Oklahoma State men's basketball: Javon Small, Bryce Thompson shine in win vs. Sam Houston

STILLWATER — Monday was rough for Mike Boynton. A season-opening loss will create that.

“I didn’t sleep Monday, at all,” the Oklahoma State coach said.

On Sunday, Boynton and the Cowboys finally got to put it behind them and earned their first win of the season, an 85-70 victory over Sam Houston in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

OSU trailed by seven points early in the first half, then the offense settled in. The Cowboys made 17 3-pointers at a 51.5% rate, their highest since they beat Oakland last November.

OSU took an eight-point lead into the break, then separated in the second half behind 10-of-17 shooting from 3, helping the Cowboys avoid their first 0-2 start since 1970.

The difference six days makes.

“It was a hard week, but it was good,” Boynton said. “It was a good hard week. You’ve got to learn through hard as you're young because then hard becomes easier as you go along. It never becomes easy, but it becomes easier.”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

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Javon Small could be a gamechanger

OSU fans finally got a look at their new point guard, and he could be a difference maker.

Javon Small, a junior transfer from East Carolina, did not play in the exhibition against Oklahoma Baptist or the season opener against Abilene Christian, but he made his debut Sunday. Small showed glimpses of the vision he brings, which could be a gamechanger for the Cowboy offense.

Late in the first half, Small found Quion Williams cutting across the baseline and sneaked in a one-hand pass for a dunk. He racked up four more in 29 minutes on the court with only one turnover.

“It felt real good just to be back out with my teammates and get a dub,” Small said.

Bryce Thompson and John-Michael Wright handled much of the ball-handling duties in the opener and said it was nice having Small in to run the point.

“It helps tremendously having somebody else that can bring it up, that can handle pressure, make plays for others and also make plays for himself,” Thompson said.

Small proved he can help the Cowboys’ struggles from deep. He shot 4 of 7 from 3 and earned a standing ovation from the crowd as he subbed out late in the game.

With his scoring ability and ball security, Small is a big addition to the lineup. But Boynton said Small’s biggest attribute is commanding the offense.

“He is not afraid to get after people,” Boynton said. “You need that from a guy who is gonna have the ball in the hands and needs to be an extension of the coach on the floor. Sometimes he will say some things to his teammates that they might not like, but they need to hear it.

“So hopefully, that type of leadership kind of starts to permeate through some of the younger guys, and we get more of a leadership by committee.”

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Offense is a collective effort

The Cowboys didn’t have one player carry them to their first victory. Eight Cowboys scored at least six points, and none scored more than 17.

Thompson led the game in scoring with 17 on 6-for-11 shooting, and he was 4 of 5 on 3-point attempts. Thompson was late to shootaround before the game and did not start but quickly made up for lost time.

Justin McBride responded from his two-point performance against Abilene Christian with eight points, including two 3s. Jarius Hicklen also had a better afternoon, shooting 2 for 3 from deep after a 1-for-4 outing. Eric Dailey Jr. and Wright each added nine, and Brandon Garrison and Quion Williams threw in six apiece.

As a team, OSU shot 17 for 33 (51.5%) from the 3-point line, and five Cowboys hit multiple.

“I’d say we were just kind of little bit more patient,” Thompson said. “I think we were just kind of going with what the defense was given us and trying not to force as much.”

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Overcoming slow starts, turnovers

It wasn’t a great start. The Cowboys turned the ball over on their first two possessions and three of their first five.

But they got things sorted out.

After the first five possessions, OSU turned the ball over two more times in the first half and only four more times in the second.

Against Abilene Christian, turnovers hurt the Cowboy offense and prevented an attempt at a late comeback. Things started off shaky, but OSU got the turnover problem under control early and didn’t let it carry on throughout the game.

“We're playing a lot of young guys a lot of minutes in situations that they've never been in before,” Boynton said. “There were a couple of times I thought we had them kind of teetering, and then we turned the ball over a couple times and it's an eight-point game instead of it being an 18-point game. Just kinda got to learn on it, but it’s always better to learn through win.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU men's basketball: 3 takeaways from Cowboys' win vs. Sam Houston