STILL WATER – Brandon Newman And About Ousmane scored 18 points each to lead the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team to an 85-78 win over Southern Illinois on Thursday night at the Gallagher-Iba-Arena.

The Cowboys (3-0) dominated the turnover column, forcing 18 while only committing seven. They outscored the visitors 30-7 after these giveaways and 23-2 after fast break opportunities.

OSU won despite shooting 50.8% against the visitors, who knocked down 11 of 28 threes (.393).

It was the first time in almost three years that the Cowboys won a game in which their opponent made more than half of their shots. They had lost 12 straight and 25 of 26 on those occasions, 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 shooting effort and also collected four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.

Newman was 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep, and had three steals of his own.

Marchelus ‘Chi Chi’ Avery (11 points) and Bryce Thompson (10) also finished in double figures for the Cowboys, who tied the score at 49 early in the second half with an 18-4 run.

OSU appeared to have the game comfortably in control, leading 80-62 around 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-on-1 free throw opportunity and Newman added another for the final margin.

Elijah Elliott produced 21 points for the Salukis (1-2) who had defeated the Cowboys by a combined three points in each of the two previous seasons.

The Cowboys have forced double-digit steals in each of their first three games – the program’s longest 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, starting with a quarterfinal against Florida Atlantic (Thursday, 1:30 PM CT on ESPN2 or ESPNU).