillwater. He didn’t play in Norman.

Boone hasn’t played since since the Cowboys’ Valentine’s Day tilt in Lawrence. Boynton has said Woody Newton, a similar-styled player to Boone, had earned the minutes over him. Here is what Boynton said after Saturday’s game when asked what Boone has to do to get back on the floor.

“Just work harder, be better, do the right things every day on and off the court,” Boynton said. “When you do that, you get rewarded in this program. When you don’t, you don’t.”

Newton had a good start to his time filling in for Boone, scoring nine points in OSU’s win against Kansas State. In the past two games, though, Newton has scored no points in 19 minutes on the floor.

Boone trails only Anderson in 3-point percentage this season among Cowboys who have put up at least 10 3s.

4. Anderson Somewhat Casually Drops 25

Anderson has had a couple of rough patches this season, but he has finished strong.

With his 25-point performance in Norman, Anderson is averaging 17 points a game across OSU’s past six. His 25 points against OU didn’t seem like that big a deal because this is kind of what people expected of Anderson entering the season.

He was the only guard who was able to get going for more than a shot or two Saturday, going 7-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He also made all eight of his foul shots and had six rebounds. Aside from Anderson, the Cowboys were 2-for-10 from deep.

His late throwaway was ugly, but the Pokes aren’t in it without his scoring.

5. It’s Been a Weird Season

Ever since the NCAA upheld its postseason ban against Oklahoma State, this thing has been strange.

From the Cowboys beating the bricks off UT-Arlington to start the season to a dumbfounding loss against Oakland all the way to back-to-back-to-back overtime games, nothing about this has felt normal.

How much of it can you put on the fact that OSU has nothing to play for apart from pride? That’s kind of the million-dollar question. Would things have been different if the Cowboys, like the Sooners, were fighting to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament?

The Pokes are still playing hard, evident by the fact that they’ve battled to three straight overtime games. But then rough stretches like most of this game are enough to make one question if they’re asleep at the wheel.

With two games to play, maybe more clarity will come. Probably not, but this program could probably use a bit of normalcy next season.

The post Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 66-62 Overtime Loss to Oklahoma appeared first on Pistols Firing.