STILLWATER, Okla. — Cade Cunningham scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket and clinching free throws, to lead Oklahoma State over Arkansas 81-77 on Saturday.
The game featured the first collegiate meeting for two of the nation's top freshmen in Cunningham (17.9 points per game) and Arkansas' Moses Moody (16.5), who were high school teammates. Cunningham was in his first game action since Jan. 12. Since then, OSU postponed two games because of COVID-19 protocols and Cunningham sat out two more after that.
Cunningham's jumper with 21.3 seconds remaining gave the Cowboys (11-4) a 79-77 lead. After the Razorbacks' Connor Vanover missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Cunningham got the rebound and sank two free throws with 3.8 seconds left.
Cunningham was 7-of-13 shooting and added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kalib Boone added 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 12 rebounds and three blocks, Avery Anderson III had 13 points and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe 11.
Justin Smith scored 18 points, Moody added 17, JD Notae 13 and Davonte Davis 12 for Arkansas (13-5).
OSU was only up by four at halftime despite outshooting Arkansas 55% to 41% and holding a 26-15 rebounding edge. But the Razorbacks took 10 more shots with the Cowboys committing 15 turnovers. OSU had only four turnovers in the second half.
The game included a “Remember the Ten” tribute in memory of the 10 persons killed in a charter plane crash while returning from an OSU game at Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001. Two players were killed along with other members of the OSU program. The coach of that squad, Hall of Famer Eddie Sutton, who died last May, was also remembered by both teams with special warmup shirts. Sutton led both Arkansas and Oklahoma State to Final Four appearances.
EARLIER
FINAL — The Razorbacks' three-game winning streak is over after a tough loss at Oklahoma State, 81-77. Cade Cunningham scored a game-high 21 points, 14 in the second half. He hit the go-ahead shot with 21 seconds to play, then he iced the game at the foul line.
Justin Smith led Arkansas with 18 points and Moses Moody had 17. JD Notae added 13 points and Devo Davis had 12.
We'll have more from today's game later on WholeHogSports.com.
:3.8, 2H — Connor Vanover missed a 3 from the top of the key out of the timeout. Oklahoma State hits two free throws on the other end. Cowboys lead 81-77.
:13.2, 2H — Devo Davis drives the lane and a jump ball is called. Razorbacks have possession. Justin Smith is then pushed and fouled by Isaac Likekele in the right corner. He has fouled out. Timeout on the floor.
:21, 2H — Cade Cunningham hits a tough jumper from the left elbow over Devo Davis, giving Oklahoma State the lead. Cowboys up 79-77.
1:18, 2H — Devo Davis drives the lane and adds a layup. Big-time score from the freshman. We’re tied at 77-77. Davis has scored 12 points on 6 of 12 shooting.
1:53, 2H — Cade Cunningham with a floater in the lane after spinning away from an Arkansas defender. He has 17 points.
2:13, 2H — Justin Smith ties the game at 75-75 with a putback dunk off a Devo Davis miss in the lane.
2:56, 2H — Moses Moody with a dunk in transition to knot the score at 73. Arkansas ran the soft trap at Isaac Likekele and he didn’t handle it well the first time. Kalib Boone added a dunk on the next trip down. Cowboys up 75-73.
3:18, 2H — Devo Davis missed a layup in the lane, and Connor Vanover couldn’t get his tip-in attempt to go either. Razorbacks are 15 of 35 on layups today, according to StatBroadcast. Davis was called for a foul following the close-in misses. Bit of frustration in that one, I imagine. Cowboys lead 73-71 at the final media timeout of the game.
4:14, 2H — Unforced traveling violation called on JD Notae as he looked for someone to pass to on the perimeter. It is his second turnover in 24 minutes today.
4:32, 2H — Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe hits two free throws. Cowboys up 73-71.
4:33, 2H — Tough long 2 from Cade Cunningham knots the score at 69, then Isaac Likekele forces a turnover by Jalen Tate and finishes on the other end. Cowboys led by two before Moses Moody adds a dunk. Tied at 71-71.
5:45, 2H — Cade Cunningham with an and-1. Razorbacks’ lead trimmed to 69-67. Cunningham has 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
5:52, 2H — Justin Smith and JD Notae force a turnover and Notae finds Smith in transition for a layup. Great spurt by the Razorbacks. Oklahoma State calls for time down 69-64.
6:28, 2H — Connor Vanover with a big 3 from the left corner. He has nine points, four rebounds and four blocks today. He’s been far from useless as people like to say. Great find by Justin Smith, too.
7:25, 2H — JD Notae draws a foul, which he is so good at at times, and hits two free throws. Oklahoma State, though, answers with a 3 off glass from Isaac Likekele. He didn’t call bank. Likekele then picks up his fourth foul of the game going for a loose ball. Could be big down the stretch for the Cowboys. Arkansas up 64-62 at the under-8 media timeout.
8:17, 2H — Justin Smith missed a runner in the lane that would have put Arkansas up seven. Oklahoma State hits two free throws on the other end. Arkansas ahead 62-59.
10:10, 2H — Connor Vanover sticks back a missed floater from JD Notae. Notae then buries a 3 from the left wing. Eric Musselman placed Notae and Moses Moody in the PnR action. Good stuff, and Arkansas is up 62-57.
10:30, 2H — Avery Anderson hit a 3 for the Cowboys, then JD Notae responded with one of his own. We’re tied 57-57 at the under-12 media timeout. Notae has been solid today, scoring eight points on 3 of 7 shooting. Justin Smith has 14, Moses Moody trails with 13 on 6 of 11 from the floor, and Devo Davis has been kind of an unsung hero with 10 points, three boards and three steals. Cowboys have taken much better care of the ball since halftime, but they’re 4 of 11 inside the arc this half. Arkansas needs to defend the 3 a bit better, but solid effort from the Razorbacks today.
12:10, 2H — Moses Moody answers a Cowboys layup with one of his own. Oklahoma State then gets another score from Kalib Boone, who is up to 14 points. Devo Davis then scores to tie the game at 54-54.
14:06, 2H — Jalen Tate’s first bucket of this game comes on a floater out of the media timeout. He is fouled and hits the free throw. Game is tied at 50-50.
14:33, 2H — Justin Smith scores on a floater in the lane out of the Arkansas timeout. Razorbacks down 50-47. Smith has a game-high 14 points. It is his highest-scoring game since adding 22 vs. Oral Roberts on Dec. 20. We are now at the under-16 media timeout.
15:00, 2H — Rondel Walker scores in transition following a sloppy turnover from Justin Smith in the lane on the other end. He tried to force a pass that simply wasn’t there. Eric Musselman calls for time. Cowboys lead 50-45 after a 7-0 run. It appears Moses Moody's left-wing jumper earlier was deemed a 2.
15:50, 2H — Cade Cunningham assists on a Rondel Walker 3, and the Cowboys have the lead again, then Isaac Likekele adds a layup after Desi Sills’ layup is blocked. Oklahoma State up 48-46.
17:32, 2H — Moses Moody hits a jumper from the left wing and Arkansas leads 44-43. The score on the TV has this a tie game, so Moody’s foot may have been on the 3-point line. Connor Vanover then added a jumper, assisted by Justin Smith.
18:12, 2H — Desi Sills with a great find, hitting Justin Smith for a layup. Smith has a team-high 12 points on 6 of 9 from the floor.
19:06, 2H — Cade Cunningham hits a 3 from the left wing then Moses Moody answers to cut the Razorbacks’ deficit to 41-39. He is up to 10 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.
19:34, 2H — Jalen Tate finds Connor Vanover on the backside of the Cowboys’ zone for a dunk. Razorbacks down 38-36.
HALF — Moses Moody, with time running down in the first half, pulled up from the left elbow in transition, hit the jumper and got fouled. He misses the free throw, and Arkansas trails 38-34 at halftime. With .6 seconds remaining in the half, Cade Cunningham hit a teammate at the rim for a big score. Moody got lost defensively and allowed the bucket. Eric Musselman was livid. Justin Smith leads Arkansas with 10 points, and JD Notae has seven. Cowboys lead despite turning the ball over 15 times. Three Oklahoma State players have at least four turnovers. When the Cowboys didn’t turn the ball over, they were efficient offensively. Kalib Boone has 10 points on five shots.
Arkansas has a shot to take this game from Oklahoma State if it just defensive rebounds. Razorbacks have got to get tougher and limit Boone and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe on the glass. They have all eight of the Cowboys' offensive boards. Wouldn't hurt if Arkansas hit a few more 3s. Razorbacks went 1 of 6 in the first half.
:37, 1H — Devo Davis ends a 5-0 Cowboys run that included a Cade Cunningham 3 and a layup in transition. Hogs down 36-32.
2:43, 1H — Justin Smith has 10 points now after a nice turnaround jumper. Hogs down three.
3:12, 1H — Cade Cunningham’s first bucket comes more than 16 minutes in, and his teammate traveled on the entry pass but it wasn’t called. Cowboys lead 31-26.
3:41, 1H — Jaylin Williams and Justin Smith are absolutely gassed as we hit the final media timeout of the first half. Williams has four rebounds, and Smith has a team-high eight points on 4 of 7 shooting and a pair of rebounds to his name. Each of Arkansas’ starters have been a net negative when on the floor today. Connor Vanover is a minus-12. Oklahoma State is 12 of 23 from the floor, and Kalib Boone has 10 points on five shots. Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele have two points on 0 of 3 shooting to go with seven turnovers to this point. Arkansas just can’t handle the Cowboys’ other bigs and Avery Anderson.
4:33, 1H — Kalib Boone again scores on the interior, this time on Jaylin Williams. Desi Sills then grabs a loose ball and finds Justin Smith for a dunk. Cowboys up 29-26.
5:40, 1H — Kalib Boone is 4 of 4 from the floor and kind of bullying Arkansas’ bigs on the interior. He has eight points and has now made his last 15 shots, according to the game’s broadcasters. Oklahoma State leads 27-21. Desi Sills then hit a right-corner 3 for Arkansas.
6:29, 1H — Cade Cunningham found Moncrieffe for a dunk after that scramble situation involving Connor Vanover, then he got to the line and hit two free throws to push the Cowboys’ lead to four.
7:03, 1H — Tough sequence from Connor Vanover, He caught a nice pass from Devo Davis at the rim, blew the layup, then on defense a couple moments later he grabbed a loose ball and immediately turned it over looking to advance the ball to halfcourt. Razorbacks down 23-21.
7:59, 1H — Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added a layup to knot the score at 21-21. The Cowboys have turned the ball over 11 times already. Isaac Likekele has four, Moncrieffe three and Avery Anderson/Cade Cunningham two apiece. Cowboys are also 9 of 14 shooting. JD Notae leads Arkansas with seven points on 3 of 5 shooting and Justin Smith has six. Moses Moody has four on 2 of 6 from the floor.
8:38, 1H — JD Notae attacked the rim and missed from close in, but Devo Davis cleaned up the miss to give Arkansas a 21-19 lead.
9:12, 1H — Devo Davis knocks down a jumper then JD Notae finds Moses Moody for a layup in transition, and we’re tied at 19-19. Mike Boynton calls for time. Arkansas up to 43% shooting, hitting 9 of 21 looks to this point. Isaac Likekele has four of Oklahoma State’s nine turnovers so far.
10:49, 1H — JD Notae has seven points for Arkansas after hitting a right elbow jumper. Razorbacks down 17-15.
11:38, 1H — Justin Smith leads Arkansas with six points, JD Notae has five, and Moses Moody two at the under-12 media timeout. Razorbacks trail 17-13. Oklahoma State just added a layup after Jaylin Williams just couldn’t squeeze a defensive rebound. It slipped from his hands and right to a Cowboys big at the rim. Oklahoma State is 7 of 8 from the floor through eight-plus minutes but has turned it over seven times. Arkansas is 6 of 14 and 0 of 1 from deep.
12:43, 1H — Nice running left-handed hook shot from Devo Davis to cut the Razorbacks’ deficit to 15-13. Official scorers gave the bucket to JD Notae.
13:50, 1H — Jalen Tate steps up and takes a charge in the lane on Isaac Likekele. It is the Cowboys’ sixth turnover of the game.
14:08, 1H — JD Notae swiped a Cowboys pass defensively and split a pair of free throws. Oklahoma State leads 13-11.
14:43, 1H — Justin Smith takes his defensive match off the bounce from the right corner and finishes. He has six points on 3 of 4 shooting. Hogs down 13-10 after a JD Notae layup in traffic.
15:26, 1H — Devo Davis misses a midrange jumper near the left elbow with the shot clock winding down out of the media timeout, but Justin Smith tips the ball up and in. Cowboys up 12-6.
15:45, 1H — Avery Anderson buries a 3 from the right corner and Oklahoma State leads 12-4. Davonte Davis then got a layup blocked out of bounds. Cowboys have swatted three Razorbacks shots away in the opening minutes. Anderson has eight points to lead all scorers. Oklahoma State is 5 of 5 from the floor, and Arkansas is 2 of 7.
16:38, 1H — Cade Cunningham checks in for Oklahoma State. He missed the previous two games while in covid-19 protocols. Davonte Davis and JD Notae are also in for Arkansas. Notae had a stepback 3 from the left wing wiped away for traveling.
17:21, 1H — Connor Vanover steps on the sideline on a catch in the left corner. Arkansas can’t have silly turnovers like those today and expect good things to happen. Cowboys add a layup on their ensuing possession and lead 9-4.
18:10, 1H — Avery Anderson hits a floater high off the glass. Oklahoma State up 7-2 before Justin Smith adds a layup on an assist from Moses Moody.
19:05, 1H — Arkansas misses two shots on its first possession, then Oklahoma State gets a 3 from Avery Anderson and a layup after another Razorbacks miss. Cowboys up 5-2.
19:43, 1H — Oklahoma State traveled on its first possession. The Cowboys then throw some soft 2-2-1 three-quarter court zone at the Razorbacks.
Pregame
Arkansas’ starting lineup: Jalen Tate, Moses Moody, Desi Sills, Justin Smith and Connor Vanover.
Big opportunity today for the Razorbacks (13-4) to notch a quality road win in Stillwater and continue their improved play of late.
Tate is in the midst of the best 3-point shooting stretch of his career having knocked down seven shots beyond the arc the last three games. He is averaging 13.6 points and 4.4 assists per game on the road this season. Arkansas will need a nice game from him today.
It will be interesting to see how Moody bounces back from his second tough scoring game in his last three. He matched a season-low with five points against Ole Miss. After scoring in single figures this season, he has responded with 25-point and 26-point outings.
Davonte Davis is another player to watch for the Razorbacks today. He has been really solid during the team’s three-game winning streak, knocking down 15 of 21 shots. Davis is 10 of his last 12 from the floor. He also ranks in the top five in SEC-only games in steal rate, according to KenPom.
Can Arkansas disrupt the Cowboys' offense around the rim today? Oklahoma State has had 10.5% of its 2-point attempts blocked this season, and 13.5% in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State’s starters: Avery Anderson (6-3), Bryce Williams (6-2), Isaac Likekele (6-5), Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (6-7) and Kalib Boone (6-9).
Oklahoma State (10-4) has won three of its last four games, and the only loss in that span came at home against No. 1 Baylor. The Cowboys were tied with the Bears midway through the second half before collapsing down the stretch without Cade Cunningham, who has not played in the last two games. He leads the team in scoring (17.8) and blocks per game (1.0).
Moncrieffe is one of the nation’s best offensive rebounders. Oklahoma State ranks in the top 50 nationally in offensive rebound rate and offensive efficiency, per KenPom. The Cowboys are No. 31 in defensive efficiency and have held opponents to 45.4% shooting inside the arc. Big key to this game for Arkansas will be finishing at the rim.
Cunningham, who is not starting today, and Likekele are the team’s top playmakers, holding assist rates of 21.3% and 20.0%, respectively. Likekele is the glue guy for Oklahoma State. He has played less than 33 minutes only twice this season.