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Brandon Newman and Abou Ousmane scored 18 points apiece to lead the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team to an 85-78 victory over Southern Illinois on Thursday night at Gallagher-Iba-Arena.
The Cowboys (3-0) dominated the turnover column, forcing 18 while committing just seven. They outscored the visitors 30-7 off those giveaways as well as 23-2 on fast break opportunities.
OSU won despite a 50.8% shooting performance from the visitors, who knocked down 11-of-28 threes (.393).
It was the first time in nearly three years that the Cowboys have won a game in which their opponent made more than half of its shots. They had lost 12 straight and 25 of 26 in those instances, going back to 2018.
OSU shot 47.7% from the field and connected on 8-of-20 threes (.400).
Ousmane made his first eight field goal attempts of the night in an 8-for-10 effort and also collected four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
Newman was 7-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep, and tallied three steals of his own.
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery (11 points) and Bryce Thompson (10) also finished in double-figures for the Cowboys, who snapped a 49-all tie early in the second half with an 18-4 run.
OSU appeared to have the game comfortably in hand, up 80-62 near the 4:00 mark, but a 16-2 Saluki run cut the deficit to four points with 24 seconds left.
The Cowboys regrouped with Arturo Dean hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity and Newman adding one more for the final margin.
Elijah Elliott supplied 21 points for the Salukis (1-2) who had defeated the Cowboys in each of the two previous seasons by a combined total of three points.
The Cowboys have forced double-digit steals in each of their first three games -- the program's longest such streak since January, 2015. A 3-0 start is their best since the 2020-21 season.
Oklahoma State returns to action next week with three games in four days at the Charleston Classic, beginning with a quarterfinal matchup against Florida Atlantic on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.