Oklahoma State men's basketball roars past OU in second half to win Round 1 of Bedlam

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton no longer had a need for his trademark Bedlam orange blazer.

So, he slammed it onto the bench. He slammed his hands onto the floor.

Then he implored the Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd for more noise.

The crowd delivered. So did Boynton’s Cowboys.

Kalib Boone soon followed with a block of OU’s Tanner Groves underneath the basket. After the shot clock expired, Boone flexed.

Boynton was at halfcourt celebrating.

And a must-win Bedlam situation became a party.

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“Those are the game-changers,” OSU guard Bryce Thompson said. “Those are the ones the crowd gets into it. It was a big momentum change for us and we just kept building it and was able to put them away.”

The Cowboys used a huge second half to rally past the Sooners 72-56 late Wednesday night, ending a three-game losing streak and keeping themselves in the NCAA Tournament picture.

OSU entered the day needing a win to stay in the ESPN Bracketology projections.

OSU (10-8, 2-4 Big 12) scored just 24 points in the opening half. Within 8 minutes of the second half, the Cowboys had scored more than that total.

They doubled their scoring output in the second half.

Thompson led the way with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Kalib Boone followed with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Avery Anderson III played tremendous defensively and broke out of an offensive funk, scoring 14 points. He also had five assists.

Here are three takeaways from the huge win:

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Second-half juice from OSU Cowboys

OSU ended the first half on a 2-of-12 shooting drought.

Ten seconds into the second half, Woody Newton calmly made a 3-pointer from the top of the key. OSU then made its next three shots.

And the momentum carried from there.

The Cowboys’ offensive woes felt like a distant memory as OU struggled to slow down the runaway train.

“You have to put teams away,” Boynton said. “You have to make the teams start to think, maybe we’ll get the next one. Hopefully, this team is learning how to do that, how to keep their foot on the gas and finish. And we finished today, but a lot of it had to do with the way we started. We executed almost to perfection the first play of each half.”

Thompson scored 13 of his points in the half, making all three treys he attempted. Anderson had 10 and Boone had nine. Newton, who made his first-career start, also had nine of his 12 points, including a dagger 3-pointer from the corner with 2:02 remaining.

And OSU shot 54.8% overall in the half.

A big reason was tempo. The Cowboys played fast again.

It’s what they are built to do and they got away from it the past three games. But rediscovering their identity appeared to unlock something special.

“Just keep pushing and build off what we did today,” Anderson said.

Perhaps it's a sign of things to come.

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Defending Grant Sherfield

OU star Grant Sherfield was on fire in the opening half, scoring 15 points.

But it all came with Anderson on the bench.

Each time OSU’s veteran sat down, Sherfield shined. He especially took over when Anderson went to the bench with his second foul with just 11:08 left in the half.

But Sherfield struggled in the second half. He did not score, missing all six shots.

“I just wanted to make it difficult for him,” Anderson said.

Anderson hounded him, not allowing good shots. When Anderson switched on a screen, someone else was in Sherfield’s face. Caleb Asberry also pitched in.

It put a clamp on the Sooners’ offense, too.

OU made just 11 of 27 shots in the second half and committed nine turnovers.

“I saw an Oklahoma State team that their confidence just exploded,” OU coach Porter Moser said.

“I mean, they were really terrific. They were clicking on all cylinders.”

But Sherfield struggled in the second half. He did not score, missing all six shots.

Anderson hounded him, not allowing good shots. When Anderson switched on a screen, someone else was in Sherfield’s face.

It put a clamp on the Sooners’ offense, too.

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Gallagher-Iba Arena becomes a party

Twenty-six hours before tipoff, Boynton led a “class” inside Gallagher-Iba Arena for students, teaching a rowdy atmosphere as part of a pep rally.

The students and other fans brought the noise.

An announced crowd of 10,789 fans reached 104.7 decibels at one point. They simply impacted the game with the best atmosphere in a long time.

“Fifty percent of the credit for that win goes to our players,” Boynton said, “the other 50% goes to our fans.

“I’ve been here for a few loud games, passion-filled, this one ranks up there with the best ones.”

One fan was warned for using an air horn. Inflatables were lifted when OU attempted foul shots.

Boynton and Co. loved every second of it. They thrived in the atmosphere.

Gallagher-Iba Arena was finally back for at least one night.

“They gave us energy, they were loud, they were rowdy,” Thompson said. “They came ready to play. We just fed off of them. We’re really grateful for them.”

One fan was warned for using an air horn. Inflatables were lifted when OU attempted foul shots.

Boynton and Co. loved every second of it.

They actually thrived.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State roars past OU to win Round 1 of Bedlam men's basketball