Bear Down: Nash Dominates As Pokes Earn Historic Win

It may not be pretty. It may not be consistent. But one way or another, Oklahoma State is on a roll.

OSU won at Baylor on Monday night, 74-65, and earned a win in Waco for the first time since 2006. The Cowboys have now won four out of their past five, all over ranked opponents.

The offensively-challenged Pokes actually had one of their better shooting days of the season. OSU shot 46.3 percent and drained nine 3-pointers. Le'Bryan Nash led the way again with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Nash led the Cowboys with five rebounds and three steals.

Phil Forte dropped 18 as he continues to recover from the illness that plagues him throughout the past week. Jeff Newberry added 16 points and reached double digits in back-to-back games for the first time all season. Newberry chipped in 10 points in OSU's upset of Kansas on Saturday.

Anthony Hickey added 12 and Michael Cobbins six. Oklahoma State got zero points from its bench.

Rico Gathers, as usual, was a load to handle inside. Gathers scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with 16 rebounds. Taurean Prince came off the Bears' bench to score 22 points, but those two got virtually no help. No other Bear reached double figures.

It actually looked as though Baylor might run away from the Pokes on the first half. The Bears opened up an eight-point lead with less than three minutes to play in the first half, but the Pokes didn't quit. OSU closed the half on a 7-0 sprint to get within a point at the break.

The game finally turned early in the second half when OSU took off on an 18-4 run. The Cowboys held everyone but Gathers scoreless for almost 10 minutes.

OSU (17-7, 7-5) has now defeated three straight ranked opponents in the regular season for the first time ever. The Pokes get the rest of the week off and play at TCU on Saturday.