Without Nash, Cowboys Cruise Past North Texas

Phil Forte scored a career-high 32 points and added four rebounds to help lead Oklahoma State to a 87-62 victory over the University of North Texas Wednesday night.

With star forward and leading scorer Le'Bryan Nash sitting out due to `disciplinary reasons,' Forte stepped up, connecting on 8 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three-point range.Michael Cobbins chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds for OSU (7-0).

Jeremy Combs paced North Texas (4-3) with 13 points and five rebounds. After Armani Flannigan's layup put North Texas ahead 25-22 with 7:59 remaining in the opening half, Oklahoma State reeled off a 20-4 run to take control of the contest.

Forte scored 12 points, including a clutch three-pointer from the right side just before the shot clock expired, during that span to give the Cowboys a 42-29 lead with just 12.6 seconds left in the half.