• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Tennessee Tech no match for No. 24 Oklahoma State

Dec 23, 2012 - 12:04 AM Stillwater, OK (Sports Network) - Phil Forte connected on six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points off the bench, as No. 24 Oklahoma State dominated Tennessee Tech, 78-42, on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Kamari Murphy added 12 points, while Marcus Smart and Markel Brown donated 11 points apiece for the Cowboys (10-1), who have won five straight since their lone loss of the season at Virginia Tech on Dec. 1.

"My teammates do a great job of trying to find me when I'm open," the freshman Forte remarked. "They've got a lot of belief in me, so it's easy to shoot when you have teammates that really trust you."

Jud Dillard carried the Golden Eagles (6-6) with 18 points and six rebounds in the setback, Tennessee Tech's second in a row and third in its last four games.

"They just played well," Tennessee Tech coach Steve Payne said of the Cowboys. "We had a hard time dealing with their size. They took us out of everything we wanted to do with their physicality."

Oklahoma State jumped out to an early double-digit lead, as Smart, Le'Bryan Nash and Brown each knocked down a 3-pointer before Michael Cobbins' jumper made it 14-4 just under six minutes into the contest.

Dillard drained a pair of free throws at the other end, but the Cowboys countered with the next 12 points, including eight from Forte, to build a 20- point advantage with 10:42 left in the first half.

Dillard kept the Golden Eagles in the contest with 13 first-half points, including a 3-pointer to trim the margin to 34-19 with under a minute left in the half.

The Cowboys, though, netted the final four points of the frame to take a 38-19 advantage into the break.

After the teams exchanged buckets over the early stages of the second half, Oklahoma State put the game away with a 21-3 surge.

With the lead at 20 and just under 13 minutes remaining, Nash buried a jumper to start the spurt before Murphy capped it with a dunk to give the Cowboys a comfortable 70-32 advantage with six minutes left in the game.

Game Notes

The Cowboys improved to 7-0 at home this season ... Tennessee Tech shot just 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from three-point range, while Oklahoma State shot 40. 7 percent (11-for-27) from distance ... Oklahoma State is off until New Year's Eve when they host No. 14 Gonzaga.