STILLWATER —
Monday’s one-point loss to Gonzaga was a rude awakening for the Oklahoma State University men’s basketball team. Gone are the soft teams of the early season. There are no easy games from here on out.
The Cowboys don’t get the chance to lick their wounds by drubbing another weak opponent. Instead, they must start Big 12 Conference play at 25th-ranked Kansas State at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Hopefully the Gonzaga game comes at a good time for us to ring our bell a little bit and keep us alert,” OSU coach Travis Ford said. “There are no more UT-Arlingtons, there are no more Tennessee Techs. We better be ready to battle because that’s what the Big 12 is about.”
“It was great playing a team like that because they’re a Big 12-caliber team,” center Philip Jurick said. “So going out there and facing some top talent I think really helped guys prepare for the Big 12 season.”
The schedule isn’t kind to the Cowboys either. The road trip to Manhattan, Kan., to face an 11-2 Wildcat squad under first-year coach Bruce Weber will be only the second true road game for the youthful Cowboys — the other being a road trip to Virginia Tech, in which Oklahoma State lost by 10.
“Hopefully the freshmen got ready for this in high school, and experienced it in the past,” junior Markel Brown said. “I think the Virginia Tech game helped out a little bit, but it’s still different in the Big 12 — going against heavy competition every night.”
With OSU’s squad made up largely of underclassmen, Ford is relying on Brown — the only Cowboy to have at least two full years of conference experience — to prepare the young group for what’s ahead.
“I’ve talked to Markel about talking to his teammates who haven’t played in the Big 12 about how when you hit the Big 12 it’s a little bit different in the fact that everybody knows each other extremely well by now and have 12 games to look at film,” Ford said. “... There’s always a little more into it on both sides. ... Now you’re trying to play for something. Now there’s something on the line, you can now win a trophy — there’s something tangible there you can get.”
The largest concern for the Cowboys heading into conference play is rebounding. After a stretch of solid games attacking the boards, OSU has recently fallen back into old habits against good opponents — being outrebounded by the Zags by 16 boards, including giving up 16 offensive rebounds.
“It’s fresh on our minds that we better rebound the basketball,” Ford said.
That’s one category a team trying to contend for a conference crown can’t be porous at in this conference. Heading into league play, only underachieving Baylor and underwhelming TCU average fewer rebounds per game than Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys average a meager plus-3.3 in rebounding margin — again, ahead of just Baylor, TCU and Bedlam rival Oklahoma. OSU’s first conference foe, Kansas State, is second in the league in both rebounding (41.2 per game) and rebounding margin (plus-8.9), and third in rebounding defense (32.3 per game).
“They’re a really good team at rebounding the ball, so it’ll be a great test for us coming off a game like Gonzaga,” Jurick said. “So we’re kind of looking forward to the challenge.”
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Rude awakening gets Cowboys focused on conference play
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Workman's blasts cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
Nova Southeastern has an 881 total heading into Saturday’s final round, giving the four-time defending champion Sharks a one-shot lead over second-place Lynn. -
Bronchos will make 12th appearance in national golf championship Monday
No. 18-ranked Central Oklahoma will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. next week.
The 54-hole stroke play portion of the tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at the 7,061-yard, par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course, with the top-eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to match play. -
Online registration for 2013 UCO Endeavor Games now open
Registration is now open online for athletes and volunteers for the 2013 University of Central Oklahoma Endeavor Games, June 6-9, the nation’s largest multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities.
Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. -
UCO to host US women's sitting volleyball team's exhibition matches against Russia
The University of Central Oklahoma will host five exhibition matches of the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team versus the Russian National Women Sitting Volleyball Team beginning tonight at 10. Matches continue on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. and a single match on Sunday at 9 a.m.
This will be the first time the Paralympic silver medaling Team USA has faced Russia since 2011. According to Head Coach Bill Hamiter, these matches will serve as preparation for the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in 2014.
Team USA will be available after each match to meet with fans and sign autographs.
All exhibition matches are free and open to the public. -
Impact-making Graves inks with OBU
When a basketball team goes 80-3 over the years a player was there, that athlete has made a profound impact on that particular program.
Not only did she/he leave a legacy athletically to have that type of success in Class 6A, but left a mark in a leadership capacity as well.
Cameerah Graves, Edmond Santa Fe’s standout guard who led 6A in assists her senior season with 129, signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma Baptist University last week. - More Sports Headlines
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