Jaylen Curry came off the bench to score a game-high 30 points and lead Oklahoma State to a 95-81 victory over Nicholls on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
Curry, a UMass transfer, added 10 assists and connected on 12 of 12 free throw attempts.
Parsa Fallah added 12 points, Ryan Crotty scored 11 and Anthony Roy chipped in 10 off the bench for the Cowboys (5-0).
Jalik Dunkley scored 22 points with 12 rebounds to lead Nicholls (0-5). Sincere Malone racked up 18 points. Zaiden Cross and Trae English each chipped in 13 points for Nicholls.
While it was a wire-to-wire win for the Cowboys, the Colonels hung tough in the first half. A Jalin Rice jumper cut the Oklahoma State lead to 20-18 with 9:29 left in the first half.
Moments later, Dunkley’s free throw pulled Nicholls within 20-19. It was the closest the Colonels would get to the Cowboys the rest of the way.
A 3-pointer from Roy kicked off a 9-2 Oklahoma State run as the Cowboys took a 29-21 advantage. A Christian Coleman dunk at the 2:01 mark of the first half was the exclamation point on a 12-2 scoring spurt that gave the Cowboys a 43-27 edge.
Dunkley’s slam ended the first-half scoring as the Colonels trailed 47-32 at halftime.
Just when it looked like the Cowboys could run away with the game as their lead swelled to 18 points, the Colonels went on a 10-2 second-half run. Malone started the rally with a 3-pointer with 16:39 remaining. Christian Winborne capped the spurt with a 3-pointer that prompted an Oklahoma State time out as the Colonels trailed 57-47.
It was the closest Nicholls would get the rest of the way. After the Colonels’ timeout, the Cowboys answered with an 11-2 flurry that Roy started with a 3-pointer as the Cowboys took a 71-51 lead into the under 12 media timeout.
With a Cross 3-pointer, Nicholls closed within 86-69 with 5:07 to play.
