No. 8 Oklahoma State Crushes Utah Valley

Oklahoma State smothered Utah Valley on Tuesday night and Marcus Smart set a school record in the process during a dominating defensive performance against the Wolverines.

The consensus first-team All-American bulldogged the Wolverines' guards all night, setting a new OSU mark with nine steals, as the No. 8 Cowboys ran away with a 93-40 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys got off to a torrid shooting start, hitting six of their first seven shots – three of which were 3-pointers – to blast out in front with a 15-2 lead and never looked back.

OSU led by as much as 30 in the opening half before taking a 50-25 lead into the locker room. The Cowboys shot 50 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3 (10-of-18) in the first 20 minutes.

The hot shooting waned for the Pokes after the break, but that's when the defense went into lockdown mode. Oklahoma State limited Utah Valley to just 19 percent shooting and 15 points in the second half. The Wolverines were also forced into 23 turnovers, 19 of which were steals by the Cowboys.

And steals weren't the only area where Smart delivered on Tuesday. The sophomore finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had five rebounds and four assists to go with his nine swipes.

Phil Forte led the Pokes in scoring for the second-straight game with 19 points off the bench, including a 4-of-8 outing from behind the 3-point line.

OSU's second-leading scorer also came off the bench, as freshman point guard Stevie Clark scored 16 points and doled out a game-high six assists to go with five rebounds. The Douglass High School product had a solid shooting performance hitting 4-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3 and 5-of-6 from the foul line.

Le'Bryan Nash scored 11, while the Louisiana duo of Markel brown and Brian Williams chipped in 10 a piece.

Keawe Enor and Hayes Garrity scored eight points each to lead the Wolverines, who dropped to 2-1 with the loss.

The Cowboys (2-0) shot 47 percent for the game, while holding Utah Valley to just 29.2 percent. OSU also outrebounded the Wolverines 43-31 and had a 30-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Oklahoma State also had more points from its bench (44) than UV had points (40).

OSU will be heavily favored again in its next matchup, as the Cowboys host Arkansas Pine Bluff on Friday at 7 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena.