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Oklahoma State cruises past South Carolina

Dec 7, 2013 - 7:07 AM Stillwater, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Le'Bryan Nash led five Oklahoma State players in double figures with 16 points as the ninth-ranked Cowboys cruised to a 79-52 win over South Carolina on Friday.

Marcus Smart added 13, Markel Brown had 11 and Brian Williams and Michael Cobbins finished with 10 points apiece for the Cowboys (8-1), who bounced back from a 73-68 loss to Memphis on Sunday.

Jaylen Shaw scored 13 points and Tyrone Johnson added 12 for the Gamecocks (2-3), losers in two of their last three games overall.

"They're (Oklahoma State) good and they came out and did exactly what I thought they would do, which is when you have a good team and they're experienced like they are, coming off a loss and they've been sitting around for four days with that loss in their stomach, they came out and punched us," said South Carolina coach Frank Martin.

Oklahoma State opened the game on a 16-3 run and led 27-5 with eight minutes left in the first half.

The Cowboys' spread grew to 25, 36-11, after Nash split a pair of free throws, and the hosts took a 39-15 lead into the break.

"There were a lot of positives, but also some negatives. We got off to a great start. We got off to a great start, defensively, against a really good team," said OSU coach Travis Ford. "I don't know if there have been many first-half defensive performances in this gym better than that. Holding them to 15 points in the first half was great."

The Gamecocks couldn't get closer than 23 in the second half as OSU ran away with its eighth straight win at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Game Notes

Oklahoma State forced 24 turnovers, but gave it away just seven times ... Kamari Murphy had eight points and seven rebounds for the Cowboys ... South Carolina was 6-for-11 from 3-point range.