Written by Ernie Casanova
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL— In the second game of the AdvoCare Invitational, the Oklahoma State Cowboys took on the Memphis Tigers in a very exciting contest. The arena was filled with Villanova fans for the first game, and as the second game began, the benches were filled with blue and orange displaying an equal amount of cheering fans for each team. Game two was yet another physical battle as this matchup displayed an overwhelming amount of size from each group. The Cowboys pulled away from the Tigers to advance to the second round by a score of 84-64.
Oklahoma State came out with the quick start as guard Isaac Likekele connected on two layups to put them up 4-0 minutes into the game. Memphis guard Tyler Harris drained a jumper to put Memphis on the board, as the contest began to develop a spark from thereon. After a Michael Waters’ layup for Oklahoma State went in, each team traded buckets for the remainder of the half. Weathers was unstoppable for the Cowboys in the first half, going 3-4 and notching 10 points in the first 17 minutes.
Tyler Harris led Memphis in the first half with 10 points and was responsible for two shots beyond the arc, as he went 2-3 from long range. It was a close one all the way through, but Oklahoma State went on a late first-half run as guard Mike Cunningham drained two three-pointers to send them into halftime with a 10 point lead.
As the second half began, Memphis tried to have an answer for everything the Cowboys threw at them. McGriff began the half scoring five of their first 10 points, but the team started to slow down a bit. It was 52-37 with 15:53 left and Memphis had four straight possessions where they kept the Cowboys scoreless while converting six points. Two minutes later, Yor Anei hammered in two straight dunks to regain some momentum for his team, and Likekele sunk in two free throws after the team forced a quick turnover to throw the Tigers off their game yet again.
After Raynere Thornton sunk in a free throw for the Tigers, Anei and Lindy Waters scored the next four points followed by a McGriff three-pointer. With 11 minutes left to play, Oklahoma State was up 65-46 after a promising start by Memphis and didn’t look back. After a three-pointer from Waters put them up 72-51, it was all but over from there. Oklahoma State played a phenomenal game to advance to the following round of the invitational as their next matchup will be against last year’s defending NCAA champion, the Villanova Wildcats.
Thomas Dziagwa led the way for the Cowboys scoring 14 points, shooting 4-6 from long range while adding two rebounds. Weathers and Anei finished with 13 and 12 points respectively, while McGriff added 11 points and 12 rebounds finishing with a double-double. Harris led the Tigers with 11 points and three assists, while Jeremiah Martin had 10 points and five assists and Kyvon Davenport finished with 12 points.
The Cowboys flourished beyond the arc, shooting 38% as they also out-rebounded the Tigers. Their bench outscored Memphis’ 37-22, although if they want to keep advancing they have to go easy on the turnovers as they finished with 20, six more than Memphis. Memphis struggled from the charity line, going 11-19 (58%). It’s going to really hard for the Tigers to keep up on the scoreboard if they can’t execute on their free attempts.
Oklahoma State will take on Villanova on Friday at 11:30AM ET with hopes of advancing to the Championship game on Sunday, while Memphis will take on Canisius in the consolation stage at 1:30PM ET on Friday as well.
