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Cowboys douse Bears’ hot start

Central Arkansas guard Robert Crawford (0) goes up for a shot between Oklahoma State’s Christien Sager (left) and Kirby Gardner during the second half of Sunday’s game in Stillwater, Okla. The Bears led early, but No. 24 Oklahoma State won 91-63.
Central Arkansas guard Robert Crawford (0) goes up for a shot between Oklahoma State’s Christien Sager (left) and Kirby Gardner during the second half of Sunday’s game in Stillwater, Okla. The Bears led early, but No. 24 Oklahoma State won 91-63.

— Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford had seen enough.

Central Arkansas led the Cowboys 22-11 eight minutes into their game Sunday afternoon in Stillwater, Okla., and Ford knew he had to do something to try to slow the Bears.

So he called an early timeout, and No. 24 Oklahoma State responded by scoring the next 13 points to take the lead for good on its way to a 91-63 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

UCA made 10 of its first 15 shots, often quick baskets in transition, before Ford’s timeout turned the game in the opposite direction. The Bears missed their next 12 attempts against changing defenses, and Oklahoma State roared back to take the lead when Markel Brown converted a layup while getting fouled.

Brown completed the three-point play to make it 24-22 with 6:42 left in the first half, and Oklahoma State outscored UCA 23-2 over an 81/2-minute stretch when the Bears went without a field goal.

“We’re pretty good in transition when we’re pushing the basketball,” UCA Coach Corliss Williamson said. “Once OSU went on a run, it was like we were kind of froze or a little shell-shocked and we stopped attacking on the other end of the court.”

Le’Bryan Nash scored 19 points and Brown finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for the Cowboys (8-1).

“The problem was things we haven’t been seeing - the carelessness with the ball and then getting beat off the dribble with no protection,” Ford said. “When I saw those things, I knew this is not us. We haven’t seen this. I need to get their attention a little bit.

“We kind of woke up from there.”

Junior forward Jordan Harks tied his career high with 16 points and senior forward Jarvis Garner added 14 points for UCA (4-4), which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

The Bears played without starting point guard LaQuentin Miles, their second-leading scorer, because of a broken hand. Oliver Wells took his place in the lineup but lasted less than 2 minutes before going to the bench with two fouls. Wells ended up with 1 point, 3 assists and 2 turnovers.

“[Miles] just has the ability to do a lot of things,” Williamson said. “He can rebound the basketball. Defensively, he can get steals, but also he has ability to score the ball well. When we went through that scoring drought ... normally in those stretches, he has an opportunity to get a bucket for us here and there to try and help stop their run or give us the momentum.”

Williamson said he thinks Miles will be back for the first week of Southland Conference play in January.

Phil Forte had 12 points and Michael Cobbins and Marcus Smart scored 10 each for Oklahoma State, which out rebounded UCA 53-35, including 44-26 in the paint.

Nash had a put back, a three-point play and a layup during a 13-4 run that put away the game after UCA closed to 42-33 early in the second half.

“We don’t want to get beat and get nationally exposed for that,” Nash said. “We just came together and played Oklahoma State basketball, played defense, and it led to easy baskets.”

Robert Crawford, who had a career-best 39 points in the Bears’ last game, scored 11 points.

After the hot start, UCA was 14 of 54 (26 percent) from the field the rest of the way.

“Our defense the first eight minutes was just, ‘I hope they miss,’ ”Ford said. “We made them miss the last 32 minutes.”

Walk-on Alex Budke, the son of late Oklahoma State women’s basketball Coach Kurt Budke, hit a three pointer for the Cowboys’ final points. Kurt Budke died in a plane crash last year, and his son subsequently returned to Stillwater to play for the Cowboys.

The crowd stood and cheered for Budke’s first points at Oklahoma State.

NO. 10 ILLINOIS 66, E. KENTUCKY 53

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Brandon Paul scored 17 points, Tracy Adams added 13 and No. 10 Illinois pulled away late to remain unbeaten with a victory over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday night.

In a game between undefeated teams, the Illini led by 11 early but needed a late 12-2 run to gain control and help John Groce become only the second coach in Illinois history to win his first 12 games. Groce matched the school record for the best start by a first-year coach set by Fletcher Lane in 1907.

Corey Walden scored 21 points and Glenn Cosey had 11 for the Colonels (9-1), who came in riding the school’s best start in 66 years.

Sports, Pages 15 on 12/17/2012

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