Phil Forte III, Marcus Smart Lead Oklahoma State over TCU

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 24, 2014

Phil Forte III matched his season-high with 23 points and Marcus Smart made five straight three pointers down the stretch as Oklahoma State trounced TCU, 78-54.

Smart finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals, while Forte went 8-for-14 from the field (5-for-10 on threes) with four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.

While the Cowboys were taking care of business, the Kansas Jayhawks wrapped up the Big Ten regular season title with an 83-75 win over Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State, regarded as one of the more dangerous teams in the country, may, in fact, not make it to the field for the NCAA tournament due to their 6-9 conference record, even though they are 18-10 overall. The Cowboys could even their conference record by winning their final three games, but those contests are against Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. After that, Oklahoma State could improve on their resume in the Big 12 tournament. They have some work to do.

Marcus Smart Saves Oklahoma State in 73-72 Win at West Virginia

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 11, 2014

Marcus Smart scored 22 points for Oklahoma State as the Cowboys improved to 14-2 and 2-1 in the Big 12 with a 73-72 win at West Wirginia.

While Smart was above his scoring average of 17.8 ppg, some of his best court time was on plays in which he was either doing the dirty work inside, getting six offensive and seven defensive rebounds, or his five assists, the last of which was to Market Brown, who hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to gain the victory for the Cowboys.

Smart was on the floor for 35 minutes, hitting eight of 15 from the field including 3-for-4 on three-pointers. he made three of four free throws and kept the Cowboys in the game with his rebounding and court savvy.

The #11 Cowboys are tied with Iowa State, an 87-82 loser at Oklahoma on Sunday, at 2-1 in the conference, both chasing #18 Kansas, which hammered #25 Kansas State, 86-60, to improve to 2-0 in the Big 12 and 12-4 overall.

Elsewhere in college hoops, some of the big names barely escaped, as #5 Michigan State had to go to overtime to defeat Minnesota, 87-75, as did 17-0 Wichita State, taking down Missouri State, 72-69, in OT.

#2 Syracuse shot just 35%, but easily handled North Carolina at the Carrier Dome, winning, 57-45, but the Duke Blue Devils were stunned by Clemson, 72-59.

Marcus Smart Powers Cowboys to 97-87 Win over Purdue

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, November 28, 2013

Multiple holiday tournaments and showcases are in full swing, and #5 Oklahoma State - the nation's 2nd-highest scoring team at 99.7 points per game - made its presence felt with a 97-87 win over Purdue in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando.

As he usually does, sophomore Marcus Smart paced the Cowboys with 30 points, helping build a 52-29 lead at intermission. Smart was 9-for-18 from the field, banging home four of six from beyond the arc.

The game-high 30 wasn't even close to Smart's season high, which is 39, in a 101-89 win over Memphis on November 19. Smart is averaging 22.5 points per game, and probably would have scored more if not forced to sit in the latter stages of the second half with four fouls.

He finished with four rebounds and four assists, also knocking down eight of 12 from the foul line. The Cowboys shot 52.7% overall; Markel Brown had 25. Oklahoma State had five players in double figures.

The 6-0 Cowboys will play 5-0 Butler on Friday, a 76-69 winner over Washington State in the other half of the draw.