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STILLWATER — The Cowboys will go into the new year as winners.

Oklahoma State beat South Carolina State 86-70 on New Year’s Eve to advance to 7-5 on the season. It didn’t start out great, as OSU had just a 38-34 lead at the half before roaring to a 48-point second half. Here are five thoughts from the game.

1. Quion Continues to Be So Much Fun

I feel like I write the same thing about Quion Williams after every game, but his energy is just so consistent.

He was everywhere Sunday, finishing with 16 points (on 6-for-8 shooting), 10 rebounds, three steals and an assist. He was also a team-best plus-26.

There was a stretch in the second half where Williams skied in for a put-back dunk before stealing an errant pass on the other end and converting a contested layup. Later in the half, he had perhaps the most impressive goaltend in human history, as he nearly sent himself through the backboard.

Putback slam‼️#LetsWork pic.twitter.com/Fqe3btNj0U

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 31, 2023

He’s like a bouncy ball ricocheting in a box made of marble. One minute he’s hitting a 3, the next he is contesting a layup at the rim. Then he’s jumping in a passing lane. Then he’s almost literally flying in for a rebound. He plays with an energy that is infectious. It’s hard to not have fun watching him play basketball. And he has ridiculous athleticism on top of that. It would be one thing if he just played hard, but Williams plays hard while being 6-foot-5, 22o pounds of athletic freak. And he is skilled, evident by the fact that he is shooting 44% from 3 on the year and has a 1.14 assist-to-turnover ratio.

“It’s always fun playing basketball,” Williams said. “I’ve been doing it all my life.”

2. Bryce Thompson Playing Perhaps the Best Ball of His Career

In his past three games, Bryce Thompson is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 52% from 3-point range. Add onto that, he has 10 assists and just two turnovers in that stretch.

Thompson is proving his game is malleable. He used to do his work in the midrange, as he shot just 22% from 3 in his freshman season at Kansas. But with the 3-point shot being more and more important in modern basketball, Thompson has raised that percentage every season, leading to him shooting 43% from deep this year.

He scored 17 points against South Carolina State, going 4-for-9 from deep. He also had four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

“I try not to get satisfied with that and try to just keep it going,” Thompson said. “I work really hard with my guys and the coaches and everything. I’m just taking the shots that I work on.”

3. Hicklen Heating Up

Jarius Hicklen was brought to Stillwater to shoot 3s, and he is doing that rather well right now.

But it didn’t start out that way. Hicklen joined the Cowboys after hitting 38% of his triples in two seasons at North Florida, but in his first five games with the Pokes, Hicklen was just 5-for-20 from deep, but as Thomas Dziagwa often said, shooters shoot. Ever since game No. 5, Hicklen is 18-for-36 from deep. He had nine points Sunday on 3-for-6 3-point shooting.

4. Turnovers an Issue against SC State’s Pressure

The Cowboys haven’t handled pressure well this season.

OSU had 23 turnovers against South Carolina State’s high-pressure D. It’s the second-most giveaways the Pokes have had this season, trailing only the 28-turnover extravaganza against Tulsa.

Boynton said Friday that a big reason he wanted this game on the schedule was to test his team against a pressure defense. Although the Cowboys might’ve passed that test because they won by 16 points, giving the ball away 23 times against South Carolina State doesn’t exactly breed confidence to how the Cowboys will do against pressure in the Big 12.

“A lot of it was we just weren’t cutting to the ball well enough,” Boynton said. “I hope that that bears out in the film because it’s what I felt like I was seeing on the court.

“… Luckily, at least what I’ve seen so far, Chicago State plays a similar style, and that’ll give us an opportunity to have some more reps at it.”

5. Rotation Cut

Boynton said Friday that, with Big 12 play near, he was going to start using a tighter rotation, and that was the case Sunday.

For the most part, the Cowboys used eight guys:

Javon Small
Bryce Thompson
Quion Williams
Eric Dailey
Brandon Garrison
Jarius Hicklen
Mike Marsh
Jamyron Keller

John-Michael Wright appears to be just on the outside looking in. He played eight minutes Sunday but didn’t check in until there was 9:24 to play.

“I think the more we do it, the more comfortable everybody will get with it,” Boynton said. “That’ll be nothing but positive. But, we need John-Michael and Connor (Dow) and Justin (McBride) and Zay (Miranda) to be ready because illness, injury, who knows? We lived through it last year. If it hits you at the wrong time and guys aren’t ready, it can really, really hurt you.”

Mike Boynton’s Postgame News Conference

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That’s a wrap on 2023.

As we say hello to 2024, and wave goodbye to a year that featured the last Bedlam football win (for now), another trip to the Women’s College World Series and Mike Boynton’s squad getting snubbed again, the PFB staff took time to reminisce our favorite moments and stories from 2023.

Marshall Scott

Favorite Moment: Ollie’s fourth quarter in Morgantown

Thoughts: The real answer is Bedlam football, but how could it not be? But aside from that, give me Ollie Gordon treading all over the country roads late in OSU’s 48-34 win. Gordon was playing a video game in the fourth quarter, going for 149 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Gordon was good the week before against Kansas, going for 168 rushing yards, 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but in Morgantown it went from “OSU has a good tailback” to “OSU has an elite tailback.”

Favorite Story: 10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 27-24 Victory in the Final Bedlam

Thoughts: Alright, I didn’t pick it as my moment, but I am going to take the easy answer here. The Cowboys have lost most of the Bedlam games I’ve been alive for, so writing some 2,000 words about the Pokes winning the final one was rather cathartic. Everything from Squinky to Alan Bowman forcing a guy out of bounds after Gordon threw up a duck, it was just fun.

Kyle Cox

Favorite Moment:  “…it ends with state. It ends with state.”

Thoughts: I have to say that I picked OSU to win Bedlam this past offseason, and I never pick OSU to win Bedlam. But that didn’t dampen the mood when it actually happened.

Favorite Story: Oklahoma State’s Loss to Iowa State a Further Indictment on Constant Person

Thoughts: I am (really) not one to brag on myself too much — and this was definitely not a ground-breaking idea — but I called it with this one. Rarely do I prove to have this much foresight, but more than that, I’m very glad I did.

…maybe we look up at Halloween and think, “Wow, where was this team in September?” If that’s the case, it will be an even further indictment on strategy to split reps.

Dekota Gregory

Favorite Moment: The last Bedlam football game (for now)

Thoughts: I actually thought I was going to die, but what a way to go out, drowning in a Sea of Orange on the field of Boone Pickens Stadium. I didn’t have the luxury Marshall did of following Brennan Presley like a lead blocker through the fans. I had to make my way through the mess on my own to get to Gundy’s postgame news conference. Along the way, I witnessed grown men dancing and screaming, a swarm of students fighting through security and tasers to get a goal post down, and Ollie Gordon embrace being a living legend (more later). After the storm, Marshall and I took the time to take pictures of Stillwater’s newest historical monument. And after seeing the steel post up close, I truly have no idea how it was even possible to tear like an envelope.

But with all that, my precise favorite moment of 2023 was earlier that day. It was the start of that last Bedlam, as the Pokes were driving. Before the ball was even snapped, OSU fans chanted, “Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!” Then, as if it was scripted, the ball was handed to Gordon, who ran it 20 yards and dove into the end zone for the first points of the final Bedlam. Chills.

Then, even after all that fun, I’m glad it was the last time and won’t be on the schedule for 2024.

The newest historical monument in Stillwater. pic.twitter.com/fqoB3zovVQ

— Dekota Gregory (@dekotagregory) November 5, 2023

Favorite Story: How Ollie Gordon, After Becoming a Bedlam Legend, Celebrated in a Sea of Orange

Thoughts: Of course my favorite story of the year comes from my top moment. Before I got to the tunnels of BPS, I saw Ollie scrambling and on the shoulders of fans. He got celebratory handshakes from Mike Gundy and Mason Rudolph, a Bedlam hero himself. I just wanted to figure out what it was like to be the man himself in that moment.

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Brennan Presley quoted Ollie Gordon after the Cowboys’ Texas Bowl win, saying he was on his own time when making an announcement for what he’d do in 2024. Well, Presley announced Saturday that he’ll be back in orange and black, just like Gordon.

Presley announced the news via an X post on Saturday. Presley is able to return for a fifth season in Stillwater because of the pandemic. Through four years with the Cowboys, the 5-foot-8, 175-pound slot receiver from Bixby ranks seventh in program history with 2,548 receiving yards. He also ranks fourth in school history with 225 receptions.

God is the greatest, See yall in 24’ @CowboyFB

— Brennan Presley (@bprezzle) December 30, 2023

Presley capped off a stellar 2023 season with 16 catches for 152 yards in OSU’s Texas Bowl win against Texas A&M. Those 16 catches tied a program record for receptions in a game with Alex Loyd, who set his mark in 1949. Presley had 101 catches for 991 yards and six touchdowns in 2023, all career-bests. He became just the fifth player in program history to hit triple digits in receptions in a season. He also ran for two more touchdowns.

A three-star recruit in the 2020 class, Presley picked Oklahoma State over offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, North Texas and others after a stellar career with the Bixby Spartans.

Despite not having an illustrious offer list or star rating, Presley made an instant impact in OSU’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He caught seven passes that season for 125 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a rushing score. Presley showed his potential in OSU’s Cheez-It Bowl win against Miami that year, catching six passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

That success springboarded him into the 2021 season, where Presley caught 50 balls for 619 yards and five touchdowns as the Cowboys won the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame that season. Presley scored a rushing touchdown that year and also scored on a 100-yard kick return in OSU’s Bedlam win.

Presley continued to improve in his junior year in 2022, catching 67 passes for 813 yards and two scores. He ran in another touchdown that season, as well.

Presley has hit triple digits in receiving yards five times in his career, and he has three games with double-digit catches.

So, Presley joins Gordon, Joe Michalski, Cole Birmingham, Jason Brooks Jr., Dalton Cooper and Jake Springfield as players who have announced returns for the 2024 season.

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STILLWATER — With Big 12 play about a week away, expect the Cowboys to have a leaner rotation starting this week.

Oklahoma State hosts South Carolina State at 2 p.m. Sunday and Chicago State at 6 p.m. Wednesday in what will be the Cowboys’ two final tune-ups before the grueling Big 12 schedule. Returning only three scholarship players from last season’s roster, Mike Boynton has had a fairly open rotation through the early part of the year, as 11 of his 12 scholarship players are averaging at least nine minutes a game. But with preparations for Baylor on Jan. 6, Boynton said he is going to start trimming rotations.

“We’re probably not playing 12 guys in conference games, realistically,” Boynton said Friday. “We’re probably playing seven, eight — maybe nine depending on foul trouble, situation of the game. Those guys that are maybe just on the outside have to be prepared when their time comes. And the guys that are just on the inside, that may be just on the other side of the line — six, seven eight — they can’t get comfortable because the game is fluid. We don’t get to lose because we’re committed to you playing. You gotta play well in your opportunity.”

Boynton has used the same starting lineup for the past five games: Javon Small, Bryce Thompson, Quion Williams, Eric Dailey Jr. and Brandon Garrison. Outside of that group, Mike Marsh and John Michael Wright have averaged the most minutes per game, but Wright’s minutes have been down as of late, averaging just 8.7 a game across OSU’s past three.

North Florida transfer Jarius Hicklen has been on the other side of that, averaging 16 minutes a game in OSU’s past three games. Freshman Jamyron Keller has also seen consistent minutes as OSU’s backup point guard since returning from a preseason wrist injury.

It’ll be interesting to see Isaiah Miranda’s usage. Miranda’s ceiling is ridiculous. He’s 7-foot-1, can shoot the 3 and moves well laterally, but injuries have plagued his time in Stillwater thus far. He has played in only three college basketball games to this point, where he has averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.

“He’s probably on the outside, in all honesty, for multiple reasons,” Boynton said. “It’s time to kind of go with the guys that we know kind of where we are with. That doesn’t mean he won’t play, but that his opportunities won’t be as much in these first couple Big 12 games as we prepare. We’ll see he handles it. You never know until the kid has to go through that, but I certainly hope he has the maturity to understand that it’s not necessarily anybody’s fault. It’s just you can’t realistically play 12 guys and have any real flow in a game that has as much intensity as we’re gonna play in next week.”

The Cowboys’ game Sunday will be their first in more than a week because of the holiday break. Heading into league play, Boynton said his group needs to continue to build offensively with guards Javon Small and Bryce Thompson leading that charge, but he also mentioned the Cowboys’ defense needing to improve.

There has been a bit of a philosophy shift heading into this season, as Boynton and his staff have sacrificed some defense for offense based on the teams’ newcomers. Boynton’s past three teams have all finished in the top 20 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. The Cowboys boasted the No. 4 defense in the country during the 2021-22 season. The current Cowboys rank 60th in the stat.

The Cowboys have been better defensively lately. They held Tulsa and Oral Roberts to season lows in points while Wofford had its third-worst scoring game of the season against OSU. The Cowboys forced an average of 12.3 turnovers per game in their first eight; they’ve forced 15.7 a game in their past three. OSU is tied for 139th nationally in turnovers forced per game with 13.18, which ranks ninth in the Big 12.

“We went from a team that could shut you out to a team that really kind of bends, don’t break,” Boynton said. “But we’ve got to be able to force some more turnovers. We don’t force a ton of turnovers, so we don’t get as many easy baskets, ones that guys need in transition are missing out on. Q [Quions Williams] is averaging like like seven [points] a game. We need to get him 10 to 12, 13 [points a game] and most of those will come from getting to the offensive glass, which we haven’t done a great job of, and creating some more off of our defense.”

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The Cowboys’ 2023 football season felt like one we’ll all tell our grandkids about some day.

It both felt like it flew by and that it spanned three years. Regardless, Oklahoma State’s season is over now after the Pokes’ win against Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl to get to 10-4. Back in August we made our season predictions. Let’s take a look at how those takes aged and name a predictions champion between myself, Kyle Cox and Dekota Gregory.

Offensive MVP

Scott: Brennan Presley
Cox: Alan Bowman
Gregory: Ollie Gordon

Postseason Reaction: Well, it was obviously Ollie Gordon, so thank goodness someone had the braincells to predict it. Gordon won the Doak Walker and led the nation in rushing with 1,732 yards to go with 21 rushing scores.

But Presley was also outstanding this year. He became just the fifth player in program history to catch 100 passes in a season, also leading the Cowboys in receiving yards (991) and receiving touchdowns (six).

Bowman threw for a lot of yards and took this team from 2-2 to 10-4, so that also ought to be celebrated. But it was all Gordon in the end.

Defensive MVP

Scott: Kendal Daniels
Cox: Xavier Benson
Gregory: Kendal Daniels

Postseason Reaction: I don’t know that many would’ve predicted the year Nickolas Martin had in his first year as a starter, as he is the obvious postseason choice for OSU’s defensive MVP. Martin had 140 tackles on the season, the first time someone has had that many since 1984.

As for Daniels, he still had a solid year, finishing second on the team in total tackles with 105 to go with two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Xavier Benson felt like this group’s heart and soul, so that ended up being another solid pick. Benson finished with 65 tackles, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Rushing Leader

Scott: Ollie Gordon
Cox: Ollie Gordon
Gregory: Ollie Gordon

Postseason Reaction: Hey, we all got the layup! Gordon wasn’t just OSU’s rushing leader, he was the nation’s leader in rushing with 1,732 yards on his way to winning OSU’s first Doak Walker.

Receiving Leader

Scott: Brennan Presley
Cox: Talyn Shettron
Gregory: Brennan Presley

Postseason Reaction: Dekota and I nailed it, as Presley had 991 yards, but shoutout to Cox for going with something spicy. Shettron suffering an injury against West Virginia finished his season with just six catches for 78 yards, though.

Tackle Leader

Scott: Kendal Daniels
Cox: Justin Wright
Gregory: Justin Wright

Postseason Reaction: Again, no one saw Martin’s 140-tackle year coming. Daniels at least finished second on the team in total tackles with 105 to save us in this prediction category.

Sack Leader

Scott: Nathan Latu
Cox: Collin Oliver
Gregory: Collin Oliver

Postseason Reaction: I overthought Oliver’s move to linebacker, as he finished tied with Martin for the team sack lead with six apiece.

Latu started the year with three sacks, two of which came in the first two games of the season. At that point, I was riding high. But, he finished the year tied for third with Anthony Goodlow in quarterback takedowns behind Martin and Collin Oliver.

Freshman of the Year

Scott: Talyn Shettron
Cox: Talyn Shettron
Gregory: Garret Rangel

Postseason Reaction: Had Shettron not suffered an injury in Morgantown, this one had a chance to come true, but in the end this award probably belongs to redshirt freshman safety Cameron Epps. Epps had three interceptions (including a big pick-six against Kansas State), 40 tackles and four pass breakups.

Newcomer of the Year

Scott: Alan Bowman
Cox: Justin Wright
Gregory: Justin Wright

Postseason Reaction: This prediction seems obvious here in the postseason, but when Bowman didn’t run out as the Game 1 starter, it was up in the air. Bowman finished his first (and potentially last) season as OSU’s quarterback with 3,460 passing yards — the seventh-most in a season in program history. His interception numbers were too high, but he has to be the pick here because he led the Cowboys to a 10-win season.

Justin Wright never got a chance to get off the ground after suffering and injury early in the season.

Leon Johnson III gets an honorable mention.

Big 12 Record and Placing

Scott: 6-3 and fourth place
Cox: 6-3 and fifth place
Gregory: 6-3 and fourth place

Postseason Reaction: OSU went 7-2 in Big 12 play and finished in second. So, we were all wrong, but weren’t too far off, especially considering all the tiebreakers scenarios we were going through toward the end of the regular season.

Overall Record (Including Bowl)

Scott: 9-4
Cox: 8-5
Gregory: 10-3

Postseason Reaction: OSU finished 10-4. So Dekota nailed the wins, and I nailed the losses. What we weren’t accounting for was OSU making the Big 12 title game.

My Other Predictions

Preseason Prediction No. 1: Kendal Daniels earns All-America honors.
Postseason Reaction: He did not.

Preseason Prediction No. 2: Two OSU running backs outrush the OSU’s leading rusher from 2022.
Postseason Reaction: This was also wrong, but I’m going to give myself half-credit for Gordon tripling Dominic Richardson’s 543 yards in 2022.

Preseason Prediction No. 3: A league newcomer beats the Pokes.
Postseason Reaction: See UCF.

Preseason Prediction No. 4: Alan Bowman starts every game at quarterback.
Postseason Reaction: This was wrong in Game 1. The 2018 season was the last time one guy has started OSU’s entire season at QB.

Preseason Prediction No. 5: The nonconference will be uncomfortable.
Postseason Reaction: Boy, was it. This was perhaps my prediction of the year.

Kyle’s Other Predictions

Preseason Prediction No. 1: The Cowboys’ run game bounces back.
Postseason Reaction: Does having a Doak Walker winner constitute as bouncing back? It certainly does.

Preseason Prediction No. 2: The Cowboys have two 1,000-yard receivers.
Postseason Reaction: This was ambitious. OSU didn’t have one 1,000-yard receiver, but Presley got close with 991 yards.

Preseason Prediction No. 3: The Cowboys take it back (force 25 turnovers)
Postseason Reaction: Oh, so close. OSU forced 23 turnovers (13 interceptions and 10 fumbles). When the turnovers started coming, OSU started winning games. Kyle gets half-credit here considering OSU made 19 fourth-down stops.

Preseason Prediction No. 4: Collin Oliver gets double-digit sacks.
Postseason Reaction: Oliver finished his first year at linebacker with six sacks.

Preseason Prediction No. 5: OSU wins the final Bedlam.
Postseason Reaction: Nailed it.

Dekota’s Other Predictions

Preseason Prediction No. 1: Ollie Gordon emerges as best RB in Big 12.
Postseason Reaction: Absolutely.

Preseason Prediction No. 2: No end of QB controversy.
Postseason Reaction: Alan Bowman eventually ended the quarterback controversy, but those first three weeks had enough of a controversy for the entire season, so Dekota gets half-credit here.

Preseason Prediction No. 3: Cowboys reach 10 wins.
Postseason Reaction: Another perfect prediction.

Preseason Prediction No. 4: Brennan Presley scores receiving, rushing and return TD.
Postseason Reaction: Presley had six receiving touchdowns and two rushing scores, so this one was close. But, no dice.

Preseason Prediction No. 5: Both coordinators return for 2024.
Postseason Reaction: This one feels right, but with the offseason being two days old at this point, I suppose it is sort of a wait and see.

PFB’s 2023 Preseason Predictions Champion: Dekota Gregory

I used some elementary scoring system that I’m not sure I could replicate, but Dekota was the runaway winner here. The only areas he was way off on was because Justin Wright got injured so early in the year.

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Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news.

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OSU Bullets

• Mike Gundy is making adjustments to stay ahead of the volatility in college football (HCS)

• ICYMI – PFB’s coverage from the Texas Bowl:
– History was made in Houston by these players
– Ten thoughts from the win
– Top five quotes from Mike Gundy’s post-Texas Bowl presser

• This Ollie Gordon quote after the bowl game was incredibly refreshing in the day of NIL and the transfer portal:

“Excuse me,” he said, leaning toward the microphone on the table. “I couldn’t leave my guys. C’mon now. Look at what just happened. “Rashod Owens? That guy. Nick Martin? That guy. Can’t leave them.” [Sellout Crowd]

• The general sentiment that OSU should have won by much more is reasonable but a win is a win (Sellout Crowd)

• That Houston combo was a favorite on the road, that Bedlam fit was the best at home. Fun to see the bowl combos! https://twitter.com/OkStateTracker/status/1740243963876180107

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Non-OSU Bullets

• Why healthy food is more expensive

“You will love whatever you pour your heart into. Passion follows commitment.” James Clear

It’s exciting to see the Thunder coming up again: https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1740226760401461534

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Carson Cunningham and Colby Powell recap OSU’s 31-23 bowl win vs. Texas A&M.

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